Close Menu
Urban Ag News
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Urban Ag News
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    SUBSCRIBE
    • Greenhouse
    • Vertical Farm
    • Business
    • Technology
    • Functional Food
    • Climate
    • Education
    • Organics
    Urban Ag News
    Home»Blog»Industry News»Two out of the three Board Members of the Association for Vertical Farming have resigned
    Industry News

    Two out of the three Board Members of the Association for Vertical Farming have resigned

    By urbanagnewsNovember 20, 2018Updated:November 20, 2018No Comments2 Mins Read
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email WhatsApp

    Tom Zoellner and Penny McBride, two out of the three members of the Board of Directors for the Association for Vertical Farming (AVF), have resigned with immediate effect. This leaves Christine Zimmermann-Loessl the single remaining member of the Board of Directors.

    The decision to step down has not been taken lightly and is based on irreconcilable differences within the AVF Board regarding financial management, accountability and managing conflicts of interest. After a long and intense period of internal discussion and concerted attempts to resolve the differences in a constructive manner, no meaningful progress has been achieved. As a consequence, Zoellner and McBride cannot fulfil their duties and responsibilities as members of the Board of Directors anymore.

    “It is unfortunate, in an organization like the AVF that could be the choice for the growing indoor farming industry, that conflicts of interests and inadequate transparency risks important partnership with the business community and public funding agencies”, Zoellner says. In 2017, the newly elected Board of Directors was tasked to professionalize the organization. Among other steps, Zoellner and McBride attempted to implement an improved financial reporting and control system, to obtain basic insight into the association’s financials and to resolve concerns over allocation of membership fees. Despite their efforts and being in the majority, no agreement could be reached by the Board. Zoellner reports, “Regrettably, it has not been possible to implement simple yet important improvements required to professionalize the association. We would like to apologize to all AVF members for this, as this was the agenda that members had been defined for the Board to execute.”

    Concerns about the way of working within the AVF have not gone unnoticed. The organization has suffered from a steady erosion of membership over the past years and many more AVF members have terminated their membership recently. McBride adds: “We have done everything we could think of, but could not achieve the progress that is needed within the current organizational structure. Sadly, making it impossible for us to do our jobs according to the statutes.”
    Zoellner and McBride see that the indoor farming industry has moved on already and are now considering different venues to serve the industry going forward. They look forward to engage in the continuing value proposition with constructive and transparent ways of working.

    Share this:

    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
    • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
    • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
    • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
    Association for Vertical Farming Vertical Farming
    urbanagnews

    Related Posts

    If It Is Real, Everything Else is Just Noise

    July 7, 2025

    Have you ever written to your congressperson?

    June 30, 2025

    UF/IFAS research protects pollinators from harmful pesticide exposures

    June 23, 2025
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    About UAN

    Urban Ag News strives to be the leading science communicator for the commercial hydroponics, greenhouse vegetable, vertical farming and urban agriculture industries. Read more...

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Donate
    • Subscribe to our Newsletter
    • Jobs in Urban Agriculture
    © 2025 CHIGGINS CONSULTANCY

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.