ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
The United Fresh Produce Association, Washington, D.C.
Amanda Griffin was promoted to vice president, education and program management. Griffin joined the association in 2013 to support the organization’s meetings and member programs. Griffin manages United Fresh’s Produce Industry Leadership Program. She also serves as the staff liaison to the Produce Leadership Alumni Organization.

Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Long Beach, Calif.
Lori Ann Guzmán will not seek reappointment as a member, due to her new responsibilities as city manager of the City of Costa Mesa. Guzmán, who is nearing the end of her first term as a harbor commissioner, has served since December 2013, including two years as president and two as secretary. Guzmán previously served as assistant city manager for the City of Huntington Beach and chief financial officer for the City of Long Beach. Guzmán also led efforts to improve the port’s community sponsorship program and served as board president when the $46 million Community Grants Program was adopted by the board. Plus, Guzmán’s contributions to the board’s leadership and oversight on the port’s new 11-story Administration Building helped ensure the project came in on time and within budget. During Guzmán’s tenure on the board, the port made tremendous progress on several significant infrastructure projects, including replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge, development of the new Long Beach Container Terminal and expansion of on-dock rail.

Produce Marketing Association (PMA), Newark, Del.
Steve Lutz announced plans to resign from his position as regional vice president, effective Aug. 2, to open a new marketing and strategic communications venture. Lutz previously served as chief strategist and vice president of marketing for CMI Orchards. Prior to that, he was a co-founder and executive vice president for Nielsen Perishables Group, and served as president and CEO of the Washington Apple Commission.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Get Fresh Cos. of Las Vegas, Nev.
Andy Hamilton was named new senior vice president of business development, tasked with leading the rollout of new products and increased capabilities for foodservice and retail customers for the company’s new 30,000-square-foot USDA-certified kitchen facility. He maintains 20 years of experience in fresh produce in a variety of roles for Chiquita, IFCO, and most recently, as chief executive officer of Eco Farms.

Seven Seas, Springfield, Ill.
Steve Kim was added as an account manager in the Visalia, Calif., office. Kim maintains 9 years of experience in perishable logistics and Asia market trading. Kim first introduced to the produce industry during his time of service in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a foodservice warehouse manager.  Following that, he was a franchise owner for Quizno’s Sub Sandwich before making the jump into perishable logistics.

Target Corp., Minneapolis
Hari Govind was named senior vice president of infrastructure and operations for the company’s technology team, where he will oversee cloud-and-compute capabilities, network connectivity and operations for the technology that powers Target’s stores, digital channels, distribution centers and office locations. Govind previously served as group manager on the infrastructure team for Facebook, where he was led strategy and execution to help scale platforms for Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus. Prior to that, Govind worked at Microsoft Corp. and Honeywell International. Govind maintains more than 20 years of experience leading engineering and product management teams, as well as expertise in social media, e-commerce, digital advertising, search and cloud infrastructure. Prior to Facebook, Govind led teams that built platform capabilities for Bing, as well as retail and supply chain systems for Xbox.

Ippolito International, Salinas, Calif.
Jason Grolnick was named sales/commodity manager, tasked with building relationships with foodservice customers and developing new distribution channels. Grolnick maintains over 30 years of produce experience. His produce career started in 1997 as a buyer for Markon, then later transitioned to the sales side of the business at NewStar Fresh Foods. For the last 15 years, he’s worked as a senior account manager at Tanimura and Antle, where he contributed to the company’s foodservice growth. And, Jon Kiley was appointed director of value-added/business development, where he will lead strategic initiatives to expand the company’s value-added business. Kiley maintains over 25 years of retail and foodservice experience. Previously, he worked for Earthbound Farms, where he held a variety of roles and responsibilities from strategic planning, retail and foodservice business development and sales and account management.

