ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

U.S. National Committee of the International Dairy Federation, Verona, Wis.
Cary Frye, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs of the International Dairy Foods Association, was elected chairman, replacing Rob Byrne, director of industry and regulatory affairs for Schreiber Foods Co., who has led US-IDF for the past four years. Frye also serves as a member of the IDF board and is the only representative from North America. Meanwhile, Shawna Morris, vice president of trade policy for the National Milk Producers Federation, was elected vice chair, and Matt Mathison, vice president of cheese company communications and technical services for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, was re-elected treasurer.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Jewel-Osco, Itasca, Ill.
Scott Hays was named vice president of operations, responsible for leading the operations team to support Jewel-Osco’s marketing and merchandising initiatives, including the company’s upcoming remodels and opening their five newly acquired locations. Hays began his grocery career with Albertson’s, Inc. in 1983 in the Intermountain West division as a grocery clerk. He was promoted to store director, and then held positions such as district manager, area vice president and division vice president, leading the company’s San Antonio division. He also played an integral role in their development of South Texas markets.

GO Veggie!, formerly Galaxy Nutritional Foods, North Kingstown, R.I.
Whitney Velasco-Aznar was named to the newly created role of vice president of marketing. A global marketer, Velasco-Aznar brings more than 20 years of experience. Most recently, Velasco-Aznar served as the vice president of marketing for Beyond Meat, where she helped expand retail distribution and launch new products like Beef-Free Crumbles from the refrigerated into the frozen case. Previously, she was vice president of marketing for Hormel Foods, and spent more than 12 years in various global marketing roles at General Mills and Nestlé SA. 

The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Timothy Massa will be promoted to group vice president, human resources and labor relations, taking over for Paul Heldman, executive vice president, secretary and general counsel, when he retires in May. Massa joined Kroger in 2010 in his current role as vice president. Prior to joining the company, he served in various human resources leadership roles for 21 years at Procter & Gamble. He has an extensive global HR generalist background in leadership development, succession planning, performance management, strategy development, employee relations and engagement. 

SUPPLIERS:

Wildeck, Inc., Waukesha, Wis.
Jim Hathaway was promoted to senior guarding products specialist, responsible for growing the company’s safety guarding products business through additional training of existing Wildeck dealers, as well as the recruitment of new safety products dealers. Todd Ehlers was named new guarding products sales specialist/inside regional sales manager. Mike Arney was promoted to chairman of the board for Ladder Industries, a Wildeck subsidiary. Tim Gonzalez was promoted to general manager of Ladder Industries. And, John Cifra joined Ladder Industries as new inside sales representative.

Dynamic Conveyor Corp., Muskegon, Mich.
Tim DeVriendt was hired as a sales territory manager, responsible for assisting customers in conveyor design and layout for both the DynaCon and DynaClean conveyor lines. DeVriendt brings many years of sales and customer service experience in the manufacturing industry.

ARPAC LLC, Schiller Park, Ill.
Daniel Tillery joined as the Southern California regional field service manager. Tillery has more than 15 years of maintenance experience directly related to packaging equipment, and over seven years of experience in field service management. Charles Smith joins the aftermarket team as a Southeast regional technician. Smith brings with him 19 years of experience with packaging equipment design and troubleshooting, plant management safety and maintenance programs. David Johnson joins as technical service engineer, supporting ARPAC customers through problem solving, troubleshooting equipment and resolution of operational equipment issues. Jason Brown joins the aftermarket team as a service technician, and brings a wealth of experience with FANUC robots, Allen Bradley PLCs/HMI and automated robotic palletizing systems. Lastly, Ross Hegg joins as controls engineer with robotics specialization, incorporating 10 years of experience in automation and controls engineering, specialization in robotic, HMI and PLC programming, network technology, servos and writing/debugging full system programs for custom automated machinery.