ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

U.S.-Poland Business Council, Washington, D.C.
Michael Skahill, vice president of global affairs for Smithfield Foods, was elected vice chair for 2015-16. Smithfield Foods is said to be Poland's largest producer of fresh and packaged meats, including the Krakus Ham, and is said to be one of Poland's largest hog producers. U.S.-Poland Business Council is a non-profit organization that promotes commercial relations between the United States and Poland.

Sani Professional, the food safety division of Professional Disposables International (PDI) and the Sani Professional Food Safety Advisory Council (SPFSAC), Orangeburg, N.Y.
Chirag Bhatt, global regulatory compliance manager at Bloomin’ Brands Inc., was named a new board member. Bhatt has been involved in the food safety industry for more than 30 years. After a 26-year tenure working with the Houston Health Department's food safety inspection program, he worked with a custom software company as vice president, food safety and client consulting. In July 2012, Chirag joined Bloomin' Brands, responsible for ensuring that the company’s 1,500 restaurants comply with the local/state and federal food safety requirements. Restaurants include Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. Dr. Hal King, founder and CEO of Public Health Innovations LLC, was also appointed a board member. King has worked in the investigation of foodborne and other diseases, performed funded research on causation of diseases, worked in the prevention of intentional adulteration of foods and worked in the design and implementation of preventative controls for food safety hazards in the food industry. Previously, King was the director of food and product safety at Chick-fil-A Inc., where he led and implemented a food safety management program. He’s also past chairman of the National Restaurant Association Quality Assurance Executive Study Group and past board member on the FDA and CDC Industry Partnerships. Another new board member is Michael Moomjian, director, quality assurance and food safety for P.F. Chang’s. Moomjian maintains almost 20 years of progressive experience in the food industry at the QA, food safety, nutrition, R&D, manufacturing and purchasing levels. Prior to P.F. Chang's, he served in various QA, purchasing and nutritional roles at several multi-unit national chains, including Boston Market, Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, CKE Restaurants and Jack-In-The-Box.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Long Beach, Calif.
Noelia Rodriguez was appointed managing director of communications, responsible for overseeing the harbor’s communications, government relations and marketing divisions. Previously, Rodriguez was chief communications officer for Metro Los Angeles, where she led 275 employees and managed a $50 million budget overseeing media relations, government relations, marketing, communications and community relations. She was also responsible for customer programs and services. She also served as director of the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University, vice president of corporate communications at Univision, director of communications and press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush and deputy mayor under former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Meanwhile, Lori Ann Farrell Harrison was appointed new board president. Farrell Harrison is the director of finance for the City of Huntington Beach, and was previously chief financial officer for the City of Long Beach. And, Lou Anne Bynum was appointed vice president and Tracy Egoscue as secretary, succeeding Doug Drummond and Rich Dines as president and vice president, respectively.

International Society of Beverage Technologists, Dallas, Texas
Sal Calandra, head of quality and food safety at Linde LLC, was elected to the board of directors, where he will serve a minimum of three years. Calandra, who has been an active ISBT member since 2003, also chairs the Food Gas Committee of the Compressed Gas Association.   
 

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Mike Ellis, president and COO, announced plans to retire after 40 years with the company. Ellis joined Fred Meyer in 1975 as a parcel clerk, and went on to serve in a series of operations and merchandising leadership positions in stores, division management and as a corporate officer. He was vice president of Fred Meyer's food group before joining The Kroger Co. as a senior officer in 2004. He returned to lead Fred Meyer as president in 2006. He was promoted to senior vice president of retail divisions in 2012, leading five operating divisions, as well as Kroger's jewelry and convenience store businesses, and became president and COO on Jan. 1, 2014. Meanwhile, Lynn Marmer, group vice president of corporate affairs, announced plans to retire in early 2016 after 18 years with the company. Marmer joined Kroger in 1997 as a senior attorney in the legal department. When appointed to her current position in 1998, she became Kroger's first female corporate officer. Marmer is responsible for growing Kroger's supplier diversity program to $1 billion annually, creating a national program of fresh food rescue that donates 200 million meals annually to food banks across the United States and creating four cause marketing campaigns that contribute millions of dollars to Kroger's signature community programs.

Cargill North America, Wichita, Kan.
John Niemann, currently president of Cargill Food Distribution, was appointed president of Cargill Turkey & Cooked Meats. Niemann replaces Ruth Kimmelshue, who was appointed president last year. Tom Windish, currently a commercial business leader for Cargill Beef, was hired to fill the distribution business position being vacated by Niemann. Chris Roberts, currently the president of the company’s egg business, will become the leader of the new Cargill Value Added Protein unit.  Sonya Roberts, current head of sales and marketing for Cargill’s salt business, will become managing director of the egg portion of Cargill Value Added Protein.