NatureFresh Farms, Canada
Paul Hulsbos joined as procurement manager in Mexico, tasked with aligning growers to support NatureFresh Farms winter programs as well as set up yearly commitments. Hulsbos maintains over 21 years of experience in the agriculture industry. Hulsbos began his career in agriculture working at a family owned importer/exporter company, responsible for sales and marketing of produce based in Holland. Since then, he has relocated to Mexico.

Weis Markets, Sunbury, Pa.
Bob Gleeson was named vice president of fresh merchandising to oversee the day-to-day merchandising and procurement of the company’s meat, produce, bakery, deli/foodservice, seafood and floral departments. He replaces John Grimes, who retired at the end of June. Gleeson began his career with Shoppers Food and Pharmacy in 1984 as a part-time grocery associate. During his 29-year career with Shoppers, he worked in increasingly senior leadership positions, including vice president of center store, senior vice president of merchandising and division president.

FOODSERVICE:
Superfood Holdings, LLC, Irvine, Calif.
Clay Sanger was appointed chief executive officer, tasked with overseeing the development and execution of a major retail expansion plan for the company. In addition, he will directly oversee all sales channels, finance, marketing and operations. Sanger maintains 30 years’ experience in restaurant operations. He’s held chief operating officer positions at Pieology and Jinya, and previously served as vice president of operations at Panera, Paradise Bakery and Susie Cakes. Notably, Sanger was a member of the leadership team that completed a merger between Panera and Paradise Bakery. He also holds deep experience with company owned stores and franchising in multiple markets.

SUPPLIERS:
Hunter Industrial, a division of the Hunter Fan Co., Nashville, Tenn.
Mark D’Agostino was appointed new senior vice president and general manager, where he will oversee all facets, including operations, sales, marketing and finance. D’Agostino has served as vice president of industrial sales for the company for the past 3 years, where he managed industrial sales teams across four continents while helping to launch three product lines. Prior to Hunter Industrial, D’Agostino served as vice president of sales and marketing for Power-Flo Pumps & Systems. He maintains more than 35 years of industrial experience, and has held several other senior leadership positions, including president and CEO of Raven Products and Wilo USA.

Fox Packaging, McAllen, Texas
Jasper Trujillo was hired as business development manager, responsible for the development of an effective marketing and sales strategy centered around metrics-based performance, and working in tandem with the finance team to create a more concise reporting structure for business and product category performance. Trujillo maintains a background in economics and business consulting, where he helped to create standard operating procedures and measured competitive analyses for previous clients.

Choptank Transport, Preston, Md.
Charlene Keller was promoted to senior director of enterprise accounts, focusing on strategic, repeat business. Keller was hired as a sales representative in 2006, after a career with Perdue Farms. Keller quickly took on a supervisory role, managing the larger national accounts, and soon became the face of Choptank by joining industry advisory boards and attending tradeshows throughout the year. Robin Tull was promoted to senior manager of specialized logistics, responsible for intermodal, dry less-than-truckload, port and drayage, hazmat and government contract shipments. Tull joined Choptank in 2008 after a career with Allen Family Foods, where she worked as a senior sales representative for 8 years and a transportation and distribution manager for 13 years. She began at Choptank as a logistics coordinator, and quickly advanced to team lead, overseeing 6-8 logistics coordinators. In 2014, Tull was promoted again to oversee and grow the company’s intermodal department, coordinating sales and shipments of rail services. Jennifer Daniels was promoted to associate director of sales, in charge of managing 10 in-house salespeople and mentoring sales managers in two regional offices. Daniels began working at Choptank in 2012 after 5 years as a high school algebra and finance teacher. She started as a sales representative, and soon earned a position as an account executive. In 2016, she was promoted to area sales manager, supervising a team of sales representatives.

Alto-Shaam, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
William (Bill) Rodgers will serve as business development manager—Northeast, working with customers, manufacturers’ representatives and dealers to meet strategic sales objectives. Previously, Rodgers served as district sales manager at Sysco Virginia. He maintains more than 20 years of professional sales experience in the food industry, stellar management experience.