Agribusiness Person of the Year- Jennifer Spaletta

The Lodi District Chamber of Commerce announces the Agribusiness Person of the Year: Jennifer Spaletta, founder Spaletta Law PC. During their December 2019 meeting, the Agribusiness Committee deliberated and voted Jennifer as the award recipient. “I am very honored to be selected as the Agribusiness Person of the Year,” said Spaletta. Jennifer Spaletta will be recognized during the 97^th Annual Dinner & Outstanding Citizen’s Celebration on Thursday, February 13, 2020 at Wine & Roses.
 
Jennifer Spaletta is one of the area’s leading experts on water law. She received her M.S. degree in Agricultural & Resource Economics at University of California, Davis followed by her Juris Doctorate. She has extensive experience litigating commercial contract disputes, water, environmental, and constitutional law issues, as well as California Proposition 218 cases. She has served as lead trial council in court trials and jury trials throughout the state and in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington D.C. Ms. Spaletta serves as general and special counsel to several public agencies including reclamation and irrigation districts, water conservation districts, county water agencies, and local businesses, including farming operations, industrial manufacturing companies, and food processing companies. She served as the President of the Lodi District Grape Growers Association in 2013-2014, and in 2015, she helped local growers strike a deal with the State Water Resources Control Board to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 25% to avoid mandatory curtailments. Recently, she has worked on the DREAM project, a collaboration between EBMUD and the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District that allows for banking of groundwater during the wet years. Ms. Spaletta also volunteers her time as a youth swim coach, was a Past President of the Women’s Center of San Joaquin and is an Advisory Council Member at UC Davis’ Environmental Law Center. She lives in Lodi with her husband and their four children. 
 
Amy Blagg, last year’s Agribusiness Person of the Year recipient, stated, “Jennifer has been a dedicated Board Member of the Lodi District Grape Growers Association since 2005. She is always willing to lend her expertise in agricultural water issues to educate the agricultural community and has the natural ability to explain these complex issues in an understandable way. We are pleased to present her as the Agribusiness Person of the Year.”  
 
The following awards and recipients will also be presented during the evening: Mark Armstrong as the Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Miller’s Hot Dogs as Business of the Year, House of Clocks as Small Business of the Year, Joy Furtado Freeman as Ambassador of the Year, and the Lodi Street Faire Volunteers will be recognized for their years of service.  Tickets for the event can be purchased at LodiChamber.com. If you are interested in purchasing a table, email Karen Cannon at KCannon@LodiChamber.com.