ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C.
President and CEO Connie Tipton announced plans to retire at the end of this year. Tipton joined the Milk Industry Foundation and the International Ice Cream Association in May 1981, before IDFA existed. With the help of her late husband, Tip Tipton, chief executive officer of the associations from 1988- 2003, Tipton launched the Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party in 1982 and the first International Sweetener Colloquium and Dairy Forum to bring differing points of view together on policy issues. In 1990, they formed IDFA as the umbrella organization for the Milk Industry Foundation, the International Ice Cream Association and the National Cheese Institute, and pushed for passage of legislation in the 1990 Farm Bill, which established the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP). Tipton has managed activities in virtually every area, including legislative and international affairs, economic policy analysis, communications and public relations, marketing programs, education and training, tradeshows and office management. She also was involved in strategy, policy and budgeting for the overall management of the organizations.

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), Tucker, Ga.
Paul Hill was elected chairman of the board of directors at the International Poultry Expo, part of the 2016 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). Hill previously served as vice chairman, and was instrumental in the founding of West Liberty Foods, a farmer-owned company, in 1996. He is currently chairman of West Liberty Foods, as well as president of Circle Hill Farms. Jerry Moye, Cobb-Vantress, was named vice chairman. Moye has spent 16 years in integrated chicken production for Showell Farms and Zacky Farms, before joining Cobb-Vantress in 1991, where he is currently president. Tom Hensley was named treasurer. Before joining Fieldale Farms, where he resides as president, Hensley was a tax manager at Price Waterhouse & Co. He has worked at Fieldale Farms for 38 years. John Prestage, senior vice president of Prestage Farms, was named secretary. Prestage has served the poultry industry in various capacities, including on the board of the North Carolina Poultry Federation and the National Turkey Federation. Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods, was named immediate past chairman. Miller joined Cal-Maine Foods in 1997, where he has worked in a variety of positions, including his current one as chief operating officer.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Hormel Foods Corp., Austin, Minn.
Jeffrey Nuytten, vice president of refrigerated foods operations, announced his retirement, with Donald Temperley, vice president of grocery products operations, tapped as his replacement. As a result, Timothy Fritz, plant manager for the Austin, Minn., plant, will advance to vice president of grocery products operations. Nuytten began his career in 1979 as a production manager trainee at the company’s former Fort Dodge, Iowa, plant. He transferred to the Fremont, Neb., plant later that year, and held various supervisor roles in sanitation and hog cut. In 1987, Nuytten advanced to plant superintendent of Dold Foods, then moved to various plant manager positions. He was named vice president of operations group for Jennie-O Turkey Store in 2004, and assumed his current role in 2012. Temperley joined FDL Foods in 1982, which became Rochelle Foods in 1993, and held various production management roles. In 1993, he advanced to superintendent of processed meats. He then transferred to the Austin plant in 1996 as superintendent of cured and smoked meats production, and advanced to manager of pork processing at the corporate office in 2000. Temperley was named plant manager of the Fremont plant in 2005, and director of pork operations and procurement at the corporate office in 2012. He assumed his current position in 2014. Fritz joined Hormel Foods in 1984 as a relief supervisor at the Fremont plant. He has held various supervisor, production superintendent and personnel manager roles at the Fremont, Atlanta and Austin plants until being named the corporate manager of industrial relations at the corporate office in 2002. Fritz was promoted to director of industrial relations in 2005, then returned to the Austin plant as the production manager in 2010. He assumed his current role in 2011.

Darigold, Seattle, Wash.
Long-time Cargill executive Stan Ryan was named president and CEO, effective Feb. 22. Ryan brings 25 years of international leadership experience from Cargill, where he was platform leader of the agricultural supply chain in Shanghai, China, tasked with overseeing the agricultural commodities origination, trading and processing for this division that entailed more than 30,000 employees and 700 facilities. Most recently, Ryan served as interim CEO and board director for Eagle Bulk Shipping.

