ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), Denver, Colo.
Conley Nelson, general manager of Smithfield's hog production division, was elected chairman, succeeding Dennis Stiffler, president of Halperns’ Steak and Seafood’s Texas division. Nelson has been involved in contract pork production since 1983. Cevin Jones, owner of Intermountain Beef, was named chair-elect. Jones served as vice chairman of the Federation of State Beef Councils and on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) board of directors. Pat Binger, vice president of international sales for Cargill Protein Group, was named vice chair. Binger first became involved with USMEF more than 25 years ago. Mark Swanson, chief executive officer of Birko Corp., was elected secretary-treasurer. Swanson maintains more than 20 years of experience in the protein industry, including having served at Iowa Beef Processors, ConAgra Foods and Swift & Co.

The Soil Health Partnership, St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. Maria Bowman was tapped to the newly created position of lead scientist, responsible for building a unique and extensive U.S. database of soil health samples from working farms, analyzing them, and drawing conclusions that could impact agriculture for decades to come. Previously, Bowman worked as an economist for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, where she focused on the drivers of farmer adoption of soil health and conservation practices, the economics of antibiotic use in U.S. livestock production and emerging issues related to food labeling. Before her work with the USDA, Bowman served as a fellow for the Natural Resources Defense Council and as a program assistant for the Woods Hole Research Center, where she studied the economics of farm systems in the Brazilian Amazon.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
JOH, Billerica, Mass.
Kevin Denz was appointed account executive. Denz maintains over 30 years’ experience in the food industry, most recently working with Advantage Sales & Marketing. He has worked on various client accounts, including Daisy, Fage, Hood, Ocean Spray, Reckitt Benckiser, Smucker’s and Unilever, and has worked with many customers in the Upstate market, including Olean, Tops Friendly Markets and Wegmans. He also worked with DeRose/Haveron Food Brokers.

Sanderson Farms, Inc., Laurel, Miss.
Dianne Mooney announced plans to retire from the board of directors when her current term ends in 2019. Mooney has been a member of the board of directors since 2007. She founded and served as executive director and senior vice president of Southern Living at Home, a direct sales division of Southern Progress Corp., from 1999 until her retirement in 2007. Previously, she spent 30 years with Southern Progress in various positions, including vice president of business development and vice president of custom publishing.

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
Suzanne Fanning was appointed senior vice president and CMO for Wisconsin cheese, focusing on marketing communications, including branding, digital, advertising, public relations and consumer events. Since joining the organization two years ago, Fanning has played a key role in the start of a marketing transformation for Wisconsin's cheese industry. In 2018 alone, she led communications for the company's brand identity, built the Cheeselandia ambassador program, launched a national commercial and increased social media engagement by over 4,000%. Fanning has served on the boards of Social Media Week, iBlog, I-COM and the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association and served as president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Unilever, London
Paul Polman, chief executive officer, announced plans to retire, effective Dec. 31, after 10 years with the company. Alan Jope, currently president, beauty and personal care, was appointed chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Polman has worked in the consumer goods industry for almost four decades, where he delivered consistent top and bottom line growth, pioneered a new model of sustainable growth and delivered a total shareholder return of 290%. Jope has led the beauty and personal care division since 2014, and has been a leadership executive since 2011, where he ran the company’s North Asia business for four years, served as president, Russia, Africa and Middle East, and spent over a decade in senior foods, home care and personal care roles for Unilever US. Jope joined the company as a graduate marketing trainee in 1985.

CAMPOLLO, Colombia
Jorge Ivan Duque, general manager of Pollos Bucanero, which Cargill acquired in June 2017, will continue leading Cargill's expanded poultry business in Colombia, following the recent acquisition from Cargill. He has spent the past 13 years working in the poultry sector in Central America and Colombia.

