ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), Madison, Wis.
Kirk Scott was named director, retail programs, where he will manage and implement WMMB’s retail cheese and dairy programs. Scott joins WMMB with nearly 25 years of experience in consumer insights, marketing and brand management, most recently serving as director of retail marketing at Grande Cheese Co. He has also held roles in marketing and brand management at Kraft Foods, Rayovac, Careerbuilder.com and The Mark Travel Corp.

U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY), Tucker, Ga.
At this year’s IPPE 2015, Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods, was elected chairman of the board of directors. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Washington, D.C.
Susan Mayne was named director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, a division of the FDA, responsible for enhancing the fundamental relationship between science and the FDA’s public health mission. Mayne has an extensive background in nutrition, toxicology and epidemiology. Previously, Mayne served at the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale Cancer Center and worked with the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:

Flowers Foods, Inc., Thomasville, Ga.
Robert Benton, Jr. was named senior vice president and chief manufacturing officer, responsible for overseeing all production facilities and associated capital expenditures, leading the company's manufacturing and engineering teams, managing major capital projects, including new bakery start-ups and expansions and overseeing regulatory/quality assurance and safety/environmental affairs. Meanwhile, Michael Beaty, executive vice president of supply chain, announced his intent to retire in the spring. Until then, he will serve as executive vice president and oversee special projects for the company. Beaty began his career at Flowers Foods in 1968, and worked in manufacturing at a number of bakeries before joining the manufacturing team at the corporate headquarters. He was named senior vice president of bakery operations in 1994, senior vice president of supply chain in 2002 and executive vice president of supply chain in 2008.

Tampa Maid Foods, LLC, Lakeland, Fla.
Rod Stokes joined as director, food safety and quality, responsible for food product quality and safety. Stokes brings over 15 years of experience in the seafood industry, having formerly worked at Tampa Bay Fisheries establishing and enforcing quality and reliability standards.

Performance Food Group, Inc., Richmond, Va.
Dave Flitman was named president and CEO the broad-line business segment. Most recently, he was president and COO of USA and Latin America at Univar. Flitman began his career with DuPont, where he spent nearly 20 years in operational and leadership positions, served as president of Allegheny Power and was senior executive vice president at Nalco until it was acquired by Ecolab.

Smithfield Foods, Smithfield, Va.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe tapped Keira Lombardo, senior vice president of corporate affairs, to serve on his administration's Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide, which helps solve childhood hunger in the Commonwealth, promote Virginia's agriculture economy and support local programs related to community nutrition, food access and health strategies.

Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J.
Mark Alexander will become president, Americas simple meals and beverages, which includes Campbell’s current U.S. retail and foodservice businesses, Plum Organics and the company’s simple meals and shelf-stable beverage businesses in Canada, Mexico and Latin America. Luca Mignini will assume the role of president, global biscuits and snacks,a new division created to unify the company’s Pepperidge Farm, Arnott’s and Kelsen businesses into a fully integrated global biscuits and snacks portfolio. Jeffrey Dunn will become president, packaged fresh,a newdivision that will include Bolthouse Farms’ portfolio of fresh carrots, super-premium beverages and salad dressings and Campbell’s retail refrigerated soup business. In connection with the reorganization, Irene Chang Britt, president of Pepperidge Farm and senior vice president of global baking and snacking,announced her decision to leave the company.

FOODSERVICE:
McDonald’s Corp., Oak Brook, Ill.
Steve Easterbrook was elected president and CEO, replacing Don Thompson, who announced his retirement after nearly 25 years of service to the company, effective March 1. Prior to this promotion, Easterbrook was senior executive vice president and chief brand officer, leading McDonald's efforts to elevate its marketing, advance menu innovation and create an infrastructure for digital initiatives. Easterbrook previously served in key leadership roles across the company's global business, including president of McDonald's Europe. In addition, Pete Bensen was promoted to the newly-created role of chief administrative officer, responsible for overseeing a number of functions supporting the company's operations. Kevin Ozan will succeed Bensen as executive vice president and CFO, responsible for managing the global financial organization and leading the development and execution of the company's fiscal strategies. Ozan brings broad financial experience and has held senior-level positions in the company's finance, investor relations and accounting departments with assignments in both the U.S. and European markets.

