ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), Champaign, Ill.
Louis Armentano assumed the role of president. From 1996-2004, Armentano served as chair of the dairy science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, responsible for team teaching an introductory animal science course, undergraduate and graduate courses in nutrition and senior research seminar for dairy production students. He also rebuilt the dairy extension faculty, and has been instrumental in developing and modernizing the dairy cattle housing and research facilities.

The Food Safety Summit, a BNP Media event, Troy, Mich.
This year’s Food Safety Summit Educational Advisory Board, which will set the direction for the content of the 2017 education program, consists of the following new members: Sharon Beals, vice president, FSQA supplier, US Foods; Sharon Birkett, vice president North American quality and food protection, OSI Group, LLC; Ben Chapman, associate professor, North Carolina State; Will Daniels, senior vice president of operations and supply chain, WTRMLNWTR; Tammi Frederick, director, retail food safety, H-E-B; Craig Henry, vice president, global business development, Decernis; Glenda Lewis, director, retail food protection staff, FDA; Shawn Stevens, national food industry lawyer, Food Industry Council; and Craig Wilson, vice president, GMM, Costco.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), Madison, Wis.
Newly elected officers, which began July 1 and will conclude June 30, 2017, include Connie Seefeldt, re-elected to board chair; Dean Strauss, re-elected as vice chair; Steven Sternweis, re-elected as secretary, and Jay Stauffacher as treasurer. Also elected to serve on the executive committee are Jeff Strassburg as chair, communications committee; Ken Heiman as chair, channel management committee; and Kay Zwald as chair, policy/bylaw committee. Additionally, David Bangart was elected to serve as chair of the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) liaison committee.

Harbor Commission, Long Beach, Calif.
President Lori Ann Guzmán was re-elected to serve a second 1-year term leading the board that oversees the Port of Long Beach. Guzmán, who is the director of finance for the City of Huntington Beach, was appointed to the Harbor Commission in 2013 by then-Mayor Bob Foster. Guzmán was first selected as board president in July 2015.Meanwhile, Lou Anne Bynum was elected vice president and Tracy Egoscue as secretary, continuing in the roles they have served for the past 12 months.

Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), Rosemont, Ill.
Barb O’Brien was promoted to the newly created position of president, tasked with overseeing the organization’s strategic planning and operations. O’Brien, a 15-year veteran of DMI, will remain as president of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, an entity she helped design and build eight years ago.

Land Trust Alliance, Washington, D.C.
Wendy Jackson will assume the role of executive vice president, effective Sept. 19, responsible for overseeing a $1.1 million operations and program budget with 10 staff, 18-member governing board, 16-member President’s Advisory Board and 20-member Junior Board. Jackson will also manage teams that deliver essential services to land trusts, and create strategies to best deploy the alliance’s policy, advocacy, community conservation and regional programs. Jackson has been executive director of Freshwater Land Trust since 2001, in which she grew it from an unknown entity with zero assets to a non-profit holding cash and land assets totaling more than $40 million.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Produce Alliance, LLC, Chicago
Dan Baker joined to help further develop the company’s growing portfolio of national foodservice business with a specialized focus in processed items. Baker spent the last 16 years at Freshway Foods and Foodsource/CH Robinson, helping obtain new business through organic growth as well as new customer acquisitions. And, Kirk Massey was named senior business development director. Massey maintains more than 20 years in the fresh produce industry and an extensive foodservice produce management background. He began his career as an executive chef of a restaurant from 1981-1984. Prior to his work in national produce management, he worked as a sales representative for Sysco. He also served as a director of client services, managing the produce spend for many prominent national restaurant chains.

MTY Food Group Inc., Canada
MTY acquired Kahala Brands. As a result, Jeff Smit, chief operating officer of Kahala Brands, will lead the U.S. operations of the combined entity. [NEED LINK]

T&G Global North America, Wenatchee, Wash.
Joe Barsi was appointed to the newly created role of president of the North American pipfruit business through T&G’s subsidiary EPI, effective Aug. 8. Barsi will be responsible for facilitating stronger relationships with key in-market stakeholders and tripling the volume of T&G Global apple sales across North America by 2022. Barsi maintains broad experience in the produce business, having started his career as general manager for CH Robinson Worldwide. He spent seven years at California Giant Berry Farms as vice president of business development. Most recently, he was president of Tradin Organics, a division of SunOpta, Inc.