WH Group, Hong Kong
The parent company of Smithfield Foods, Smithfield, Va., announced that Kenneth Sullivan was named executive director and a member of the board’s environmental, social and governance committee and its food safety committee, effective Jan. 22. Sullivan was named president and CEO of Smithfield Foods in November 2015 following C. Larry Pope’s retirement. He has also served in various other positions with Smithfield since joining the company in 2003, including vice president of internal audit, vice president and chief accounting officer, vice president of finance and chief accounting officer, vice president and chief financial officer, executive vice president and CFO and executive vice president and COO. Sullivan has expertise in corporate strategy and finance, capital markets, operations analysis and organizational leadership. Prior to joining Smithfield, Sullivan spent 12 years at various accounting and consulting firms. Meanwhile, You Mu was named executive director. Mu became president of WH Group subsidiary Henan Shuanghui Investment & Development Co. in August 2015. Previously, he served as vice president and general manager of the meat products division of Shuanghui Development, and was the general manager of Henan Luohe Shuanghui Industry Group Co., Ltd.

SUPPLIERS:
Universal Pasteurization and Universal Cold Storage, Lincoln, Neb.
Mark Duffy was named chief executive officer, effective Jan. 25. Duffy has over 30 years of experience in the foodservice and ingredient industries, and has held multiple executive leadership positions for global leaders in product development, food safety and quality.

Omnitracs, LLC, Dallas
Brad Taylor was tapped as vice president of data and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, responsible for overseeing all Omnitracs’ data offerings and operations, including Omnitracs Analytics, new data products and services and the overall big data strategy. Most recently, Taylor led product management at Jasper Technology, spearheading its prescriptive and predictive data automation offerings and helping the company to grow over 15 million devices under its IoT platform. He also directed Jasper's eUICC commercialization initiatives, which focused on OEM's like Tesla, GM and Scania. Prior to his work with Jasper Technology, Taylor was chief executive officer of AVIDwireless, and was founding CEO at GRS.

Agilence, Inc., Mount Laurel, N.J.
Raoul Ricard joined as vice president of strategy and business development, responsible for leading the company's expansion across verticals, developing strategic relationships and driving overall corporate strategy initiatives. Ricard has over 25 years of experience in operations, asset protection, retail and food and beverage industries. Prior to joining Agilence, Ricard was the founder of XBR Loss Prevention Systems and was a pioneer in the exception reporting space.

Partner Logistics, Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill.
Jolin Dophemont was appointed supply chain developer, and Mark Knibbeler as supply chain specialist, both based out of The Netherlands office. Dophemont has worked in the logistics industry for over 20 years, and has extensive experience in managing frozen storage and distribution as well as rail, road and air-freight transportation. His responsibilities include overseeing integrated warehousing and transport projects and establishing and managing relationships with distribution partners. Knibbeler brings 14 years’ experience from the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, where he worked as a transport planner. At Partner Logistics, he will be responsible for supporting the transportation process by acting as the connecting link between customers, carriers and frozen food storage facilities.

KM Packaging Services, UK
John Shipley was appointed business development manager, taking over responsibility for some existing UK and export customers and tasked with growing the business internationally. Shipley maintains particular experience in film and pouch conversion for FMCG markets across Northern Europe. And, Nigel Down was named technical services manager to provide technical support to the company’s sales team and its customers, with particular focus on new product development and applications. Down maintains expertise in lidding film, retort laminates and pouches on both research and commercial sides of the fence. Between them, Shipley and Down bring over five decades of experience in the packaging sector.

Baumer, Southington, Conn.
Greg Matherly joined as Western region sales manager for industrial cameras and vision sensors. He comes to Baumer with over 25 years’ technology sales, sales management and business development experience, including tenure with a national distributor, several technology start-ups and a Fortune 500 original equipment manufacturer. Previously, Matherly was vice president of sales for DockOn Wireless, and director of Western sales at Cirrus Logic.