ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Washington, D.C.
Acting deputy Under Secretary and FSIS administrator Al Almanza announced plans to retire July 31, capping a 39-year career with the agency. 

International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA), Madison, Wis.
Jeremy Johnson was promoted to vice president of education, responsible for continuing and growing the educational support offered for members and overseeing the development of original research, IDDBA Safe Food Matters! initiatives and scholarship programs. Johnson has been a vital member of the IDDBA education department for 20 years. He managed Show and Sell at the annual tradeshow, and has focused on professional development and training program development for members. And, Mary Kay O’Connor was named vice president of special projects, responsible for developing industry certification programs and devising a plan for expanding IDDBA’s support of the dairy department. She has been a dedicated member of the IDDBA for 31 years, having served in association management for 40 years. During her time with the IDDBA, O’Connor has been instrumental in creating a full foundation of deli, bakery and cheese food safety programs. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services (FNCS), Washington, D.C.
Brandon Lipps will serve as administrator of the food and nutrition service and acting deputy Under Secretary of FNCS until the Senate confirms a permanent presidentially-nominated appointee. Most recently, Lipps worked as the chief of staff and director of federal affairs in the Office of Chancellor Robert Duncan for the Texas Tech University System. Lipps was the leading force in developing policy initiatives and strategic priorities for the chancellor. Prior to joining the Texas Tech University System, he served as counsel and senior professional staff to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, where he led the nutrition policy team in developing the first reforms to and fiscal savings from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since the welfare reforms of 1996. Lipps also served as chancellor Duncan’s consultant, legislative aide and rural district director during his time as a Texas State Senator.  He’s also a former associate at the Lubbock law firm of Crenshaw, Dupree & Milam. In addition, Maggie Lyons will serve as chief of staff and senior advisor to the Under Secretary. Before joining the USDA, Lyons was the senior government relations director for the National Grocers Association (NGA), where she coordinated on all issues such as the SNAP and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) programs at the retailer level, including assisting member stores with licensing issues and questions regarding those transactions. Prior to the NGA, she worked on Capitol Hill in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Lastly, Kailee Tkacz will serve as policy advisor. Previously, Tkacz served as the director of food policy for the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), leading strategic food and nutrition efforts at the international, federal, state and local levels. Prior to her time at CRA, Tkacz was director of government affairs for the Snack Food Association and government affairs manager for the National Grocers Association. 

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Long Beach, Calif.
Sam Joumblat, chief financial officer of Total Transportation Services Inc., is returning as managing director of finance and administration, effective Aug. 7, responsible for managing an annual budget of $750 million and a $4 billion, 10-year capital improvement program. The previous leader of the bureau retired late last year. Joumblat’s last stint at the port was as chief financial officer from 2006-2014. Prior to that, he served as deputy city auditor for the City of Long Beach. He also maintains experience in the private industry, as a senior manager with Arthur Andersen and 15 years with Atlantic Richfield Co., where he held a number of managerial positions, including supervising internal auditing, general accounting, contracting, information technology and environmental health and safety.

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), Madison, Wis.
Ben Kroeplin was named digital content manager, charged with developing strategy for the organization’s digital marketing campaigns, including acting as lead in the development and production of WMMB’s new Wisconsin to Table recipe video series. Kroeplin maintains more than a decade of experience in marketing, communications and broadcast journalism, including reporting for WQOW and producing and anchoring for KIEM-TV. Most recently, he worked as a senior communications specialist at University of Wisconsin Whitewater.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Liz Ferneding was appointed president of the Ruler division, effective July 31, succeeding Paul Bowen, who retired in May. Ferneding comes from ALDI, where she has served in a variety of leadership roles for the past 11 years, including an international assignment in Australia. Upon her return to the United States, Ferneding was promoted to marketing director, and then earlier this year, was promoted to director of corporate buying.

Sysco Corp., Houston, Texas
President and COO Tom Bené will become chief executive officer, taking over for Bill DeLaney, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Bené joined Sysco in 2013, and has held a variety of roles at the company before being appointed president and COO in January 2016. Since then, Bené has been responsible for overseeing all of Sysco’s business operations, commercial functions and supply chain organization. Prior to joining Sysco, Bené held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in marketing, sales, operations, franchise development and general management during a 23-year career at PepsiCo, culminating with his role as president of PepsiCo Foodservice. DeLaney joined Sysco in 1987, and was named chief executive officer in 2009. He has served in several corporate and field leadership positions throughout his Sysco career, including executive vice president and CFO immediately prior to assuming his current role as CEO.

