ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, D.C.
Agriculture deputy secretary Krysta Harden announced plans to resign at the end of February. To ensure continuity of operations upon her departure, Michael Scuse, the current under secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (FFAS), will serve as acting deputy secretary of agriculture. Alexis Taylor will assume the duties of under secretary for FFAS.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
G. Willi-Food, Israel
Zwi and Joseph Williger resigned from the company's board of directors and all other positions within the company and its subsidiaries.

The Schwan Food Co., Bloomington, Minn.
Kathy Persian was named senior vice president and chief information officer, responsible for the strategic direction and execution of the company’s information services department. Persian brings more than 25 years of experience in information delivery to the role. Most recently, she served as senior vice president of business transformation and chief information officer for Sports Authority, where she was responsible for corporate strategy development, the information services team, e-commerce and enterprise program and process capabilities. She has also served in several finance and information technology leadership roles at SUPERVALU, including chief information officer, and Best Buy.

Publix, Lakeland, Fla.
Chief executive officer Ed Crenshaw announced plans to retire after 42 years, effective April 30. With Crenshaw’s retirement comes the promotion of company president Todd Jones to president and CEO, effective May 1. With Jones’ promotion comes David Phillips as executive vice president and CFO. Phillips began his Publix career in 1984 as an internal auditor. He was named audit manager in 1986, and promoted to controller in 1990. In 1996, he was promoted to vice president and controller, and then in 1997 promoted to vice president finance and treasurer. He was named CFO in 1999. Miami division vice president Kevin Murphy will be promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president of retail operations. Murphy has worked in various positions with Publix before being promoted to store manager in 1995. He was promoted to Jacksonville division district manager in 2003, Atlanta division regional director in 2009 and Miami division vice president in 2014. With Murphy’s promotion, Bob Bechtel will be promoted to Miami division vice president. Bechtel has worked in various positions with Publix before being promoted to store manager in 1991. He was named Lakeland division district manager in 1995, and in 2008, was promoted to his current position of Lakeland division regional director. After more than 47 years of service, Lakeland division vice president Tom McLaughlin announced his decision to retire April 30. As a result, Sam Pero will be promoted to Lakeland division vice president. Pero began his Publix career in 1977 as a front service clerk, and has worked in various positions before being promoted to store manager in 1987. He was promoted to Lakeland division district manager in 1994, and in 2004, his district was moved to the company’s Jacksonville division. In 2005, Pero was named Jacksonville division regional director.

SUPPLIERS:
Ambitech Engineering Corp., Downers Grove, Ill.
Jeff Jendryk joined as senior manager of business development. He has more than 30 years of experience in the marketing, consulting and design of projects in the food and beverage sector. Jendryk joined Ambitech from CDM Smith, is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and the Midwest Food Processors Association (MWFPA), is past chairman of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers – Chicago Section (ASME) and is certified in sanitary design and construction for food processing plants.

Polymer Logistics, Tampa, Fla.
The leader in retail-ready packaging named Tony Mosco as North American vice president of sales, responsible for all commercial activity in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mosco is an accomplished executive with more than 20 years of experience driving significant revenue growth for multinational organizations. He was most recently vice president of sales at Intergro, responsible for partnering with grower-shippers specific to the agricultural industry. Prior to Intergro, Mosco worked for the CHEP USA division of Brambles Ltd. as national sales manager for the produce sector, managing a team of account executives and a portfolio of business covering the United States.

Tindall Corp., Spartanburg, S.C.
McKindley “Mac” Freeman was promoted to vice president and general manager - Mississippi division, filling the position previously occupied by Jeff Woodruff, who announced his retirement, but will remain as vice president of engineering through the end of the year. Freeman joined Tindall in 2004, and has previously served as a project manager, sales engineer and sales manager. His duties have included everything from engineering and construction management to sales and marketing. Woodruff joined Tindall in 1986, and has managed the functional areas of engineering and project management for several of the company’s divisions. Previously, he has been vice president and general manager for the Mississippi division since 2004.

Hannibal Industries, Los Angeles
Steve Rogers was promoted to executive vice president, Ryan Peck was promoted to regional sales director in the South and East and Gary Steen was promoted to regional sales director in the North and West. In addition, Nathan Sherwood was hired as a regional account representative in North and West, and Josh Strickland was named a regional account representative for South and East. 

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers, Wilmington, Del.
Ram Mudholkar was named president, South Asia in India, in addition to his current role of regional business director, DuPont crop protection. Mudholkar has been with DuPont India since 1995, and has worked for over 31 years in the agricultural input industry, which includes crop protection chemicals and seeds. As a business director, he once led the crop protection business across ASEAN and South Asia and managed DuPont's soy protein business in South Asia for three years. Mudholkar also spent two years at the DuPont headquarters working on international projects. Prior to joining DuPont, he worked for 11 years at Hoechst AgrEvo India. Meanwhile, Balvinder Singh Kalsi, currently DuPont South Asia's president, will retire after more than 24 years with the organization. Under Kalsi’s leadership, DuPont India is said to be one of the fastest growing strategic markets for DuPont globally.

IN MEMORIUM: DONALD “BUDDY” WRAY, TYSON FOODS
Former Tyson Foods president Donald “Buddy” Wray died at the age of 78.

Wray started working for Tyson Foods, Springdale, Ark., in 1961 as a field service technician. Two years later, he oversaw plant and sales operations in Rogers, Ark. As his career continued and Tyson Foods made large acquisitions, he oversaw sales, processing and marketing at more operations.

Wray retired in 2000 after serving as president for nine years, but returned to the company as executive vice president in 2008. He retired again in 2014.

“Buddy Wray was a legendary figure at Tyson Foods,” says John Tyson, chairman. “From the earliest days of the growth of Tyson Foods, Buddy, along with my dad and Leland Tollett, made the company succeed, from the early 1960s through the 1990s. He was instrumental in everything the company did for over 50 years. There is no way to express what Buddy meant to the company and thousands of its team members during that time. He was also a long-time dedicated Springdale community leader who will be missed by many and long remembered.”