FOODSERVICE:
Yum! Brands, Inc., Louisville, Ky.
Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target Corp., was appointed to serve as non-executive chairman of the board, succeeding Robert Walter, who is retiring from his role as non-executive chairman. Cornell has served on the Yum! Brands board since 2015. Cornell maintains more than 30 years of experience at leading retail and global consumer product companies. Prior to joining Target in August 2014, Cornell served as chief executive officer of PepsiCo Americas Foods, where he oversaw the company’s global food business and was responsible for a portfolio that included Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods and all of PepsiCo’s Latin America food and snack businesses. Before joining PepsiCo in 2012, Cornell served as president and CEO of Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He also served as chief executive officer at Michaels Stores, Inc., and prior to that, executive vice president and CMO for Safeway. Cornell currently serves as chairman of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and is a member of the board of directors of Catalyst and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The Little Beet, New York
Becky Mulligan was appointed chief executive officer, taking over for John Rigos, interim CEO and co-CEO of Aurify Brands, who is shifting his efforts to strengthening Aurify Brands' portfolio and partnerships. Mulligan maintains more than 25 years of experience leading operations, innovation and program development for retail and food brands. In her new role, she will oversee The Little Beet's vision, operations and nationwide development plans. Mulligan spent the last 16 years with Starbucks, where she held a variety of positions, including most recently, regional director of the company's Seattle, Wash., market. She also led several key initiatives for 95 Starbucks stores throughout the region, and was instrumental in the development and ongoing innovation behind Starbucks' mobile order app. Prior to Starbucks, Mulligan spent 12 years with Kinko’s, where she worked in leadership, management and corporate sales.

SUPPLIERS:
Polymer Logistics North America, Tampa, Fla.
Fred Heptinstall will step down as chief executive officer, effective Dec. 31. Heptinstall joined Polymer Logistics in July 2016, and has since grown customer base, put together a high-performance organization and delivered innovative solutions to the marketplace.

SPX FLOW, Inc., Charlotte, N.C.
Suzanne Rowland was elected an additional independent director. Rowland is group vice president, industrial specialties at Ashland Global Holdings, Inc. She is also a member of the board of directors at L.B. Foster Co., a role she’s held since May 2008, and serves as their chair of the Nomination and Governance Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee. Previously, Rowland held senior executive positions at Tyco International and Rohm and Haas Co.

Toray Plastics (America), North Kingstown, R.I.
Derek Smith joined the Torayfan polypropylene film division as a business manager. Previously, Smith was the regional sales manager for the Horen Group.

Interroll, Wilmington, N.C.
Thorsten Steinle was named head of service EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa region), effective Nov. 1, where he will promote the country-specific expansion of service activities as well as the expansion of the service offering in the Interroll service network. Steinle maintains nearly 20 years of international strategic and operational business expertise with a focus on sales, service and aftermarket. Prior to joining Interroll, Steinle was service director EMEA with DMG MORI Management GmbH, where he was responsible for the after-sales business in EMEA (except Germany and Southwest Europe). Previously, he served as service manager Europe for DMG MORI Europe AG, followed by various responsibilities at Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG from 1999-2013, including senior positions in the service and aftermarket division, and as sales director service and parts Eastern Europe for Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Osteuropa Vertriebs GmbH.

Dematic, division of KION Group, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Gabrial Diab was named executive vice president and CFO, succeed Frank Herzog, who will leave the company after six years to relocate to Europe and pursue new career opportunities. Diab has served as managing director of the North American thermal front end business at Valeo since 2016. Prior to this role, Diab spent almost five years as CFO, North America at Valeo, during which time he was also the interim leader for purchasing. Before that, Diab held various roles, including finance, accounting, consulting, customer excellence and transformation and process improvement at Ford Motor Co., Fluor, Textron and Lafarge.

Norfolk Southern Corp., Norfolk, Va.
Marque Ledoux was named vice president government affairs, effective Jan. 1, 2019, replacing Bruno Maestri, upon his retirement from the corporation. Ledoux joined Norfolk Southern in 2003 as assistant vice president government affairs, and has served in that capacity in Washington, D.C., for over 15 years. Prior to joining Norfolk Southern, Ledoux worked at FedEx for 16 years in several public relations and government relations positions. Maestri retires after more than 23 years with Norfolk Southern, having served in roles ranging from environmental protection to communications to government affairs.

JBT Corp., Chicago
Bryant Lowery joined as executive vice president and chief procurement officer, effective Nov. 26. Lowery most recently served as vice president, global supply chain at Fortive’s Gilbarco Veeder-Root Division, where he was responsible for strategic sourcing, supplier quality, logistics and supply chain integration activities. During his tenure at Fortive, Bryant also led global procurement activities for the Fluke Corp. Prior to Fortive, he held supply chain and procurement leadership roles at Ingersoll Rand, Johnson Controls, Whirlpool and Dell.

CEVA Logistics AG, Switzerland
Nicolas Sartini was appointed chief operating officer and deputy CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2019, following the acquisition of the freight management activities from CMA CGM Group. Sartini has been acting as chief executive officer of APL since CMA CGM's takeover of APL in June 2016. Prior to joining APL, he held various positions within CMA CGM, including as group senior vice president.

Eriez, Erie, Pa.
Tim Gland was promoted to the newly created position of vice president and general manager, tasked with overseeing all U.S. operations. Gland has been with Eriez since 2014, most recently serving as director of Erie operations. Before joining Eriez, Gland worked as director-chemical and mechanical operations for Lord Corp., where he was responsible for multiple manufacturing facilities in North America.

Diversey, Charlotte, N.C.
Mark Burgess was named new chief executive officer, effective Dec. 17, succeeding Dr. Ilham Kadri, who is leaving at the end of the year to take another executive role. Carlos Sagasta and Gaetano Redaelli, who have been serving on an interim basis as joint deputy CEOs, will return to their positions as chief financial officer and global president, professional division, respectively. Previously, Burgess served as chief executive officer of Signode Industrial Group. Prior to that role, he served as chief executive officer of Graham Packaging Co., where he led the firm’s IPO in 2010 and subsequent sale to Reynolds Group Holdings in 2011. Earlier in his career, he served as chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Anchor Glass Container Corp., and held a variety of operational and financial leadership roles in several other businesses.

TriMark, South Attleboro, Mass.
Scott McDaniel joined as president of TriMark United East, where he will work collaboratively with the United East senior management team to drive strategic and profitable growth. McDaniel comes from PepsiCo, Anderson Merchandisers and American Hotel Register Co., where he served in key leadership roles, demonstrated proficiencies in strategic sales, business development and national growth, managed dynamic teams and built trusted relationships.

AquaBounty Technologies, Inc., subsidiary of Intrexon Corp., Maynard, Mass.
Sylvia Wulf was named chief executive officer and executive director, effective Jan. 1, 2019, taking over for Dr. Ronald Stotish, who will remain with the company as an executive director, responsible for research and regulatory affairs, working closely with the regulatory authorities involved in food and biotechnology in the United States, Canada and other countries, leading the continued technical development of new products and working with Wulf in the expansion of the production organization both within North America and abroad. Previously, Wulf served as senior vice president of US Foods, Inc., and has been president of the manufacturing division since 2011. He’s also held senior positions at Tyson Foods Inc., Sara Lee Corp. and Bunge Corp., among others. She currently sits on the board of directors of the National Fisheries Institute.

Tripwire, Inc., Portland, Ore.
Stephen Wojtowicz joined as director of industrial sales, tasked with leading the industrial sales team. Wojtowicz maintains experience in technical sales and global sales management across a broad range of industries. Previously, he served as director of global business development for ProSoft Technology (also a Belden company), and spent 16 years at Rockwell Automation. Gregg Cooper joined as director of industrial market access. Cooper maintains a 17-year career with Rockwell Automation, and 11 years with Horizon Solutions in sales and management. Tim Allen joined as strategic account executive for industrial, moving to the team from ProSoft Technology. Allen also spent seven years at Rockwell Automation, most recently as sales team leader and channel development. Matt Robie joined as industrial account manager. Previously, he held the role of regional sales manager at JBT FoodTech, and prior to that, worked as a channel sales engineer at Rockwell Automation for six years. Gary DiFazio was named strategic marketing director for industrial cybersecurity. In his previous role at Tripwire, DiFazio drove the integration of Tripwire security solutions with Belden Industrial networking products. Robert Landavazo joined last year as ICS engineer. Previosly, Landavazo spent time at PNM Resources, where held positions such as NERC security compliance administrator and EMS engineer. Chris Williams was named global vice president of sales and marketing earlier this summer. Prior to Tripwire, Williams was vice president of global accounts at Belden, where he was responsible for driving integrated sales across Belden’s various brands. Williams came to Belden after 13 years with Rockwell Automation, where he held several sales leadership roles. Joe Rich was named vice president of North America sales for Tripwire earlier this year. Rich joined from ProSoft Technology, where he served as vice president of global sales, marketing, and support, leading growth for the Belden subsidiary. Rich also holds industrial expertise, having previously led growth efforts at Danfoss Power Electrics and Rockwell Automation.

BW Integrated Systems, a Barry-Wehmiller packaging company, Romeoville, Ill.
Mike Girtman was named to the newly created role of director of product development, where he will focus on driving innovative product development. Girtman maintains 35 years’ experience in product development, including 22 years at Alvey (Intelligrated).

IN MEMORIUM: DANNY COHEN, ATLANTIC CAPES FISHERIES

Danny Cohen, founder of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc., Cape May, N.J., passed away.

Cohen was influential in organizing efforts to promote the sustainable harvest of clams, scallops and other seafood, and encouraged a balance between industry and environment that would prove an instrumental equilibrium for crew, vessels and the fish.

He also served as chairman of the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) Scientific Monitoring Committee and on the NFI Clam Committee.

IN MEMORIUM: WILLIAM HAASE, SUNSET GROWERS

William Haase, chief executive officer of Sunset Growers, Minooka, Ill., passed away after a long battle with health issues.

After graduating college, Haase worked as a sales rep at U.S. Lines, and finished his career there as Brazilian sales manager in 1987. Then, he joined Del Monte Fresh as vice president of North American sales and marketing. In 1997, he became chief executive officer of Sunsweet Growers, where he served for 3 years before becoming a partner in Delicious Foods, which owned the Del Monte and Made In Nature brands.

Haase is survived by his mother, Shirley Haase Heck; his wife, Mary Haase; son, Rick (Pam); daughter, Megan (Nathan); sister, Nancy (Mauricio); brother, Christian (Cathy); grandchildren, Hunter, Abby and Bryce; and numerous other family and friends.

Haase is preceded in death by his father, William Haase; fraternal grandparents, William and Mary Haase; and maternal grandparents, Ted and Gerti Rickert.

IN MEMORIUM: PAUL WOLFORD, KINEDYNE, LLC

Paul Wolford, vice president of sales and marketing for Kinedyne LLC, Branchburg, N.J., passed away Nov. 15 after a long battle with cancer.

Wolford’s career in the commercial vehicle industry spanned nearly 40 years. He joined Kinedyne in 1981, and was named vice president of sales and marketing in 1997.

Wolford was an active member of the American Lung Association and was recognized as a LUNG FORCE Hero for his fundraising and advocacy for cancer research.

Wolford is survived by his parents, James and Joan Wolford; brothers John Wolford (Suzanne), and Jerald Wolford (Margit Royal); beloved wife of 37 years, Kathleen; cherished daughter, Jennifer Weber (Matt).

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to American Lung Association in Kansas & Greater Kansas City, 8400 W. 110th St., Ste. 130, Overland Park, KS 66210, or to the Paul Wolford Memorial.