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Marty Maberry
from Who's Who 2020
Who’s Who 2020 16 Marty Maberry (reluctantly) accepts Lifetime Business Achievement award
Marty Maberry thinks of his award from Business Pulse magazine as something he shares with the rest of the farming community. (Courtesy photo/Tiffany Brooks Photography)
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Maberry is handing over operational reins to business successors
By Brent Lindquist brent@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — For Marty Maberry, accepting a business award is like a puzzle piece ac cepting an award for an entire puzzle.
Maberry found out about a month ago that he was cho sen the 2020 Whatcom County Lifetime Business Achieve ment award winner by Busi
See Maberry on page 18
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Maberry
Marty Maberry has been around the berry business for as long as he can remember, but he truly got involved after graduating from college in 1978. (Courtesy photo/Tiffany Brooks Photography)
Continued from page 16
ness Pulse magazine for his longtime efforts with Maberry Packing.
“I’m not too excited about it,” Maberry said. “I’m not go ing to accept this personally. I will accept it on behalf of my family and my employees and all the support people who re ally built this business. I just did a job. I did my job. Personal awards are not something I re ally ever relish.”
Maberry is in the process of transitioning Maberry Pack ing to its next set of leaders, consisting of CEO Jon Olson, son Jon Maberry (co-owner and vice president of farming operations), daughter Jamie Gunst (co-owner and vice president for human resourc es), and the larger Maberry Packing operational group.
“It takes time. Some body once told me when I was younger that it’s a lot harder to get out of something than it is to get in,” Marty Maberry said. “I thought, ‘You’re full of crap.’ But it’s true.”
Luckily, it’s just a change at the very top of the business, he said. The rest of the team is intact, which makes for a smoother transition and leaves more time for the necessary decision-making. Marty is still involved in some of the large decisions at Maberry Packing, but the operational team is taking care of day-to-day op erations.
“Sometimes it’s tough, but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be,” Marty Maberry said. “It’s all dependent upon the confidence you have in your people. And I have high confidence in them. The first year or so, you have to stay in your lane.”
The business started with Marty’s parents, Jake and Mon ey Maberry, as a strawberry farm back in the 1940s. Actu ally, the Whatcom Country berry growing goes all the way back to his grandfather, Leon ard Maberry.
Marty Maberry has been part of the business in one way or another for about as long as he can remember, but his involvement began in earnest following his graduation from what is now Western Washing ton University in 1978.
“I wasn’t doing it myself,” he said. “I had two brothers in the business, but we were a lot smaller when I came out of college. It’s a lot different to day.”
His brothers Monty and Mike are no longer part of the business, but Marty sees every one who preceded him and everyone who has made a mark on Maberry Packing as an es sential piece of the puzzle.
“I feel like I’m just part of the puzzle,” he said. “I did my job when I was here, but I didn’t start it and hopefully I won’t finish it.”
Marty Maberry said he believes he shares the Lifetime Achievement Award not only with his company and family, but with his extended family. He said his cousin, Curt Ma berry, and his farming operation are an example, but the
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Maberry
Continued from page 18 greater farming industry is part of the picture as well.
“It’s about how much agri culture has done for our community and what agriculture has done for our community,” Maberry said. “Agriculture is under tremendous pressure in this community and we’re in danger of losing it. You can get used to certain things, right? Until it’s gone.”
Marty Maberry hopes peo ple in Whatcom County will take some time to appreciate the agricultural world they live in. He is a staunch advocate for agriculture, and he said he doesn’t want to see his neigh bors taking farming for granted.
“Maybe it’s time to take a step back and take a deep breath and say, you know what, we’re pretty blessed in this country,” Marty Maberry said.
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