Mark Vaughan has been around the fresh produce business his entire life, beginning with his family’s business, Quick Spuds, located in Oklahoma City. It served the local food service and restaurant market, with a focus on fresh-cut fries and vegetables.

Vaughan attended the University of Oklahoma and returned to the family business, where he grew it beyond Oklahoma City, first expanding to the Tulsa-area food service market. He then acquired Sooner Spuds, based in Stroud, Oklahoma.

In 1998, he renamed the business Vaughan Foods Inc. and relocated to Moore, Oklahoma. What started as a small citywide produce purveyor grew into a national business with more than 600 employees, operations in 4 states and customers in all 50 states, as well as Canada and Mexico.

Vaughan oversaw the company’s initial public offering in 2007 and remained on the board of directors through 2012 when he sold the business to Reser’s Fine Foods. Following the acquisition, he served as chief operating officer for 5 years.

Today, Vaughan serves as the president and chief executive officer of Fresh Avenue Partners, a produce and refrigerated logistics solutions company based in Oklahoma City.

In 2015, the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives appointed Vaughan to OSU’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center Industry Advisory Committee, where he currently serves as a past chair.