Santa Monica Seafood, Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
James Nissenberg was hired as senior director of logistics, tasked with leading and managing logistics, including freight activity at all company locations, managing the company’s fleet program of approximately 75 trucks and developing approximately 95 drivers and other transportation support employees in 6 separate locations. Nissenberg maintains 15-plus years’ transportation and supply chain experience in a variety of industries, including grocery and food.

G. Willi-Food International Ltd., Israel
Pavel Buber has been released from his position as chief financial officer. As a result, Yitschak Barabi, former controller, was appointed interim chief financial officer.

Sanderson Farms, Inc., Laurel, Miss.
Suzanne Mestayer was elected to the company's board of directors, effective July 20, filling a Class B director vacancy with a term expiring at the next annual meeting of shareholders in 2018. Mestayer is owner and managing principal of ThirtyNorth Investments, LLC. She was previously founder and managing member of Advisean Partners, LLC, and prior to that, held senior management positions in the banking industry with Regions Bank and First Commerce Corp. She has served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans branch since 2014. Mestayer was also a member of the board of directors for McMoRan Exploration Co. until its acquisition in 2013, where she served on both the audit and compensation committees.

Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC), Canada
Pierre Lampron was elected as new president for a 2-year term.  Additionally, the new executive committee comprised of David Wiens, Reint-Jan Dykstra, Ralph Dietrich and Bruno Letendre.

The Allen Lund Co., La Cañada Flintridge, Calif.
Kirk Bailey was promoted to operations manager. Bailey has been with Allen Lund since October 2009, when he started out as a broker’s assistant and moved up to become a transportation broker.

FOODSERVICE:
Church’s Chicken, Atlanta
Laura Reese was promoted to senior director of media, digital and public relations, responsible for domestic media, digital/social and public relations. Reese previously served as director of media and digital. Amanda Robbins will now be director of field marketing, leading all field marketing efforts for both company and franchise markets.

Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc., Canton, Mass.
The parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins promoted Jason Maceda to senior vice president, Baskin-Robbins U.S. and Canada, responsible for the operations and marketing of the more than 2,500 Baskin-Robbins restaurants in the United States and Canada. A 19-year Dunkin' Brands employee, Maceda most recently served as vice president of U.S. financial planning and corporate real estate. Maceda has held several leadership positions in the Dunkin' Brands finance department. Prior to Dunkin' Brands, he held a supervisory position in the finance department of Davol Inc., a subsidiary of C.R. Bard Inc. He began his career in public accounting with Ernst & Young. Meanwhile, Roland Smith joined the board of directors. Smith joined Office Depot in 2013, and served as chairman and CEO through early 2017. His prior experience includes serving as chief executive officer of Delhaize America, Inc., the parent company of several grocery store chains; president and CEO of The Wendy's Co.; chief executive officer of Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc., as well as senior leadership roles at several other companies, including Proctor & Gamble Co.

Yum China Holdings, Inc., China
William Wang and Joey Wat were appointed to the board of directors, effective immediately. Wang is one of the founding partners of Primavera Capital Group. Prior to Primavera, he served as a managing director of Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking/Principal Investment Area (GS), where he led significant investments in China. Prior to GS, he worked in China International Capital Corp.’s investment banking division and private equity group. Wang currently serves as a director on the board of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Meanwhile, Wat has served as the president and COO of Yum China since February. She served as chief executive officer of KFC from October 2016 to February, a position she held at Yum! Restaurants China from August 2015 to October 2016. Wat joined Yum! Restaurants China in September 2014 as president of KFC China, and was promoted to chief executive officer of KFC China in August 2015. Before joining YUM, she served in both management and strategy positions at AS Watson of Hutchison Group in the UK from 2004-2014. Her last position at Watson was managing director of Watson U.K., which operates Superdrug and Savers, from 2012-2014. She made the transition from head of strategy of Watson in Europe to managing director of Savers in 2007. Before joining Watson, Wat spent 7 years in management consulting, including with McKinsey & Co.'s Hong Kong office from 2000-2003.

MOD Super Fast Pizza Holdings, LLC, Seattle, Wash.
Paul Twohig was assigned to the new role of chief operating officer, effective immediately. Twohig, who has served on MOD’s advisory board since 2008, brings more than four decades of industry experience having served as president of Dunkin’ Donuts, where he led U.S. and Canadian operations, franchising and store development for more than 8,500 Dunkin’ Donuts locations. During his tenure with Dunkin’, he oversaw the development of over 2,000 new restaurants, launched six new international markets, served as interim president for Europe and Latin America and was a member of the senior executive team that completed Dunkin’s IPO in 2011. He also served as senior vice president at Starbucks, and vice president and general manager, UK, leading the company’s expansion into the UK, and then as senior vice president, Western operations, where he oversaw retail operations and restaurant development for more than 1,200 stores in the Western United States and Canada. Twohig returned to Starbucks in 2005 as senior vice president, Eastern division, leading over 3,000 cafés in 35 states. Prior to Dunkin’, Twohig was executive vice president and COO of Panera Bread, where he was responsible for company and franchise operations, overseeing an aggressive store and market expansion strategy. With Twohig’s arrival, Chris Schultz, former senior vice president of operations, will take on the new role of senior vice president, international to lead MOD’s development abroad.

Potbelly Corp., Chicago
Chairman and CEO Aylwin Lewis will be leaving the company Aug. 8. Lewis has served as CEO since June 2008, and led the sandwich chain through its 2013 initial public offering. As a result, chief financial officer Michael Coyne was named interim CEO. Coyne joined Potbelly as CFO in May 2015. He previously served as chief financial officer of CNA Financial Corp.’s property and casualty operations and as treasurer of Sears Holding Corp.

The Wendy's Co., Dublin, Ohio
Kristin Dolan was elected to serve as a director of the company, effective immediately. Dolan is the founder and CEO of 605 LLC. Prior to that, Dolan worked at Cablevision Systems Corp., where she held several key leadership positions. Most recently, she served as chief operating officer, where she led all aspects of the company's cable operations, including the advertising sales division and its development of data strategy for audience-driven advertising and oversaw thousands of employees, including the company's customer and field service workforce. Dolan also serves as a director of AMC Networks Inc., The Madison Square Garden Co. and Revlon, Inc.

SUPPLIERS:
AMF Bakery Systems, Richmond, Va.
Monika Eiden was named global human resources director, responsible for leading the development, implementation and oversight of common talent management processes across all AMF sites and teammates worldwide. An accomplished human resource professional, Eiden joins from WestRock, where she provided leadership and support to about 1,000 employees globally, including talent management, organizational development, performance management, compensation, workforce planning, recruitment and employee relations.

Bunting Magnetics Co., Newton, Kan.
Bill Wagner was appointed chief financial officer, tasked with overseeing financial reporting, budgets, accounting and human resources for all Bunting Magnetics divisions. Wagner brings two decades of experience, including an extensive background in accounting and finance in the manufacturing sector. Most recently, he was chief financial officer at Physicians Development Group/Axiom Healthcare, and assistant corporate controller for Spirit Aerosystems, where he managed all accounting functions for the Wichita, Kan., site as well as consolidations for the entire company, including its worldwide locations.

Kenco, Chattanooga, Tenn.
Denis Reilly was named president and CEO, succeeding Jane Kennedy Greene, who will continue to serve as chairwoman of the board. With more than 30 years of experience in the logistics industry, Reilly will be tasked with building on Kenco’s strong position in the industry, and continuing to enhance the company’s organizational capacity and strategic focus. Reilly most recently served as chief executive officer of St. George Logistics. He previously held executive and senior leadership roles at USA Dry Van Logistics, LLC, GEODIS (formerly Ozburn Hessey Logistics), MIQ Logistics (formerly YRC Logistics, Inc.) and Menlo. He began his career in logistics with Frito Lay in 1983. Reilly is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

TriCore, Racine, Wis.
Hill Swayze was named regional managing partner of the company’s new Midwest office. Swayze comes with a strong background in the factory automation and OEM equipment sectors, and maintains an engineering and business management background.

Agilence, Inc., Mount Laurel, N.J.
Jeffrey Freedman was named vice president, technology, tasked with management of all software development and operational technology infrastructure. Freedman brings over 30 years of diverse management and hands-on technical experience in information technology and software development. Previously, he was CTO for a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company specializing in e-procurement. And, David Pettit was appointed vice president, food and beverage sales, responsible for overseeing the food and beverage sales organization. Pettit maintains 25 years of experience in sales and business development. Previously, he was the executive sales director for Alchemy Systems, responsible for developing the go-to-market strategy for the quick-service and fast casual markets.

Cloverleaf Cold Storage, Sioux City, Iowa
Gene Kolar was appointed director of operations for the farmers produce division. Kolar, who has worked at Cloverleaf since 1999, will oversee four production plants for the custom meat processing company. Kolar has worked in warehouse management, production room supervision and oversaw the safety department. Prior to joining Cloverleaf, he was an accountant for a local bakery.

Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Mich.
Andrew Janson, currently the president, was also elected chief executive officer, succeeding Gregory Hanson, effective immediately. Janson joined Hanson Logistics in 2004, and was named president in 2009. Prior to this position, he served as vice president of business development and vice president of logistics. Hanson has been CEO since 2003.