From 1984 to 1992, Jerry was the plant manager of the Ocean Spray receiving station in Babcock. Ocean Spray is a cooperative made up of cranberry growers from Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Quebec and other parts of Canada, as well as Florida grapefruit growers.

In 1992, Jerry became the vice president of operations for Northland Cranberries. Northland is a vertically integrated grower, handler, processor and marketer of cranberries and value-added cranberry products. Jerry continued in that post until his retirement in 2000.

It was while Jerry was serving as president of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association that the Clinton Potter family approached the association in regards to taking over the former Cranberry Expo.

“They asked if we would like to take over the museum and maker a larger-scale historical and promotional arm of the cranberry industry. We did and the success of that decision is apparent in the staff and building that now represents the Wisconsin Cranberry Discovery Center. I feel privileged to be on the board of directors and am excited about the future growth of the Discovery Center,” says Jerry.