Golbon, Boise, Idaho
Darwin Lacer was named director of Golbon Protein Advantage (GPA), taking over for Jerry Smith, who announced his retirement. Darwin is a 25-year veteran of the foodservice industry, having held several key positions at some of the industry’s largest companies, including Excel Beef and Sysco.

Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., Springdale, Ark.
Todd Nogelmeier was promoted to vice president, foodservice sales, charged with leading and directing the sales activities for national foodservice accounts, including sales of beef and pork to both broadline and chain accounts. Nogelmeier started his career at IBP, Inc.’s Dakota City, Neb., beef plant while attending college. After graduation, he became quality control supervisor of IBP, which was acquired by Tyson Foods in 2001. Nogelmeier maintains 27 years of experience in sales and boxed beef pricing. Over the last 10 years, he served as president of the company’s Midwest service center, overseeing sales in a 16-state region.

2 Sisters Food Group, UK
Nick Townend was appointed to the newly created role of manufacturing support director, working with the commercial and operation teams to support the company’s ambitious growth plans. He will work with internal colleagues, as well as third parties, to ensure that 2 Sisters factories boast state-of-the-art equipment and features and are operating to the highest standards. Townend brings a wealth of experience having held manufacturing, operations and research and development roles at Nestlé and performance improvement, strategy and category management roles with Sainsbury’s.  

AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, Inc., Cincinnati
Linn Harson was named senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, effective Aug. 1, responsible for overseeing all legal, corporate governance and compliance and reporting requirements. Harson was most recently a partner at Thompson Hine, a provider of legal services to AdvancePierre for the last 25 years. Harson has actively worked with AdvancePierre since 2005, and has been functioning as the company’s outside general counsel for the last several years. Harson joined Thompson Hine in 1998, and was most recently a partner in the corporate transactions and securities practice group. She also served as general counsel and corporate secretary of Robbins & Myers, Inc. from 2009 until its sale to National Oilwell Varco in 2013.

George Weston Ltd., Canada
Robert Sawyer was appointed director of the company, effective in September, following the impending retirement of Charles Baillie. Sawyer served as president and CEO of RONA Inc. from 2013-2016. Prior to RONA, he spent 34 years with Metro Inc., where he held several key positions, including executive vice president and COO.

TreeHouse Foods, Inc., Oak Brook, Ill.
Linda Massman, president and CEO of Clearwater Paper Corp., joined the board of directors. Massman was elected Clearwater Paper's chief executive officer in 2013 and has served as president and COO since 2011. Prior to that, Massman served as the company's chief financial officer from 2008-2011.  Before joining Clearwater Paper, she served as group vice president of finance and corporate planning for SUPERVALU Inc., following its acquisition of Albertson's Inc., where she served in a similar capacity.  Prior to that, Massman was a business strategy consultant for Accenture.  

FOODSERVICE:
Starbucks Corp., Seattle, Wash.
Under a new organizational structure, Matt Ryan was appointed executive vice president, global chief strategy officer, responsible for the company’s long-term strategic planning process, identifying new avenues for growth, advancing the company’s data analytics and customer insight capabilities and strengthening the company’s fast-growing customer relationship management and loyalty capabilities. Prior to joining Starbucks in May 2013, Ryan was senior vice president of global brand franchise and customer relationship management for the Walt Disney Co., where he led the stewardship and development of Disney’s global brand equity across the company. He also provided consumer input into the company’s long-term strategic planning, oversaw the development and cultivation of character franchises and led development of enterprise customer relationship management programs, including the Disney Rewards Visa card. Prior to joining Disney, in 1998, he held strategic planning roles with several national and international advertising agencies. Cliff Burrows was named group president, U.S. and Americas, tasked with overseeing the global expansion of the Roastery, as well as the development of Starbucks Reserve stores. Previously, he was president of Starbucks Coffee U.S. and Americas from 2011-2013, and was responsible for the company’s U.S. operations from March 2008 to October 2011. Kevin Johnson was named president and COO, leading the company’s global operating businesses across the Americas, Europe Middle East and Africa and China/Asia Pacific, as well as the supply chain, information technology and mobile and digital platforms across more than 24,000 stores worldwide. He joined Starbucks in 2015, and serves on the company’s board of directors, a position he has held since 2009. And, Adam Brotman assumed the new role of chief digital officer, leading Starbucks core digital businesses, including mobile and mobile payments, web, card, loyalty, e-commerce, Wi-Fi and the Starbucks Digital Network. Brotman previously served as senior vice president and general manager of Digital Ventures, where he led the enterprise digital platform strategy, roadmap and delivery for core web and mobile offerings, including the Starbucks Digital Network, Wi-Fi, StarbucksStore.com, Starbucks apps for iPhone and Android, Starbucks.com, the Starbucks partner portal and My Starbucks Idea.

