ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), Alexandria, Va.
The third-party temperature-controlled warehousing partner of Global Cold Chain Alliance elected David O’Brien, managing director of Doboy Cold Stores, as the 2017-2018 chairman of the board of directors, tasked with leading the cold chain aspect of the organization’s strategic plan, specifically how the cold chain can be developed and employed to maximize food rescue and help feed the less fortunate throughout the world. Also elected to serve 3-year terms are directors-at-large Harry Halpert, chairman of MTC Logistics, and Neal Rider, co-founder and CEO of AGRO Merchants Group. Rich Bauer, president and CEO of South East Cold Storage, was elected to represent the Southeastern chapter.
World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO), Alexandria, Va.
The research and education arm of GCCA elected Nick Pedneault, president and CEO of Congebec Logistics, as the 2017-2018 chairman of the board of governors, tasked with growing the industry and bringing attention to GCCA and its members as experts in the world’s temperature-controlled supply chain. Other new WFLO officers elected were Paul Henningsen, chief operating officer of Henningsen Cold Storage, as vice chairman, and Don Dick, chief operating officer of Dick Cold Storage, as treasurer. Adam Forste, managing partner for Lineage Logistics, was elected to serve a 3-year term on the board. Dan Kaplan, principal officer of Cloverleaf Cold Storage, and Mike Pokel, president and CEO of Midwest Refrigerated Services, were re-elected to 3-year terms. Arne Martinsen, president of Transmar Ltd., and Kirk Robertson, president of Terra Vista Capital, were re-elected to 3-year terms as public members.
International Association of Ports and Harbors, Tokyo, Japan
Patrick Verhoeven was elected managing director-policy and strategy, effective Sept. 1, tasked with enhancing the organization’s leadership status.
PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
ANCO, Miami, Fla.
Arno Leoni was appointed chief executive officer, effective May 1, succeeding current president and CEO Alain Voss, who announced his desire to step down earlier this year after founding the company and serving ANCO with more than 25 years of continuous service. Furthermore, Claude Blandin will serve as the company’s new president, responsible for leading the Schratter Foods organization.
Impossible Foods, Redwood City, Calif.
David Lipman was named chief science officer at the food technology startup, tasked with overseeing research and development. Lipman has led the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) as director since its creation nearly three decades ago. Under his leadership and open-access advocacy, the NCBI created and maintained a comprehensive suite of publicly accessible databases relevant to biotechnology and biomedicine. Lipman has also worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Food and Drug Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and helped develop a system for applying whole genome sequencing for the surveillance and detection of foodborne pathogens.
Duda Farm Fresh Foods, Oviedo, Fla.
The following promotions went into effect in April: Sammy Duda, former vice president, Western operations, is now senior vice president, national operations; Mark Bassetti, former senior vice president customer development, is now senior vice president, sales, marketing and development; Dean Diefenthaler, former vice president, Western farming, is now vice president, Western operations; Amy Kinder, former senior director, food safety, is now vice president, food safety and sustainability; Alberto Cuellar, former director, global business, is now vice president, global business; Larry Pierce, former director, celery research, is now senior director, R&D/plant breeding; Manuel Alcala, former director of harvesting, is now senior director, field and harvesting operations; Greg Lewis, former production manager, is now director, Western production; Nichole Towell, former director of marketing, is now senior director, marketing services; and Jeff Goodale, former manager, business development, is now director, domestic sales.
Tanimura & Antle, Salinas, Calif.
Amy Voogd Pemberton was named director of retail, VMI and delivered sales. Pemberton brings more than 20 years of experience, having spent her entire career in the produce industry. She began working in sales with Fresh Express in 1993. Then in 1997, she signed on to the sales desk at Earthbound Farm, and has managed accounts such as Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Kroger and Publix. Sybil Chapple was appointed VMI and delivered sales manager. Chapple, a second generation Tanimura & Antle employee, is returning following a stint with Tessamae’s All Natural as fresh food development manager, where she helped launch their organic salad kits. Chapple started her career with Tanimura & Antle as an intern, and in 2011, was promoted to sales manager, working with Aldi. She left the company in 2016. And, Jason Arnaldo was named transportation manager. Arnaldo brings more than 15 years of experience in fresh logistics. He spent 13 years in transportation at Fresh Express, and then 2 years with Dole, where he oversaw more than 500 delivered shipments per week, led projects to advance operational efficiencies, trained employees and built long-term relationships with carriers and customers.
Cargill Protein, Wichita, Kan.
Jon Nash was named president of the foodservice channel, effective June 1, responsible for leading a team focused on providing foodservice customers with strong industry insights, innovation and sustainable supply chain solutions. He assumes this role after more than a year leading the Cargill Protein strategy and structure transformation that positions the business for future growth through a customer-first focus. Nash joined Cargill in October 1998 at the company’s Schuyler, Neb., beef processing facility in various accounting and finance roles, in addition to leading multiple business integration and acquisition efforts. In 2005, Nash moved to Cargill’s Fresno, Calif., beef processing facility as the controller, and was ultimately promoted to the complex’s general manager in June 2013. In 2015, he was named operations lead for Cargill Value Added Protein, and led the operations, engineering and environmental, health and safety (EHS) teams. Prior to his latest promotion, Nash was the integration lead for the Cargill Protein transformation.
Sirna & Sons Produce, Ravenna, Ohio
Daniel Arredondo was hired as new director of sales. Arredondo maintains almost 30 years of industry experience, including 11 years as sales director for the multi-unit accounts division and PRO*ACT client services manager at Costa Fruit & Produce.
