The Bylaws of
The Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association

Preamble
The Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Council shall be a non-profit corporation with the purpose of serving the fruit and vegetable industries and those interested therein in the state of Alabama. The organization shall be known in all its business and transactions as The Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. The purpose of the said corporation is to promote, advance, and protect the growing, harvesting and marketing of fruits and vegetables.

Headquarters
The headquarters and central office of the organization known as The Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association will be at Auburn University or as designated by the Board of Directors.

Annual Meeting
The Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association will hold at least one annual meeting each year and the date of such meeting and meeting place shall be designated by the Board of Directors 90 days in advance.

Officers
The officers of The Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association shall consist of a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Immediate Past-President, a Secretary-Treasurer, an Executive Secretary, and an Educational Advisor. To be eligible to hold an office as herein named the said person must be in good standing at the time of his or her election.

The Educational Advisor shall be a member of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service of Auburn University or a research worker of the Auburn University Experiment Station and shall be appointed by the Board of Directors.

Board of Directors
The governing board of the Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association shall consist of a Board of Directors comprised of 10 members who shall serve for a period of 2 years. A minimum of 7 Board members shall be growers. In order that each section of the fruit and vegetable growing areas of the state be properly represented there shall be six directors from the Southern District and 4 directors from the Northern District. These districts are as indicated by attached map.

To be eligible as a director, said person when so elected shall be a member of the Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association in good standing at time of his or her election as a director.

All officers and directors should attend all meetings called by the President during his term. Any officer or director who misses two consecutive meetings (except with good reason, approved by the Board) may be replaced by the Board of Directors.

Executive Committee
The Executive Committee shall be comprised of the President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, and the Educational Advisor.

Membership Eligibility
The membership of the Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association is hereby divided into three groups; namely, grower members, industry members and honorary members. To be eligible as a grower member, one must be a commercial grower of fruit and/or vegetables in the state of Alabama. An industry member is one who has a direct financial interest in the fruit and vegetable industry of Alabama. An honorary member is one who is connected with either Auburn University, United States Department of Agriculture, or Alabama Department of Agriculture and is engaged in Extension, Research, or Teaching or who has supervisory control of work for the benefit of the fruit and vegetable industry of Alabama. All members shall have the power to vote and to hold office.

Family operations, partnerships, cooperatives, etc., where more than one individual is involved, payment of membership dues will be accompanied by designation of one individual to represent the group in voting, etc. In order to create an equitable voting process within the association, one membership dues entitles only that individual named to participate in voting and delegate participation.

Dues
Membership dues shall be set annually by the Board of Directors. Membership dues shall be due on January 1 for the current year.

Membership in the Alabama Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association entitles members to attend an annual conference, to receive a quarterly newsletter, and to receive one copy of the conference proceedings.

Delinquency in due payment will jeopardize timely receipt of any newsletter or other publication. Dues must be paid by the beginning of the annual conference in order to receive a copy of the conference proceedings.

Election of Officers
The election of the officers shall be in the following manner: Prior to the annual business meeting the President will appoint a nominating committee to consist of 3 members whose duty it will be to nominate 5 directors for an ensuing two year term (3 from the Southern district and 2 from the Northern District); a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, and Secretary- Treasurer. This nominating committee shall make its report to the full business meeting of the annual meeting. The designated chairman of the said committee will make the report for the entire committee at the call of the President. After his report the President will call for further nominations from the floor in the open duly called session. When all nominations are declared in and closed by the President, then the members shall proceed to elect the ones nominated by majority vote. The method of electing to be determined by the President with the wishes of the membership. Any vote to be counted must be by a member who is present. Where any election is contested the President will appoint 3 tellers to ascertain the certainty of the votes and the chief teller shall report the same to the President and upon report, President will then declare the election.

Secretary-Treasurer
The duty of the Secretary-Treasurer will be to assist the Executive Secretary in the record keeping and financial workings of the Association. He will also assist the audit committee.

Auditing
The Executive Secretary will present to the President at the annual meeting an account of all financial transactions paid in and paid out of the said organization. This account will be reviewed and placed into the minutes of the annual business meeting.

Three Directors will be appointed by the President to audit the books of the Association's financial and business activities. This audit shall be accomplished prior to the financial statement being presented to the President and in turn to the said organization.

President
The term of office of the President shall be for a term of one year with provision that he can succeed himself. Upon completion of service as president he will automatically become a Director for one year as Immediate Past President.

In the event the elected President becomes incapacitated or unable to complete his elected term, the 1st vice President will automatically assume the Presidency.

Executive Secretary
The duty of the Executive Secretary will be that of custodian of all records of the organization. The Executive Secretary shall collect and account for all money paid to the said organization.

Life Director
An honorary position to be given to a longtime AFVGA member to act as an advisor to the Association. The “Life Director” will be chosen by the Board of Directors. The “Life Director” will be entitled, but not required, to attend all Board meetings. He will not have a vote on the Board, but will retain his vote as an AFVGA member.

Committee Appointment
Other committees for the proper function of this organization shall be appointed by the President at the discretion of the Board of Directors. The President shall appoint a resolutions committee prior to the annual business meeting for the purpose of considering pertinent resolutions to be acted upon at the annual meeting.

Established: November 19, 1980
Amended: November 8, 1990
Amended : August, 1994

To contact the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association by email:  kembljm@auburn.edu

To contact the Alabama Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association by snail mail: AFVGA, P.O. Box 2081, Auburn, Alabama 36831-2081