The "interim" has been removed from the title of the man running the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association.
Chuck Gunnerson, since October the temporary head of the East Grand Forks, Minn.-based organization, has been named president, according to an association news release.
Gunnerson succeeds Duane Maatz, who left the group to become executive director of the Antigo-based Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association.
"Chuck has a vast knowledge of the potato industry both on a local and a national level," Josh Heuchert, the association's board chairman, said in the release. "I consider him a huge asset to (the association)."
Gunnerson, of Ada, Minn., was an owner of Ada Produce Co. and a potato grower until his retirement in 2004. He is a past chairman of the Red River Valley Potato Growers Association, which changed its name to the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association.