Zacky Farms, Fresno, Calif.
Long-term employee Ivy Quon was selected to serve in the newly created position of executive vice president product development and export sales, responsible for customer relations regarding food safety and quality assurance. Quon began with the company in 1990 as the assistant credit manager, and was promoted to her most recent position of senior vice president marketing and administration, where she expanded the company’s export markets and product lines. Meanwhile, Steve Burnham was hired as new chief operating officer and general manager, taking over for Louis Masucci, who will be retiring at the end of this year. Burnham will be responsible for furthering the growth and profitability of Zacky Farms while differentiating the organization through continued innovation in quality and unique product attributes. Previously, Burnham served as division president for Safeway’s Eastern division. Burnham joined Safeway in 1989, and held leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including senior vice president, vice president of marketing and merchandising and vice president roles for various fresh departments.
SUPPLIERS:
Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan.
Brock Herrmann was named product manager over magnetic separation, responsible for managing the growth and profitability of the company’s line of magnetic separation products by supporting the company’s sales team, identifying new markets and customers and new product development. Herrmann draws on over 10 years of experience in sales, product development and new business in a variety of position in the energy sector. Most recently, he was senior sales manager at CW Manufacturing.
ITS Logistics, Reno, Nev.
Greg Sanders was appointed chief executive officer, replacing Jeff Lynch, current CEO and founder. Previously, Sanders was chief commercial officer, where he oversaw growth of the freight brokerage division, enhanced corporate branding and marketing efforts and led operational improvements in the asset-based fleet division. Sanders maintains more than 30 years of experience in the transportation and logistics industry, where he has served as chief commercial officer of Redwood Logistics and as president at OHL-North American Transportation. He has also held various executive positions with Schneider National and Landstar.
Nor-Lake, Hudson, Wis.
Chris Reeves joined as vice president of sales, effective May 18, succeeding Barb Belongia, who previously announced her plans to retire in December. Reeves will develop and execute a commercial strategy to achieve breakthrough sales growth, expand new business opportunities and explore new market laneways. Key responsibilities include sales funnel management, key account planning and channel management. Reeves has been in the foodservice industry for 25 years, serving the last two as senior vice president with Excell Marketing and Procurement. Prior to joining Excell, Reeves spent 5 years as Western region sales manager for Nor-Lake, where he managed a group of independent foodservice representatives and managed relationships with existing national accounts.
U.S. Venture, Inc., Appleton, Wis.
Mike Koel was appointed president of U.S. Gain, the compressed natural gas (CNG) division, tasked with leading the GAIN Clean Fuel CNG brand and expanding GAIN’s fueling network throughout North America. Prior to the promotion, Koel was the vice president of business development for U.S. Oil, another division of U.S. Venture. Koel joined U.S. Venture in 2001 as a trader, focused primarily on refined products and ethanol supply. He maintains extensive experience in the oil industry, including nine years as a natural gas trader/supply manager for Kaztex Energy Management, WPS Energy Services and Howard Energy.
Sprayroq, Inc., Irondale, Ala.
Scott Eicher joined as director of contractor development, responsible for managing the company’s certified partner team. Previously, Eicher was president of Foam Fusion, which he also founded. At 16 years old, Eicher became a technician for a local contractor of spraying foam and coatings and maintaining application equipment. He then went on to become assistant technical manager for Dow Chemical in 1998. In 2002, he started Chemical Fusion, and two years later, created Foam Fusion. In 2016, he became the Southeast technical sales manager for Rhino Linings.
Remco Products Corp., Zionsville, Ind.
Amit Kheradia fills the new position of educational and technical support manager, charged with providing support and training to the Remco team and their customers and end-users. Previously, Kheradia was food safety specialist for Talevas Consulting’s fresh produce sector. He holds over 20 certifications from organizations like the FDA and the British Retail Consortium. Kheradia brings 10 years of food industry experience, having worked at top-tier companies like ConAgra Foods. Dan Ollikainen was hired as the human resources manager. He spent five years as a human resources generalist for Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, LLC, and prior to that, served as an employment manager and coordinator for Hyatt Regency Sarasota. Matt Morrow became one of Remco’s newest business development managers, after spending nine years as an account manager at Grainger. Dave Gambrall joins as development manager for the Great Plains states. Gambrall previously worked as a business/sales manager for Ray Skillman Auto Group, where he helped open a new franchise and oversaw 20 sales team members.
IN MEMORIUM: BENJAMIN WHITELEY, GREENBRIER COS.
Benjamin Whiteley, a former chairman of The Greenbrier Cos., Inc., Lake Oswego, Ore., passed away at his Portland, Ore., home May 4.
Whiteley was elected to Greenbrier's board at the time of its initial public offering in 1994. He remained in that position for two decades, serving as chairman from 2004-2014, where he approved the global expansion of Greenbrier's manufacturing and commercial operations to become a worldwide network that today spans four continents. He also helped guide the company into new and critical product lines like automotive-related rail products and tank cars.
Whiteley began his career with The Standard in 1956, serving as chief executive officer from 1983-1994. He retired as CEO in 1994, remaining as chairman until 1998. In addition, he served as a board director at Northwest Natural Gas Co., StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. and Willamette Industries, Inc.
While president and CEO of The Standard, Whiteley helped negotiate and secure the co- participation of the State of Oregon in a debt transaction that enabled Greenbrier to acquire its Gunderson manufacturing operations in Portland. Gunderson continues to this day as Greenbrier's North American flagship manufacturing and engineering location, employing nearly 1,000 people.
