ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), Tucker, Ga.
Nath Morris was promoted to vice president – expo, responsible for the association’s International Poultry Expo and the overall management of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). He will be assuming the responsibilities of Dr. Charles Olentine, who is retiring. Since joining the USPOULTRY staff in April 2014, Morris has served as IPE sales director. He was previously U.S. sales manager for Perdue Farms/Heritage Breeders.

Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), Lombard, Ill.
Kevin Smith, president and CEO of Sustainable Supply Chain Consulting, was elected to the office of chair. He previously served as senior vice president and corporate sustainability officer for CVS Caremark, where he was responsible for developing and implementing an environmental sustainability program for the entire CVS Caremark enterprise. Prior to this, he was senior vice president of supply chain and logistics for CVS/pharmacy, the retail arm of CVS Caremark. Dr. Theodore Stank, Bruce chair of logistics and supply chain management at The University of Tennessee (UT), was named to the office of immediate past chair. Stank assumed the Bruce chair following nearly six years in administration as department head for marketing and logistics, associate dean for academic programs and associate dean of the Center for Executive Education. Prior to his roles at UT, he worked for Michigan State University, Iowa State University and the University of Texas at El Paso. Mary Long, vice president logistics and network planning for Domino's, was elected board chair elect. She leads the global equipment and supply, engineering, supply chain systems and logistics teams responsible for creating innovations that produce top- and bottom-line results. Prior to Domino's, she served in various supply chain roles for Campbell's Soup, General Mills, Pillsbury and Quaker Oaks/Gatorade. Remko van Hoek, senior vice president sourcing and procurement for The Walt Disney Co., was elected board vice chair. Prior to joining Walt Disney, he was the global procurement director at PwC. He has also served in chief procurement officer roles in two other organizations, and was part of Nike's EMEA supply chain organization. Mark Baxa, vice president, global procurement strategy for Monsanto Co., was elected secretary and treasurer. Previously, he served in a number of leadership capacities within Monsanto, most recently as the global trade operations and compliance lead. He also served as director, global customer service and logistics, international marketing manager, regional business manager and national accounts manager within the ag division of Upjohn Co.

American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), McLean, Va.
President and CEO Kraig Naasz announced his intent to resign at year’s end to become president and CEO of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). Under Naasz’ leadership, AFFI has added 170 new members over the past three years and grew its annual budget from $3.5 million to $25 million. Executive vice president of public affairs Joseph Clayton will serve as interim president pending the national search and selection of a successor.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:

ConAgra Foods, Inc., Omaha, Neb.
David Biegger was named executive vice president and chief supply chain officer, responsible for end-to-end supply chain functions for the consumer foods business and overseeing the company’s manufacturing, procurement, environment, health and safety, plant quality, customer logistics and planning and transportation and warehousing teams. Prior to joining ConAgra Foods,Biegger was responsible for Campbell Soup Co.’s global supply chain, including manufacturing, quality, safety, engineering, procurement, logistics, environmental sustainability and customer service. His results included achieving meaningful reductions in cost of goods sold, an all-time low injury rate, improved product quality and implementation of a recognized environmental sustainability program. Prior to joining Campbell Soup, Biegger spent 24 years in supply chain roles at Procter & Gamble Co.

Sun Orchard, Tempe, Ariz.
Thomas Spielberger was named chief financial officer. Spielberger is an experienced CFO who comes from Quinoa Corp.'s Ancient Harvest brand, where he served as CFO. Prior to Ancient Harvest, he served as vice president, finance and CFO of Celestial Seasonings and CFO of the Pliant Corp. He was also instrumental in the founding of the turnaround-focused Gaslight Equity Group under the Development Specialists Inc. umbrella. Earlier experience includes CFO at Jordan Industries, and manager, mergers and acquisitions group with Ernst & Young. Meanwhile, Peter Maulbeck was appointed senior vice president, strategy and planning. Previously, he served as a consultant to Sun Orchard in the capacity of interim CFO, and prior to that as CFO of AAK US. His early career also included an auditor role at Peat Marwick.

SUPERVALU INC., Minneapolis
President and CEO Sam Duncan announced plans to retire, effective Feb. 29, 2016. Duncan was named president and CEO in February 2013 in connection with the sale by SUPERVALU of five retail grocery banners to Albertson’s. Under Duncan’s leadership, SUPERVALU repositioned its three core business segments—independent business, Save-A-Lot and its five remaining regional retail food banners—and increased shareholder value. As a result, Bruce Besanko was promoted to the newly-created role of executive vice president and COO, and Susan Grafton was promoted to executive vice president and CFO. In his role, Besanko will retain oversight of the finance function and assume oversight of the company’s independent business operations, five regional retail food banners and the company’s merchandising, marketing and pharmacy functions.

SUPPLIERS:

Genesee & Wyoming Inc., Darien, Conn.
Albert Neupaver and Joseph Pyne were elected to the board of directors. Neupaver serves as executive chairman of the board for Wabtec Corp. He joined Wabtec in 2006 as president and CEO before being named chairman and CEO in 2013 and executive chairman in 2014. Under his leadership, Wabtec has more than tripled its revenues and significantly expanded its presence worldwide. Previously, he oversaw several divisions of AMETEK, Inc., and held various engineering and operations roles at Pfizer, Inc. Pyne serves as executive chairman of the board of Kirby Corp., and since 1984, has served in various roles for Kirby and its subsidiaries, including president, CEO, executive vice president and director. During his tenure, Kirby’s revenues and earnings have grown more than 15% per year, and its market capitalization has increased from $107 million to $4.6 billion. In conjunction with the new appointments, Robert Melzer announced his intent to resign from the board, effective February 2016. And, Philip Ringo will not stand for re-election at the end of his term in May 2016.

Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
Frederick "Rick" Sohm joined as chief financial officer, succeeding Lori Wade. Sohm most recently served as the treasurer of ALTe Technologies, and was the chief financial officer of Warrior Sports, Inc. from 2009-2014. Sohm's career spans over 20 years, during which he has held several executive and leadership positions in finance and accounting at companies such as ArvinMeritor, Inc. and DaimlerChrysler Corp.

Linde LLC, Murray Hill, N.J.
Ryan Wall was appointed application sales engineer for the food and beverage markets in Texas, responsible for sales and providing food manufacturing companies with food chilling, freezing, and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) solutions. Wall began working at Linde in 2013 in the marketing and innovation development program. Before Linde, he worked as a design engineer at WSP Group.

KOM International Inc., Canada
The supply chain consulting firm appointed Vincent Canonico and Peter Reed as new senior partners. Canonico has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain, logistics, warehousing and distribution, and has worked on logistics mandates in 15 countries for clients in grocery, consumer goods manufacturing, building supplies, agricultural, apparel, pharmaceutical, small appliances and packaging.  His experience also includes grocery retail, construction management consulting, cement manufacturing and technology transfer. Prior to KOM, Canonico developed AGILE, a network modeling solution geared specifically for the high-assortment nature of retail and wholesale distribution. Meanwhile, Reed’s corporate career in logistics, warehousing and distribution spans 38 years of hands-on experience in various roles with Sobeys, including over 20 years as vice president of logistics engineering. During this time, Reed established and expanded the Sobeys network, including three fully automated, state-of-the-art distribution centers and four distribution centers built to LEED standards.