HL People for Dec. 4 – Dec. 12

CHPA Hires New Director of Technical Affairs



The Washington-based Consumer Health Products Association has hired Fred Razzaghi as director of technical affairs for its Science and Technology department, according to a Dec. 6 newsletter. Razzaghi has more than 20 years of experience with pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer healthcare products, says CHPA. He has also worked with international, federal and state governments.

iSatori Hires Cucolo as VP National Accounts



iSatori Global Technologies, based in Golden, Colo., has hired Jim Cucolo as VP of national accounts. Cucolo will help the maker and seller of Lean System 7 to develop new business in the health and specialty sectors. He will also handle all domestic national accounts, including those with GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, 24 Hour Fitness and Vitamin World, according to a Dec. 3 announcement. Previously, Cucolo has worked in sales for GNC and EAS Inc.

California Farmland Pioneer Ellen Straus Dies at Age 75


Bay Area organic dairy farmer and farmland activist Ellen Straus died of a brain tumor on Nov. 30 at the age of 75. The Los Angeles Times, which ran her obituary on Dec. 3, called Strauss a “Jewish girl from the Netherlands who had no farming background [and who] saved Marin's dairy industry from property developers and helped start the organic dairy movement in the West.”

Born in Amsterdam, Straus exhibited a life-long commitment to sustainable business practices. In the 1970s she began working on efforts to establish an agricultural land trust to save Marin County, Calif. from over-development, according to the article at the Los Angeles Times online. With help from other supporters, her efforts eventually resulted in the Marin Agricultural Land Trust.

Straus's son Albert founded the Straus Family Creamery with a focus on selling value-added dairy products. In 1994, the creamery became California's first fully organic dairy.