ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC), Washington, D.C.
Eric Mittenthal was named president, taking over for Janet Riley, who will remain as the official “Queen of Wien.” Mittenthal has served as vice president of public affairs for the NHDSC since 2012, where he highlighted hot dogs and sausages on the Martha Stewart Show, Comedy Central’s Daily Show and Colbert Report and in numerous other media outlets. Riley will continue her role as senior vice president of public affairs for the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), which oversees the NHDSC.

Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), Alexandria, Va.
Julie Hanson is the new regional director for GCCA in Europe, effective Jan. 4. Based in Brussels, Hanson will focus on providing GCCA European members with valuable member benefits and a high level of customer service. She will also focus on engaging with current and potential members, providing relevant and timely educational programming as well as building relationships to promote and market members and the industry. She maintains 11 years of experience in a full range of association management services.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), Portland, Ore.
Bob Stolarski, director of customer energy management for Puget Sound Energy, joined as new board chair for 2016, succeeding Greg Delwiche, who, in December 2015, retired as deputy administrator from the Bonneville Power Administration. Mark Gendron, senior vice president of power services, will serve as the interim board member from the Bonneville Power Administration. Clay Norris, power section manager of Tacoma Power, also joined the board, succeeding Chris Robinson, chief operating officer of Tacoma Power.

Dairy Processors Association of Canada/Association des Transformateurs Laitiers du Canada (DPAC/ATLC), Canada
Jacques Lefebvrewas elected new president and CEO. Lefebvre's career spans over 25 years and includes experience in journalism, strategic affairs, communications, government and stakeholder relations. He has held senior executive positions with national member organizations, both in the business and not-for-profit sectors. Earlier in his career, Lefebvre worked as a journalist covering a broad spectrum of issues, including politics as a national affairs reporter. He has also held senior positions with federal Cabinet Ministers.

Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF), Dallas, Texas
Wendy Davidson, president of U.S. specialty channels at Kellogg Co., was elected board chair to lead the organization’s board of directors and help the organization achieve its 2016 strategic goals. Since joining WFF in 1995, she has served on a variety of program and planning committees, and in 2011, became a member of the executive committee. Davidson was also founding executive sponsor of the Women’s International Network (WIN), founding sponsor for Tyson’s business resource groups and is an executive sponsor for Kellogg’s Global Talent Management Advisory Team. Meanwhile, Susan Adzick will serve as treasurer, with plans to serve as chair in 2018. Adzick is the vice president of sales and marketing for McLane Co.’s foodservice division. Adzick started her career in foodservice at PepsiCo, but prior to that, she worked at Occidental Chemical Co., Rhone-Poulenc and DuPont de Nemours, Inc. She also serves on the boards of the National Restaurant Association, the Arby’s Foundation and the Restaurant Leadership Conference Advisory. Other new board members include Kathleen Ciaramello, president of national foodservice and on-premise for Coca-Cola North America; Mike Hickey, executive vice president and president of Global Institutional for Ecolab; and Julie Juvera, vice president of people and field operations for California Pizza Kitchen.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Target Corp., Minneapolis
Janna Potts was promoted to executive vice president, chief stores officer, responsible for the leadership of Target’s 1,805 stores across the United States. Potts will replace Tina Tyler. Potts has been with Target since 1989 when she joined Mervyn’s. Since then, she has held a variety of leadership positions in stores, operations and human resources. Most recently, she was Target’s senior vice president of human resources, focused on stores and distribution.

Sysco Corp., Houston, Texas
Veteran foodservice distribution executive Tom Bené was promoted to president and COO, effective Jan. 1, overseeing all of Sysco’s business operations and commercial functions. Bené joined Sysco as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer in March 2013, and was named executive vice president and chief commercial officer in August 2013. He was appointed to his current role as executive vice president and president, foodservice operations in January 2015. Prior to joining Sysco, Bené held a variety of positions in merchandising, sales, operations, franchise development and general management during a 23-year career at PepsiCo, culminating with his role as president of PepsiCo Foodservice.

Cargill, Minneapolis
Todd Hall, a member of Cargill's executive team and the leader of the company's protein and salt businesses, was elected to the board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Hall joined Cargill in 1982, and held general management positions with the animal nutrition businesses until 1998. At that time, he joined the animal nutrition leadership team and worked with businesses in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States. In 2001, he oversaw Cargill's acquisition of Agribrands International. Hall was appointed president of Cargill's animal nutrition business in 2004. In 2008, he took on a broader role, leading the company's poultry operations in Central America, China, Europe, Thailand and the United States.

Stater Bros. Markets, San Bernardino, Calif.
Pete Van Helden was appointed president and CEO, effective Jan. 4. Van Helden is a 38-year veteran of the supermarket industry, and has served as president and COO of Stater Bros. since 2013. Previously, he was executive vice president retail operations for Supervalu.

Applegate Farms, LLC, Bridgewater, N.J.
Chief executive officer Kerry Collins will transition to the role of CEO emeritus, and chief operating officer Steven Lykken will assume the position of president. Collins joined Applegate in 2011 as vice president of finance, leading key efforts in information technology and supply chain management. Collins was named chief executive officer of Applegate in 2014, and shepherded the acquisition of Applegate by Hormel Foods in 2015. Meanwhile, Lykken became chief operating officer of Applegate in August 2015. He is a 24-year veteran of Hormel Foods, most recently as the senior vice president of supply chain at Jennie-O Turkey Store. He began his career at Hormel Foods in 1992 as a grocery products sales representative. From 1996-2002, Lykken led teams in trade management and marketing at Hormel’s corporate office, and moved to the Jennie-O Turkey Store as senior vice president of the retail division in 2003.

Dollar Tree, Inc., Chesapeake, Va.
Chief executive officer Howard Levine announced plans to step down, effective Jan. 15. Gary Philbin, who was named Family Dollar's president and COO shortly after Dollar Tree acquired more than 8,200 Family Dollar stores across 46 states, will continue leading Family Dollar.

FOODSERVICE:
Domino's Pizza, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Judy Werthauser was named executive vice president and chief people officer, tasked with leading a best-in-class human resource organization and maintaining a people-first culture for the brand's company-owned stores. Werthauser comes from Target Corp., where she was senior vice president of human resources. She joined Target in 2008, holding increasing levels of HR responsibilities, including overseeing a 300-person HR team in the headquarters, supporting over 15,000 Target team members and in Bangalore, India. She also provided oversight and direction for significant organizational change at Target, including the company's transformation to an omni-channel retailer with Target.com and mobile, Target Technology Services, the establishment of an enterprise business intelligence function and in-house management of all online-related strategies. Prior to Target, Werthauser was senior vice president of human resources for U.S. Bancorp, and held several senior HR positions at Marshall Field's. Meanwhile, Eric Anderson was appointed executive vice president of international operations, based in The Netherlands, tasked with overseeing two Domino's business regions—Europe (based in The Netherlands) and the newly-opened Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and Eastern European (MACE) region based in Dubai. Anderson will also oversee the company’s international supply chain and quality assurance teams. Anderson joined Domino's in 2010 as regional vice president for the Americas and business strategy. In 2012, he took over as regional vice president of Domino's EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region.
 

Kahala Brands, Scottsdale, Ariz.
The parent company of Cold Stone Creamery and The Great Steak & Potato Co., among other franchises, named Dr. Maya Warren as tastemaster and food scientist for the Cold Stone Creamery and Pinkberry brands. Warren is most recently known as the winner of CBS’ THE AMAZING RACE’s 25^th competition.

SUPPLIERS:

Danfoss, Bethpage, N.Y.
Miha Kavcic was named head of sales and business development in North America, responsible for advancing the company’s business within the heating market, including energy-saving hydronic balancing and control, electric heating and combined heat and power solutions. Kavcic has spent more than 15 years with Danfoss, most recently as vice president, responsible for Danfoss’ global hydronic balancing and control product business. He also has extensive product management experience in global markets.

JLS Automation, York, Pa.
Case packing veteran Mike Newcome joined as manager of the central U.S. and Canada region. Newcome’s 15 years of packaging sales and management includes market experience in food, beverage and personal care with a strong focus on case packing and robotic automation systems. Newcome comes from Hartness International, where he was director of sales for the central U.S. and Canada and led a regional team that covered 17 states.

Vulcan, a division of ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, Baltimore, Md.
Theprovider of commercial cooking equipment announced several executive management changes. For example, Joe Maresca was appointed director of sales – East, effective Jan. 15, responsible for all East Coast dealer sales. Maresca maintains 28 years of industry experience, including 16 years with Vulcan as an eastern regional sales manager, vice president of national accounts and business manager for the Range unit. David Sealfon was named business unit manager, steam. Sealfon joins Vulcan from Micro-Poise Measurement Systems, where he was the division vice president of operations. Previously, Sealfon worked for Kobelco Stewart Bolling, holding several leadership roles supplying processing equipment to the tire and rubber industries. His professional career spans more than 20 years, with various positions in operations, sales and service. And, after 43 years with ITW/Vulcan, Larry Lyons will be retiring in the first half of 2016. Lyons started at Vulcan’s Hillsboro, Ohio, plant and continued to be promoted throughout his tenure to operations and management roles on a variety of product lines. Lyons has served as the business unit manager for steam since 2004.