At its annual Washington Summit, the National Potato Council (NPC) recently announced the Executive Committee leaders for 2025. Ted Tschirky of Pasco, Washington, was chosen as the Council’s president for the upcoming year during the Annual Meeting of the Voting Delegates.

Ted Tschirky has been actively involved in state and national potato associations for more than two decades, having previously served as the First Vice President of NPC and the Vice President of Trade Affairs. Before taking a senior position at NPC, Tschirky, a third-generation farmer in the Columbia River basin of Washington, was a member of the Washington State Potato Commission (WSPC).

Tschirky noticed the impact NPC was having on both the national and international levels of commerce while he was involved with WSPC. He frequently traveled to D.C. to push for the state’s potato sector. Tschirky also discovered how crucial building strong ties with federal and state officials was to the industry’s general prosperity and well-being.

“As this year’s council president, I want to encourage our executive committee and board members to get involved with their state representatives as much as possible, which, in turn, helps build stronger relationships on the federal level. When it comes to policies affecting agriculture, it should be our goal for elected officials to come to us and ask how these rules and regulations would affect our business. It takes time to get to this point, so let’s make it a commitment to get there at all levels,” Tschirky said.

At age 18, Tschirky’s first țofficialț farming project was with Future Farmers of America growing potatoes for Lamb Weston. For nearly 45 years, he’s carried on his family’s legacy which started with his great-grandparents migrating from Switzerland and originally settling in Oregon. His father began the Washington Tschirky Farms in the 1950s. The business now grows mostly potatoes for processing and includes a storage facility.

Now, his wife Merideth ‘Meri’ and his sons Tyler and Dylan joined him in overseeing the business. In 2025, Ted and Meri are celebrating 42 years of marriage.

The complete lineup of the NPC Executive Committee consists of: Ted Tschirky (Pasco, Wash.) – President; Ben Sklarczyk (Johannesburg, Mich.) – First Vice President and Vice President of Grower Outreach and Industry Research; Chris Olsen (Othello, Wash.) – Vice President of Environmental Affairs; TJ Hall (Hoople, N.D.)– Vice President of Finance; Dean Gibson (Paul, Idaho) – Vice President of Legislative Affairs; Brett Jensen (Idaho Falls, Idaho) – Vice President of Trade Affairs; Bob Mattive (Monte Vista, Colo.) – Immediate Past President; Kam Quarles (NPC CEO) – Non-voting Member.

Within the Structure of the Organization

NPC is run by a Board of Directors and Executive Committee, which supervises its operations and offers direction on its policy initiatives. The organization is grower-led. Board members are chosen for a one-year term by the Executive Committee based on suggestions made by state potato producer groups.

In the nation’s capital, NPC represents American potato farmers and industry participants. By tackling issues that impact the potato business, such as congressionally debated policy and federal agency-proposed regulations, NPC defends the interests of potato growers in Washington, D.C.

Members of the potato industry used the NPC 2025 Washington Summit as a platform to talk about, identify, and promote the policy priorities that affect their companies and safeguard their farming operations. In order to support the long-term viability of the U.S. potato industry, growers and industry stakeholders met with members of Congress and the administration from February 24 to 28. They advocated for issues like maintaining potatoes in federal nutrition programs, advancing free and fair-trade agreements, and funding research.