SUPPLIERS:
Weber Marking Systems, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Michael Brownwas named vice president and general manager of Weber Marking Systems – Canada. With over 20 years of executive leadership experience developing and managing high-performance teams within the industrial/printing category in North America, he has held several key positions with Domino Printing Sciences. For example, he served as president of Domino Canada for several years, and in 2007, was appointed president– North American operations, responsible for the U.S., Canadian and Mexican businesses. Also, Scott Morriswas president and CEO, assuming the role after more than four years as the vice president and general manager of Weber Canada.

Plug Power Inc., Latham, N.Y.
Tim Cortes joined as vice president of hydrogen, taking over for Erik Hansen, who resigned. Cortes will be responsible for overseeing the company’s GenFuel business, including interactions with customers, partners and suppliers critical to increasing market share within the hydrogen fuel industry. Cortes comes from Smiths Power, where he served as chief technology officer and vice president of engineering, responsible for research and development, as well as solutions for global applications. Additionally, Jose Luis Crespo was promoted to the newly-created position of vice president of global sales, assuming all responsibilities for the global sales strategy, sales growth and market entry for the GenDrive and ReliOn brands. Crespo joined Plug Power in January 2014 to lead international sales and business development activity.

Sappi North America, Boston, Mass.
Mark Odgers was named director, import and packaging business for the newly formed packaging group. Odgers joined Sappi in 2009 following its acquisition of M-real, and has since been marketing director for import brands. He has more than 30 years of experience in the graphics, specialty and packaging industries, and brings a wealth of experience in sales, sales management and marketing of both domestic and import grades in the U.S. market. Wayne Nablo rejoined as sales manager, speciality products, responsible for strengthening the company’s extended specialities sales network into Canada and the United States. Nablo originally joined the company in its S D Warren days in July 1986, progressing through various sales management roles in printing, release and technical papers, culminating in his final role as sales director, Americas for release papers from Sappi Westbrook Mill. He left Sappi in 2004 to pursue other career options in the U.S. paper industry, including Fraser Papers, Wedlock Paper Converters and Gorham Paper and Tissue. Scott Marquis joined as sales manager, packaging group. Earlier in his career, Marquis sold LusterPrint-type products in the flexible packaging market, including pet food bag converters, from Fraser Papers and later from Asia. Most recently, he worked at Norampac Cascades selling C1S boxboard grades into the Eastern United States. Lastly, Tom Glas joined as sales manager, packaging group, responsible for establishing the cut-and-stack label printing market for LusterCote. Glas’ experience with this specific market spans 30 years in national accounts and sales management roles, where he was instrumental in establishing metallized label paper for consumer goods packaging through designer, converter and end-user selling. Glas comes to Sappi from AR Metallizing Ltd. 

Kool Pak, Seattle, Wash.
Sean Priest was appointed terminal manager at the Kent, Wash., distribution and warehouse facility, bringing extensive freight industry and food products management experience. Previously, he served as fleet manager and was instrumental in the expansion of the driver fleet that serves Washington and the entire west coast. Additional industry experience includes warehouse management at Spokane Produce as well as freight control at Kroger Co.

Primus Design Services, LLC, Woodstock, Ga.
The design-build firm expanded operations to include in-house mechanical engineering services, now led by Tim Taylor. Taylor brings more than 30 years of design experience providing implementation planning, scheduling, estimating, cost control and client reporting in the light industrial, process and commercial development sectors. He will serve as a bridge between design and construction, adding an additional level of technical expertise. He is also a LEED accredited professional with considerable sustainable design experience.