“If a problem cannot be solved, enlarge it."
— Dwight D. Eisenhower
About Josh
Josh most recently served as president and CEO of Firestone Pacific Foods, a company that grows, freezes and packs ready-to-eat frozen fruit for grocery and food service customers throughout the United States and SE Asia. Under his leadership, Firestone’s top-line grew at over 20% CAGR - boosted by the addition of two of the top-five grocery retailers in the USA and a leading grocery retail group purchasing organization (GPO) and significantly increased EBITDA. He and his leadership team secured additional growth capital by forging a relationship with BMO Harris Bank, executed a seamless implementation of PLEX ERP and upleveled management of all core functions. The company’s commitment to stewardship resulted in a 90+% reduction in waste sent to landfill, Bee Better Certification on the company’s 80-acre berry farm, and articulation of a high-level plan to reduce the company’s scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by more than 60% by 2030.
Over the years, Josh has curated a network of smart, high integrity, and accomplished business leaders and technical specialists. He relies upon this trusted team of advisors to help clients unlock value.
Before relaunching Cambium Strategy® in 2014, he spent over eight years as CEO of Organically Grown Company, a regional distributor of organic fruits and vegetables. During his tenure, the company quadrupled in size, expanded shareholder value eight-fold and emerged as one of the largest and best regarded, independently owned organic food companies in the United States.
He has served in a myriad of leadership roles in finance, operations management, and supply chain management in the United States and internationally including stints at PepsiCo, Yum Brands and Continental Grain Company.
Josh serves as on the Hoyt Arboretum Friends Advisory Council and the board of directors of MGX Beverage, a privately held distributor and provider of 3PL services for alcoholic beverage industry. He has served as an adjunct instructor, guest speaker, and MBA capstone advisor at Portland State University’s School of Business Administration. He is the past chair of the board of directors of the Oregon Food Bank and a former trustee of Vassar College.
Josh earned his MBA from Harvard University and an A.B. with General Honors and Departmental Honors from Vassar College.
“The philosophical basis of the new agriculture lies in treating soil as a locally adapted biological system rather than a chemical system... Rooted in the complex interactions between soil, water, plants, animals, and microbes, agroecology... requires farming guided by locally adapted knowledge - farming with brains rather than by habit of convenience.”
— David R. Montgomery, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations