Rick Larsen was an advertising sales representative for Good Fruit Grower from 2006 to 2019. He retired on Dec. 31, 2019.
In addition to his time spent at Good Fruit Grower, Rick has an extensive background and skills from a 37-year graphic design career with experience in creative development, design, art direction, copywriting and business ownership.
Rick has worked in nearly every advertising media and, in many cases, has seen hand operations evolve to the improved technological applications of today. One traditional process that still works for him is . . . attention to detail.
Rick grew up in the farming community of Wapato, Washington, and as a young man he thinned, propped, picked, irrigated, smudged, raked rocks and mowed the grass for a number of orchardists.
During college, Rick spent his summers loading bags of potatoes onto boxcars. Football scholarships at Spokane Community College and Montana State University helped with college expenses. He returned to Yakima as an advertising artist with KIMA TV, a CBS affiliate, and in time became an award-winning art director, ad agency partner and entrepreneur.
Rick’s father, Ray, was a ditch rider for the Wapato Irrigation Project. One youthful summer of riding ditch with his dad taught him two important skills: First was to listen and second was how to have a conversation with an adult. This has proven invaluable in his advertising/graphic career and with his client relationships at Good Fruit Grower.
Rick enjoys the agricultural environment of the Yakima Valley and Eastern Washington. Attending many of the fruit tree and vineyard meetings and trade shows has afforded him opportunities to build relationships with growers and advertisers across the nation.
Rick lives in Yakima with his wife, Pam. Wapato High School classmates, they connected later in life and together have four older children and their families between them.