Steve Benson

Mr. Benson is the third-generation family member to run Benson Farms, LLC, the family’s 85-year-old farming business, and lives locally with his wife Ann and four children. He is a skilled senior manager with diversified experience in agriculture, real estate, and engineering. He is active in the community and was publicly elected to serve a four-year term on the Board of Directors for the local public utility known as the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), served as President of the Board, and represented the IID and its customers in state and federal water and power negotiations. California Governor Brown also appointed him to the Colorado River Board of CA. Currently, he is on the Imperial Valley Vegetable Growers Board and the IID Water Conservation Advisory Board.

He also serves as Chairman of the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation Board, focused on bringing new industry and jobs to the Imperial Valley. Mr. Benson worked for ten years in the Los Angeles region for real estate developers and homebuilders on master-planned communities and urban infill projects. He earned his Master of Business Administration in Real Estate Finance from the University of Southern California and dual degrees from Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations.