ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Rockville, Md.
Dr. Palmer Orlandi was appointed deputy executive director and chief science officer, effective Dec. 17, tasked with overseeing the AOAC Research Institute, standards development and proficiency testing. In addition, he will handle business development responsibilities, including developing strategic partnerships with the goal of advancing voluntary consensus standards setting activities and strengthening international relations. Orlandi served more than 20 years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), most recently as chief science officer and research director in the Office of Food and Veterinary Medicine (FVM), where he provided strategic direction and leadership for all FDA FVM science and research programs. He has also been an officer in the Commission Corps of the Public Health Service since 1991, earning the rank of rear admiral and assistant surgeon general in 2017. Orlandi maintains an extensive background in government relations, food science and safety, regulatory affairs and public health in the federal government. He has developed rapid molecular detection methods for emerging food- and waterborne microbial pathogens for regulatory and surveillance applications and collaborative analytical methods programs for the FDA field laboratories and the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN).

American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), Alexandria, Va.
Mary Beth Long was named vice president of external affairs, where she’ll expand the association’s leadership on workforce development issues, continue to increase thought leaders’ awareness of the Western Hemisphere port industry and garner support for U.S. ports among lawmakers. Long began working at AAPA in 1999 as part of the government relations department, and has held several positions within the association since then. Prior to joining AAPA, she coordinated legislative activities at Thomson Coburn. From 1996-1998, she worked for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and before that, worked on behalf of the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association. Meredith Martino was appointed vice president of member engagement, working to pursue new forms of non-dues revenue for the association, utilize more sophisticated technology applications to better facilitate member engagement with AAPA and provide thought leadership and timely content on common challenges facing the Hemisphere’s ports. Hired in 2004, Martino also got her start at AAPA in the government relations department, and has been engaged in multiple areas of the association over the past 15 years. Her previous experience includes serving as AAPA’s director of publications, digital media and technology, lobbying for the Travel Industry Association of America (now U.S. Travel) and working in the United States Senate for retired Senators Tim Johnson and John Glenn. Jean Godwin, executive vice president and general counsel, announced her intent to reduce her role in 2019, but will continue to serve as the association’s general counsel. And, the new external affairs department will be led by Susan Monteverde, vice president of government relations.

Les Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI), Louisville, Ky.
Sharon Olson, president and founder of Olson Communications and executive director of Culinary Visions Panel, was elected treasurer. She previously served as secretary, and is a past president of the Chicago chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier.

Young Chefs Academy, Waco, Texas
Rachel Solano, a Texas-based chef instructor, joined as curriculum coordinator, overseeing the creation and testing of all curriculum for classes, camps and workshops and helping to bring the curriculum to life in the franchisee's kitchen. Solano previously worked at a cooking school, where she taught adult cooking classes for more than a decade.

Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), Washington, D.C.
Rishi Banerjee joined as senior manager for the United States and Canada. Banerjee is an experienced government affairs and policy professional based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and maintains a background in microbiology, food industry and regulatory agencies relating to food safety, nutrition and environmental regulations. Previously, he served as consulting manager at Savan Group, where he worked with numerous federal agencies to advise on rule-making activities. He has also held technical and policy positions at FiscalNote, the American Frozen Food Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc., Canton, Mass.
The parent company of Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins promoted John Varughese to senior vice president, international, responsible for all aspects of Baskin-Robbins’ and Dunkin' business units outside the United States. Varughese replaces Nigel Travis, chairman, who served as interim head of International for the past nine months. Travis will continue in his role as chairman of the board of directors. Varughese has been with the company for 16 years, working with the Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' international business units. Prior to joining Dunkin' Brands, he worked for seven years with the Galadari Ice Cream Co., and began his career in international sales with Smith Kline Beecham Consumer Brands.

General Mills, Minneapolis
Sean Walker was named group president of the Asia and Latin America segment, effective Feb. 1, succeeding Christina Law, current group president, Asia and Latin America, who will be leaving General Mills at the end of February 2019.Walker most recently served as senior vice president, strategy for the company, responsible for transitioning the Blue Buffalo Pet Food business into General Mills. Walker is a 29-year veteran of General Mills with extensive experience building businesses and organizations across multiple countries. He served as president of General Mills Latin America from 2009-2015. Prior to joining General Mills, Walker worked for the Hershey Co. and Nestlé.

UniPro Foodservice, Inc., Atlanta
Tracy Britton was named chief financial officer, succeeding Dan Wolfram, announced plans to retire as chief financial officer, effective Jan. 4, 2019, following a 35-year tenure with the company. Wolfram was responsible for overall financial accountability, along with accurately projecting the long-term financial picture of the company. Britton began her career in finance working for Kraft/Alliance and US Foods at the division, regional and corporate levels. She joined UniPro in March 2017 as vice president process improvement, and moved to vice president finance/controller in January.

Limoneira Co., Santa Paula, Calif.
John Carter assumed the newly created position of vice president of sales, tasked with leading the entire sales organization, including developing and executing sales strategy, promoting and coordinating foreign-sourced product sales, internal team development and ensuring customer service. Carter previously served as director of global sales. Anthony Ecuyer was appointed to the newly created role of vice president of packing operations, overseeing all aspects of packing worldwide, including operational strategy and execution, affiliated grower relations and harvest operations. Ecuyer previously served as director of packing for lemon operations. Edgar Gutierrez was named vice president of farming operations, responsible for managing, administering and growing the company’s farming operations worldwide. Most recently, he served as senior director of agricultural operations. John Chamberlain was named vice president of marketing, leading all facets of the marketing program, including product marketing, event marketing, internal and external communications, as well as investor relations support. Chamberlain previously served as director of marketing. All moves were effective Nov. 1.

SUPPLIERS:
Global Technology Systems (GTS), Framingham, Mass.
Brian Riley was named senior sales executive,  responsible for the company’s new BaaS subscription program for new and existing enterprise customers. He maintains extensive experience as a technology solutions sales professional with positions at Sprint, Inter-Tel, MedTouch and Oracle. Most recently, Riley was at IBM, where he was in the IBM 100% Club for achievements selling collaboration software solutions to medium and large businesses across diverse markets. And, Lance Williams was appointed senior account executive. Williams maintains experience with large, complex sales and service in the retail and logistics mobility industries. He most recently led the major accounts team at Zebra Technologies, where he provided solutions service support for top big-box retailers and distribution centers around the world. Before that, he worked at NCR, where he led a multi-vendor service support team to work with more than 3,000 NCR field associates.

MonarchFx, a business unit of Tompkins International, Raleigh, N.C.
Dave Hanson was named East Coast regional director to accelerate growth, maximize profitability, optimize inventory leverage and strengthen the overall operation’s performance. He specializes in e-commerce, retail, wholesale fulfillment and omni-channel distribution operations across multiple sites. Before joining MonarchFx, Hanson worked as director of operations for Shorr Packaging, MD Logistics, Regal Beloit Manufacturing and Jacobson Cos. (prior to its acquisition by XPO Logistics).

Custom Air Products & Services, Inc. (CAPS), Houston, Texas
Brian Gray was promoted to chiller service supervisor. Gray maintains 25 years of global process refrigeration knowledge and experience as a certified HVAC chiller technician. He spent many years as a field mechanical engineer for the U.S. Government Missile Defense Division.

Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Mich.
Ken Whah was promoted to president and CEO, effective immediately, responsible for providing strategic leadership to deliver shareholder value, establishing and deploying long-range goals, strategies, plans and policies and delivering the annual budget, business commitments and strategic initiatives. Whah has served as chief operating officer since joining the company in October 2017, where he spearheaded a continuous improvement program across the company’s operations, including Hanson’s flagship Velocities Multi-Vendor Consolidation program. Prior to joining Hanson Logistics, Whah was director of North American logistics operations at Whirlpool, where he oversaw more than 1,000 logistics associates and a network of 23 factory and regional distribution centers. In addition, Jim Reits, who has been interim president and CEO for the past six months, was elected to the board of directors, and also serves as president, CEO and CFO of the Hanson Group. Reits previously served as executive vice president and CFO of the Hanson Group.

Norfolk Southern Corp., Norfolk, Va.
Jason Zampi was named vice president and controller, effective Dec. 16. Since 2011, Zampi has served in various positions in Norfolk Southern’s finance and accounting departments, most recently as assistant vice president corporate accounting. Prior to joining Norfolk Souther, Zampi worked for 15 years at KPMG LLP, leaving as senior manager.

Eriez, Erie, Pa.
James Cooke was promoted to managing director of Eriez-Australia. Cooke has served as factory manager of Eriez-Australia since 2005. Cooke started his career as an apprentice for the Australian Defence Industries (ADI). Then, in 1994, he began his employment with Eriez-Australia, serving in various roles within the company over the decades.

Vortex, Salina, Kan.
Travis Young will assume the role of chief executive officer, tasked with managing the strategic direction of Vortex, as well as other entrepreneurial investments made by the company’s stakeholders. Previously, Young served as executive vice president of marketing and global strategy at Vortex, overseeing the company’s marketing team. He has been with the company since 2004. Brian Burmaster was appointed senior vice president of global sales, where he will oversee all sales, customer service, application engineering and product design activities, including those at the company’s global offices in Europe, Central America and Asia. He has served as vice president of sales at Vortex since 2010, and has been with the company since 2006. Cory Downing was appointed senior vice president of corporate manufacturing and development, where he will oversee manufacturing and development activities, including supply chain management, engineering, new product development, special projects and facilities management. Downing has served as vice president of engineering at Vortex since 2007. He has been with the company since 2005. Before that, he spent 8 years as plant and process engineer for Parker Hannifin Corp. Monty Leach was appointed vice president of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and standards, tasked with overseeing the ERP and safety and standards teams. Leach has served as vice president of manufacturing at Vortex since 1986. And, Eric Montoy was appointed corporate marketing director. Montoy has served as corporate brand manager at Vortex since 2016, and has been with the company since 2012. Previously, Montoy served as art director at Leo Burnett.

Port of Oakland, Oakland, Calif.
Barbara Leslie joined the Board of Port Commissioners, replacing Earl Hamlin, who resigned. Leslie has been with the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce since 2014, serving as its first woman president and CEO. She maintains 25 years’ experience in both the public and private sectors, including as assistant to the city manager during the Brown Administration and more than a decade directing external affairs and philanthropy for AT&T. She worked at the port in 1998 and 1999, including as port government affairs specialist. Leslie also served as chair of the Oakland Workforce Investment Board, a board member for the Oakland African American Chamber Foundation, the Youth Employment Partnership, the Hayward, Walnut Creek, Oakland and Berkeley Chambers of Commerce and as an appointee on multiple civic committees.

MTC Logistics, Baltimore, Md.
Christopher Austin was appointed general manager, port of mobile operations. Austin maintains many years of experience in the temperature-controlled logistics industry. He most recently served as senior vice president for a large international temperature-controlled logistics provider, responsible for managing eight distribution facilities throughout the Southeastern United States.

IN MEMORIUM: BILL CARTEAUX, PLASTICS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

Bill Carteaux, president and CEO of Plastics Industry Association, Washington, D.C., passed away Dec. 10 due to complications from acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Prior to joining Plastics Industry Association in February 2005, Carteaux spent more than 20 years in the manufacturing sector, most recently as president and CEO of Demag Plastics Group. Prior to joining Demag, he spent 8 years as president of Autojectors.

He serves as chair for the Council of Manufacturing Associations, is immediate past director general of CIPAD, the Council of International Plastics Association Directors, and serves on the board of directors for The Plastics Academy, the National Plastics Center and Museum, the Future of Plastics Foundation and Society of Plastics Engineers’ Foundation. In 2015, Carteaux was the youngest person to ever be inducted into the Plastics Industry Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Carteaux battled and beat leukemia. He is currently the corporate chair of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2017 Capital Area Light the Night events.