John brings over seventeen years of progressive leadership experience to Wilco, most recently as the Chief Supply Chain Officer and SVP of IT & Ecommerce at Fleet Farm, a Midwestern lifestyle retailer with fifty stores across five states.

He also has experience within the cooperative system spending just under four years with True Value based in Chicago, IL as the Director of Inbound Transportation and then Sr. Director of Global Transportation.  Prior to True Value, John worked in various roles for Kohler Co. including supply chain and operations.

John brings a background and experience across numerous business models, including retail, wholesale distribution, direct-to-consumer, and industrial manufacturing operations. He has also operated in numerous ownership formats, having served in privately owned, cooperative, and private equity-backed business models.

John has a BA from Michigan State University where he completed a Political Science – Pre Law degree and serves on the Board for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

He is originally from Michigan and John and his wife Anycia relocated their family to Oregon where he’s lived before when he worked with Kohler Co.  When John is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, is an avid golfer, and tries to keep up with his wife while hiking!

View John’s Linked profile to learn more about his career and impacts in the industry.

Sam Bugarsky has been with Wilco for over 35 years after owning and managing a small farm store in Oregon.  Throughout his years with Wilco, he has been the architect of many “firsts.”  He was charged with starting and managing Wilco’s centralized purchasing and distribution department and was instrumental in pushing other advancements, like the store’s first Point of Sale and Inventory Management System.

He has held many roles, starting as a warehouser in Wilco’s Canby store and moving to multiple positions in his career; most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Wilco Retail Stores, Bulk Petroleum, and the Distribution Center and then to CEO & President.  Sam is known for his focus on planning, strategies and finetuning the budgeting processes that have set his teams up for record success throughout the years.

Most notably, Sam led teams to designing the model Wilco Farm Store with five signature departments and over 20,000 square feet of retail space.  He has championed a customer-focus attitude and culture that cares for employees which has led to a recent Top Workplace Leadership Award.

Sam has also supported junior livestock auctions throughout his career and started the FFA Forever program that has raised over $700,000 for Oregon and Washington FFA.  His support of agriculture throughout his career led to him being awarded as a 2023 Agriculturist of the Year and an FFA Honorary degree.

Sam and his wife Tamara live in West Linn, Oregon where he enjoys distance running in his spare time, competing in more than 50 marathons and half marathons.

View Sam’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about his career and impacts in the industry.

Lisa Smith has over 30 years of extensive experience in the Human Resources field, including 8 years at Wilco.  She’s also spent time with Fortune 500 companies and small to mid-sized family-owned businesses.  She is well versed in many industries as well; from retail, construction, hospitality, agriculture and manufacturing.

Her skills and team were put into action during her first year as she helped navigate Wilco through a merger with Hazelnut Growers of Oregon and a joint venture combining Wilco’s Agronomy business unit into Valley Agronomics; two of the most substantial changes in the company’s 50-year history.

Lisa’s time with Wilco has left an impression through a collaborative approach to the various Human Resources components.  Her attention to healthy company culture and diverse experience and expertise led to a perfect fit joining Wilco in 2016 where she’s furthered Wilco as a Top Workplace; an award the company has received for 12 consecutive years.

Lisa has a BS in Business Administration and countless licenses and certifications throughout her career.  She and her husband Steve relocated with Wilco to Oregon and are closer to family.  In her spare time, she is known for her outstanding photography eye, traveling, cycling and she enjoys the arts.  Lisa is also fluent in Spanish as she spent her childhood in Latin America.

View Lisa’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about her career and impacts in the industry.

TJ has over 24 years of experience in the Retail Farm Store business with the past 20 years at Wilco.  He started as a part-time warehouser in the stores and had his first huge mark on Wilco’s culture and success when he took over as a manager and turned an underperforming location into one of Wilco’s top stores.  His career promotions took off from there where he became District Manager, Director of Store Operations and now President of Retail Stores.

He is also known throughout the industry for fostering an environment of improvement and continuous learning.  His involvement with the National Hardware and Paint Association is marked with success; including the Young Retailer of the Year award and he was recently named as one of the Top Guns in the industry.

He is a known supporter of Wilco’s community core value and is often seen at junior livestock auctions, FFA Conventions, 4H and FFA events and fairs where he has been a champion of Wilco’s outreach programs that contribute more than $500,000 a year to youth in agriculture. He’s served and Chaired multiple Boards including the Oregon FFA Foundation and Pacific International Livestock Expo.

TJ studied Agricultural Business at Linn-Benton and Oregon State University.  He and his wife Sam are the 4^th generation operating a grass seed farm outside Corvallis, Oregon.  They also raise show cattle and are known for their support of the agricultural community; from livestock judging teams, show clinics, 4H & FFA fair projects, and more.

View TJ’s LinkedIn profile to learn more about his career and impacts in the industry.

Gerry has extensive leadership experience in the international food, beverage and agriculture industries with a calm and analytical demeanor suited well for fast paced, aggressive growth and customer centric businesses.

He has extensive experience with Calavo Growers where he worked with over 2,500 growers in the US, Chile and Mexico with direct responsibility for the production facilities and growth as VP of North American Operations.

His cooperative and food experience also extends to VP, General Manager and COO at Maui Land & Pineapple and then President at SunOpta where he led the distribution of organic and natural private label products where he helped with significant change management to turn the company around.

Gerry has been involved in cost efficiencies and innovation throughout his career, including his time as Chief Operating Officer at Cyanotech Corporation that cultivated, harvested and processed algae for the nutraceutical industry and in a short time with Wilco’s Hazelnut business has led changes in strategy and cost reductions that will benefit the cooperative for years to come.

Gerry graduated from CalPoly Pomona University with a BS, Magna Cum Laude, in Agri-Business.  He and his wife Diane enjoy time with family and their dogs Baby and Sommer.  His agriculture interests also extend to his hobbies and his time with Bonsai fruit trees.

To learn about Gerry’s professional career view his LinkedIn profile here.