Sun Orchard, Tempe, Ariz.
Steve Finn was named senior vice president, sales and marketing. Finn came from Danone Waters of America, where he served as vice president, sales representing evian Natural Spring Water. Prior to Danone, he was director of sales for both B2B food ingredients as well as branded products at ConAgra and Peet's Coffee and Tea. Finn began his career as a sales representative at Pillsbury, where he sold refrigerated products.

Maple Leaf Foods, Canada
Dr. Greg Douglas was appointed vice president, animal care, after serving more than 10 years in public service with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as chief veterinary officer for the Province of Saskatchewan and most recently, chief veterinarian for Ontario, where he was responsible for leading the management of the province's animal health policy and program development and delivery.

G. Willi-Food International Ltd., Israel
Gregory Gurtovoy and Oleksander Avdyeyev were appointed new members of the board, effective immediately. Gurtovoy is the indirect controlling shareholder of the company, and serves as chairman of the Supervisory Board of Platinum Bank, and managing partner of GHP Group Investment Bank. Avdyeyev is an attorney who serves as deputy director of Lawrus Law Firm, and director of MAXTGROUP LLC. In addition, Alexander Granovskyi, the former indirect controlling shareholder of the company, resigned from his post on the board of directors.  

FOODSERVICE:
Domino's Pizza, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Troy Ellis was named executive vice president - supply chain, replacing John Macksood, who is retiring from Domino's after 29 years with the company. Ellis, a former U. S. Army officer serving in the 101st Airborne, was most recently senior vice president of conversion, overseeing manufacturing, transportation planning and third-party logistics for Coca-Cola Refreshments, responsible for a 12,000-person team producing 2.1 billion cases of beverages from 79 company-owned facilities, 36 contract manufacturing facilities and 64 third-party warehouses. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Ellis worked for Kimberly Clark Corp. and PepsiCo. Meanwhile, Michael Lawton announced plans to retire as chief financial officer after 16 years of service with the company. He will be succeeded by Jeffrey Lawrence, current treasurer of Domino's, who has been with the company since 2000. His official title will be executive vice president and CFO. Lawrence began his career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen. He started at Domino's in May 2000 as director of financial reporting, and took over as treasurer in January 2014. Additionally, Andy Ballard, CEO and co-founder of Quad Analytix, was added to the company’s board of directors, effective July 15. Ballard is also the vice chairman of Zignal Labs, and serves as a senior advisor at the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. He has maintained previous board roles at Activant Solutions, Catalina Marketing, DoubleClick, Getty Images, Internet Brands and Vertafore.

Darden Restaurants, Inc., Orlando, Fla.
Jeffrey Davis was named senior vice president and CFO, responsible for the financial functions of the company, including finance and accounting, corporate reporting, corporate tax, treasury and investor relations, as well as internal audit, supply chain and real estate and development. Most recently, Davis served as executive vice president and CFO for the Walmart U.S. segment of Walmart Stores, Inc. He joined Walmart in 2006 as vice president of finance for the Walmart U.S. specialty division. Prior to joining Walmart, Davis was chief financial officer for Lakeland Tours, LLC and McKesson General Medical, and held financial leadership positions at the Hillman Co. and KPMG Peat Marwick. Davis succeeds Brad Richmond, who will be moving into an advisory role to assist with the transition.

Brinker International, Inc., Dallas, Texas
Jose Luis Prado was added to the board of directors for the owner of Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy.Prado maintains more than 30 years of international experience at PepsiCo, Inc. He most recently served as president of Quaker Oats North America. Prior to that, he was president of Gamesa-Quaker, and has held a number of financial, sales and general management positions at Frito-Lay International, most notably chief financial officer in Spain and president in the Caribbean, Andean and South America. Prado also serves on the board of directors for Northern Trust Corp., as well as a number of business and civic organizations in Chicago and New York.

TGI Fridays, Carrollton, Texas
Nick Shepherd announced plans to step down from his role as president and CEO.

SUPPLIERS:

ESI Group USA, Hartland, Wis.
Michael Kopp joined the company’s mechanical engineering department. Kopp comes to the design-build firm from HGA, and is a registered P.E. and certified Commissioning Process Management Professional.

Cimcorp Group, Canada
Chief executive officer Doug Pickard announced his retirement from Cimcorp Automation Ltd. after leading the company, which he co-founded as RMT Robotics Ltd., for nearly 35 years. His successor, operations manager Rick Trigatti, will expand his current responsibilities, effective June 29. Trigatti joined Cimcorp, then RMT Robotics, in 2000, and led the software development and project management groups before becoming the operations manager for North America.

