Two new members have been elected to the American Cider Associations (ACA) board of directors, the hard cider industry trade group announced last week.
The ACA board consists of 13 members, who are elected on a staggered basis and serve three-year terms, with the ability to be re-elected once their term is complete.
The newly elected members include Tom Hart, co-founder of Humboldt Cider Company (Eureka, California), who will serve as the regional chair for the Pacific Coast; and Scott Spelbring, the cidermaker at Henway Hard Cider (Bluemont, Virginia), who will serve as regional chair for the South.
Hart and Spelbring replace two outgoing board members:
- Sarah Hemly, co-founder of Hemly Cider (Courtland, California), who represented the Pacific coast and also served as VP;
- And David Glaize, co-owner of Glaize & Brother Juice Co. and Old Town Cidery (Winchester, Virginia), who represented the south.
Three members were also re-elected to the board:
- At-large board member Christine Walter, owner and head cidermaker at Bauman’s Cider (Portland, Oregon);
- Regional chair for the east Eleanor Léger, founder of Eden Ciders, (Newport, Vermont);
- Large cidery representative Ben Calvi, COO of Vermont Cider Company (Middlebury, Vermont).
The five elected members join six other at-large members, who are still in the midst of their three-year terms:
- Philippe Bishop, co-owner of Alpenfire Cider (Port Townsend, Washington);
- Shannon Edgar, founder of Stormalong Cider (Sherborn, Massachusetts);
- Breanna Heuss, marketing director at Golden State Cider (Sonoma County, California);
- Talia Haykin, co-founder of Haykin Family Cider (Aurora, Colorado);
- Josie Mielke founder and operations director at Urban Orchard Cider Company (Asheville, North Carolina);
- Marcus Robert, cider operations manager and cider maker at Tieton Cider Works (Yakima, Washington).
The ACA also announced its executive board, which was selected by the incoming board of directors. The executive board includes:
- Walter as president, marking her second year in the role;
- Calvi as vice president, taking over the position from Hemly;
- Dave Takush, head cidermaker and co-owner of 2 Towns Ciderhouse (Corvallis, Oregon) as secretary, a role he’s held since 2022;
- And John Behrens, co-founder of Farmhaus Cider (Hudsonville, Michigan) as treasurer, a role he’s held since 2022.