Johnny Rockets, Lake Forest, Calif.
The global operator and franchisor of more than 350 American-themed restaurants in 28 countries named John Maguire as president and CEO, in addition to his current position as president and CEO of FIC Restaurants, Inc. (Friendly's).

Noodles & Co., Broomfield, Colo.
Kevin Reddy stepped down as chairman and CEO, effective immediately. As a result, Robert Hartnett was named chairman of the board of directors and Dave Boennighausen, the company’s chief financial officer, as interim chief executive officer.  Hartnett has over 40 years of restaurant industry experience. Most recently, he served as chief executive officer for Houlihan’s Restaurants, Inc., a position that he held from 2001 until successfully negotiating the sale of that company in 2015. Prior to joining Houlihan’s, Hartnett served as president, CEO and chairman of Einstein/Noah Bagel Inc. He’s also owned and operated Einstein Bros. and Boston Market franchise restaurants and served as president of Bennigan’s Restaurants. Meanwhile, Boennighausen has served as chief financial officer since July 2012, and served as vice president of finance and executive vice president of finance, since he joined Noodles in 2004.  

Ruth's Hospitality Group, Inc. (RHGI), Winter Park, Fla.
The owner of Ruth’s Chris Steak House promoted Cheryl Henry to president and COO, effective July 20. A 9-year veteran of the company, Henry will continue her responsibilities in culinary, beverage, brand marketing and real estate development, and now include oversight of human resources, IT and day-to-day operations. This is Henry’s third promotion since joining the company in 2007, most recently serving as chief branding officer and senior vice president since August 2011. Immediately prior to joining the RHGI team, Henry was chief of staff for the mayor of Orlando, where she was instrumental in the development of $1.2 billion in downtown entertainment venues, including a state-of-the-art performing arts center and a new arena.

Shula's Steak Houses LLLP, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
The owner of Shula's Steak House, Shula's 347 Grill, Shula's 2 Steak & Sports, Shula's Bar & Grill and Shula Burger appointed Mark Healey as executive vice president. Healey maintains more than 25 years of leadership experience in the hospitality industry across 28 states. Before joining Shula's in April, Healey served as senior vice president at Spectra Food Services & Hospitality, where he led the company's largest growth division. Meanwhile, Kristen Thompson was appointed vice president of marketing and public relations, bringing more than 11 years of experience in hospitality marketing, branding and public relations. Thompson also came from Spectra Food Services & Hospitality, where she served as director of marketing, overseeing the company's corporate marketing strategy as well as the marketing support for all 140 client facilities. During her tenure, she helped the company achieve growth goals and created a consistent brand identity.

SUPPLIERS:
Danfoss, Baltimore, Md.
Santiago Martin was named head of Danfoss Drives — Americas, responsible for leading the drives business in the United States, Canada and Latin America. He also will serve as part of the company’s management team in North America. Previously, Martin was vice president at Danfoss Drives in Latin America, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and service. He joined Danfoss as part of the company’s merger with Vacon, where he spent seven years — first as managing director in Spain and Portugal, and later as vice president of Vacon Latin America.

I.D. Systems, Inc., Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Industry veteran Chris Wolfe was appointed to the newly created position of chief product officer, effective Aug. 4, responsible for all product-related initiatives, including product development, assessment and management. Wolfe brings more than 20 years of experience in building, implementing and selling paradigm-changing technology solutions. Wolfe began his career at several leading transportation companies, including Roadway Express and Leaseway Transportation. He then served in various leadership, management and product implementation roles at Qualcomm, where he most recently served as president of the wireless business solutions division, tasked with overseeing and helping launch the company’s TrailerTRACS product. Wolfe also worked as an independent strategy consultant for I.D. Systems, where he provided numerous product quality assessments, as well as contributions to key engineering projects.