Bishop-Wisecarver, Pittsburg, Calif.
Drew Leppert has taken on the role of director of sales, distribution, focusing on growth within the distribution channel, including all current and future distributor partner relationships within North America, Europe and Asia. Previously, Leppert served as regional sales manager for the South region with BWG. He also served in numerous sales management roles with Honeywell International for a decade.

Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan.
Paul Hansen was named director of marketing, responsible for the global presence of Bunting Magnetics, as well as its subsidiaries Bunting Magnetics Europe Ltd., Magnet Applications and buymagnets.com. His chief tasks involve translating the company's strategy into an effective marketing plan that will drive revenue and expand the company footprint in the industry. 

PaperWorks, Inc., Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
David Gray joined the company as director of business development. Gray brings 20 years of expertise in competitive analysis, strategy development, branding, packaging/display and global supply chain with well-known paperboard packaging companies. Most recently, he was the national account executive for RockTenn, developing new business with global mass market consumer packaged goods brand owners and retailers. He also spent seven years with MeadWestvaco in business development positions. 

AIT Worldwide Logistics, Itasca, Ill.
Alex Toledo was named new station manager in Miami, Fla. Toledo maintains more than 20 years of experience in the supply chain management industry, and is well-versed in Latin American logistics, having worked in locations throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean. In his new role, Toledo plans to bolster the Miami office’s international operations with the goal of AIT-Miami becoming the primary gateway to Latin America for the United States and Europe. He will also strengthen strategic relationships in the region and grow the volume of domestic operations and special services.

SPX, Charlotte, N.C.
Vincent Rufo was appointed district sales manager covering Northeast Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware. Rufo will provide commercial and technical support to channel partners and help grow SPX pump and valve components in the food, beverage, dairy and pharmaceutical markets. Rufo brings extensive account management, sales and application engineering experience from his past roles within SPX and at Southeastern Pump.

Performance Packaging of Nevada, Las Vegas
Joseph Dunn joined as vice president of research and development and regulatory affairs, responsible for researching, supporting, evaluating and managing the innovation development process as well as overseeing plant operations for a new liquid food contract packaging facility that will open by the end of 2015. Dunn will also provide support to the sales teams with new market entries, technologies, customer projects and product formulations/analysis. Dunn is the author of more than 25 patents, and invented the use of pulsed light for packaging sterilization. His executive experience includes president and CEO of NanoMed Technologies, and laboratory director, chief safety officer of Pilot Aseptic Technologies, director of technology assessment for The National Center for Food Safety & Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and chief scientist for research and development for Automatic Liquid Packaging.

Adept Technology, Inc., Pleasanton, Calif.
Brian McMorris was hired as vice president of North American sales for fixed robotics.McMorris comes from Panasonic's industrial automation division, where he was national sales manager focusing on the semiconductor, electronics, robotics, biomedical, security and food packaging markets. Prior, he was OEM account manager and emerging markets manager for SICK, Inc. McMorris also spent 12 years at Scientific Technologies, Inc., holding sales leadership and product management positions.

Standex Refrigerated Solutions Group, Salem, N.H.
Johnny Manche was promoted to vice president of finance. Manchejoined the company in 2004 as controller for the Nor-Lake division, then was promoted to vice president of finance. Prior to joining Standex, Manche acquired over 13 years of progressive finance/accounting leadership experience in automotive, textile, service and public practice industries. Meanwhile, Beth Berryhill was promoted to director of human resources. Berryhill joined Standex in 1993 as employee relations manager for the Master-Bilt division.

Cashco, Inc., Ellsworth, Kan.
Clint Rogers was named president. Most recently, Rogers served as general manager of the company. His experience in sales and marketing goes back to 1998, when he joined the company as a marketing specialist. Rogers has held other positions with Cashco, including marketing manager, national sales manager, vice president of sales and marketing, vice president of sales/marketing/engineering and general manager – valve division.

Precision Valve Corp., Rye Brook, N.Y.
Timothy Carlson was appointed chief financial officer, effective immediately, taking over for Albert Mariani, who will continue to serve in an advisory role. Carlson brings extensive international and consumer packaged goods experience to this position. Previously, Carlson served as executive vice president, CFO and treasurer of ATMI. Before that, he worked for nine years at Campbell Soup Co. across various financial roles.  

TricorBraun, Oak Brook, Ill.
Charmaine Laine joined as marketing communications manager, responsible for day-to-day management of the company’s digital and print marketing communications, participating in the strategic planning and development of long-range marketing campaigns and assisting with the development of TricorBraun’s media outreach and consumer research. Laine comes from Engage Creative and previously worked on the account team for SAP at iris Worldwide. She has more than 20 years of marketing communication management and writing experience with companies such as LiftMaster, CDK Global, Patten Industries and Malcolm Marketing Communications.