Steve Lutz is currently Vice President of Marketing for CMI Orchards, a leading apple marketing organization in Wenatchee, WA. Under Steve’s leadership, CMI Orchards and Daisy Girl Organics became the #1 selling apple brands in the U.S.
Prior to CMI Orchards, Steve was Executive Vice President and co-founder of Nielsen Perishables Group, a Chicago-based consulting firm. His company created technologies for merging consumer information with supermarket sales data to identify growth opportunities for their clients. In 2012, Steve and his partners sold the firm to the Nielsen Company.
Prior to the Perishables Group Steve served as President of the Washington Apple Commission, one of the largest commodity promotion organizations in the U.S. The organization earned multiple national advertising and public relations awards including the Silver Lion from the Public Relations Society of America.
Steve holds an MBA from City University and a bachelor’s degree from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications. He is a past chairman and has served 12 years on the Murrow Professional Advisory Board.
Steve has been married 34 years to his wife, Jan. They have three terrific sons, two of whom graduated from WSU. They are lifelong Coug supporters and can be found in Pullman on most fall football weekends.