James (Jim) Knutzon is Chairman of the Board of the Directors of SCS. Jim brings decades of agricultural, supply chain, and certification expertise to the company, including pioneering work in sustainable and organic production, product development, food safety, and standards development. Mr. Knutzon’s career at SCS began in the late 1980s, where he served as Chief Operating Officer for a decade, managing programs in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and life cycle assessment. After a hiatus during which he took the reins of a major food distribution company, he returned to SCS in the role of Vice President and Advisor to the Food and Agriculture division. In this capacity, he was involved in pivotal business expansion decisions related to SCS’s international certification, auditing, and testing services.

Mr. Knutzon started his career in the agricultural chemical business, then transitioned into vegetable farming. In 1979, he co-founded Valley Fresh Distributing, the first major organic vegetable grower/shipper in the United States. In 1988, his organic carrots caught the attention of SCS and Raley’s Supermarket in California, when they were tested and shown to contain exceptional levels of beta-carotene. This led to his first tenure of work at SCS. Mr. Knutzon later served as the first President and CEO of Farm Fresh Direct, LLC, starting in 2000. Under his leadership, Farm Fresh Direct, a coalition of family farms, grew to become one of the most respected potato providers in the U.S. During his tenure at Farm Fresh, Knutzon spearheaded many “firsts”, including development of the ready-to-eat baked potato, identification of the most antioxidant-rich purple potatoes, and much more.

• B.B.A. Marketing (University of Iowa)