ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

National Chicken Council, St. Cloud, Minn.
Mike Helgeson, chief executive officer at GNP Co., was elected to serve as 2013-2014 board chairman. Helgeson plans to address several current issues in the dynamic and volatile nature of the industry, which includes the ethanol mandate and its direct and negative impact on animal agriculture, as well as consumer food prices. Helgeson, who is the first in GNP Co.'s history to assume the NCC board chairman role, has served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of GNP Co. (formerly Gold’n Plump Poultry) since 1993.

Women’s Foodservice Forum, Dallas, Texas
Hala Moddelmog will serve as interim chief executive officer. As former president of Arby’s and Church’s and CEO of Susan G Komen for the Cure, Moddelmog brings extensive leadership experience and deep knowledge of the foodservice industry and non-profit world. With 18 years in president and CEO roles, she is a multi-dimensional leader who excels in strategic planning, brand development and marketing. Meanwhile, Roz Mallet, CEO of PhaseNext Hospitality and immediate past chair of the National Restaurant Association, will lead the search committee for a permanent successor to Fritzi Woods, who passed away on Sept. 18. Mallet’s previous roles include president and interim CEO of Caribou Coffee and senior executive roles with la Madeleine, TGI Friday’s and the Carlson Cos.

International Poultry Council, Brussels, Belgium
Cees Vermeeren, secretary general of a.v.e.c., the Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the European Union, was appointed to the executive committee. Vermeeren, who will serve as a member-at-large representing the EU, joined a.v.e.c. in 2005 and has been active in the IPC since the organization was formed eight years ago.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C.
Kraig Naasz, president and CEO of American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), was reappointed to U.S Chamber of Commerce Association Committee of 100 (C-100). Naasz was first invited to join the C-100 in 2006. Founded in 1958, the C-100 is comprised of the nation’s leading association chief executives and serves as the primary policy-originating body for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), Alexandria, Va.
Corey Rosenbusch, president and COO, is the recipient of two prestigious association professional awards—the Association Forum of Chicagoland and USAE’s inaugural Forty Under 40 award. The program recognizes 40 association and non-profit professionals who are under the age of 40 and demonstrate strong leadership skills and potential, along with a solid commitment to the association industry. Rosenbusch was also been selected by Association Trends as a 2013 Young & Aspiring Association Professional. Nominated by senior executives and peers for their contributions and leadership, the Young & Aspiring Association Professionals represent the present and future of association management. Awardees must be younger than 40 and active and well-respected in the association community.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Sunsweet Growers Inc., Yuba City, Calif.
Dane Lance, the company’s president, will take on the additional role of chief executive officer, taking over for Arthur Driscoll II, who is retiring from the CEO post he's held since 2004. Lance has spent the last two decades in progressive leadership roles at Sunsweet, and has been instrumental in building consumer demand for Sunsweet prunes and juices around the world.

The Schwan Food Co., Marshall, Minn.
Dimitrios Smyrnios will serve as chief executive officer, succeeding Gregory Flack. Smyrnios began his career with the Frito-Lay division at PepsiCo, where he spent eight years in sales and marketing. He spent the last year with as president of Nestlé Dryer’s ice cream division.

The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Michael Ellis will be named president and COO, effective Jan. 1, 2014, completing the succession plan announced in September when long-term CEO David Dillon announced his retirement. Dillon however will continue to serve as chairman through Dec. 31, 2014. W. Rodney McMullen, president and COO, will become chief executive officer on Jan. 1, 2014. Ellis has been serving in his current role as senior vice president of retail divisions since 2012, where he leads five retail supermarket divisions, plus Kroger's jewelry and convenience store businesses. He previously served as president of Fred Meyer, a division of Kroger, for six years.

SUPPLIERS:

WeighPack Systems Inc., Las Vegas
Andy Wischmann was named sales manager, distributor accounts, providing focused attention to distributors and agents throughout North and South America. Wischmann’s prior experience includes being managing director, principal operator and owner of WHG, Inc. and the Wischmann Co. in Hamburg, Germany. In 1994, he moved to the United States to build and oversee international distribution for Beehive, Inc./Provisur Technologies.

Stellar, Jacksonville, Fla.
Brian Kappele and Richard Lovelace were promoted to senior vice presidents, while Clint Pyle and John Heinzel were promoted to divisional vice presidents. Kappele will lead the food group, which includes a wide range of professionals providing services for food processing and distribution facilities. Lovelace will lead the commercial and military groups, responsible for designing and building facilities for the federal government and a range of industries, including automotive, faith-based, educational, hospitality, healthcare, office/retail, institutional and recreational. Pyle will continue to oversee all of Stellar’s finance, accounting, payroll, procurement and IT functions. Heinzel will continue to oversee the company’s growing refrigeration and mechanical/utilities groups, serving the food and cold storage industries, as well as other markets in need of advanced industrial refrigeration and mechanical expertise.

Alchemy Systems LP, Austin, Texas
Christine Mills was named the new senior vice president of global sales and marketing, responsible for increasing revenue by expanding Alchemy’s market share. In addition, Laura Dunn Nelson was promoted to vice president of technical services and business development, responsible for spearheading a new company focus on expanding customer services, while continuing to drive and manage Alchemy’s emergence into new markets.

Jamison RFID, division of Jamison Door Co., Hagerstown, Md.
Anthony Dublino was named director of commercial business, North America. Dublino has more than 20 years of experience in supply chain optimization technology, including RFID. Previously, he led business development for TAGSYS RFID and Hi-G-Tek and was a principal of Cosite (acquired by Cemex) and Powernet International (acquired by Neoris Logistics). Dublino also has significant experience in sales channel distribution, strategic alliances and operations.

GEA Refrigeration Technologies, York, Pa.
Anna Moczko joins the public relations and marketing department, taking over external communications from Maren Fiorelli while she is on maternity leave. Moczko brings along comprehensive and international marketing experience for complex capital goods. Her most recent assignment was with a medium-sized machine-construction business, where she was responsible for foreign markets, web marketing, advertising and organizing trade fairs and other events.

Multi-Conveyor, LLC, Winnecone, Wis.
James (Jim) Paulsen, a 30-year veteran in the conveyor industry, specializing in packaging, processing and material handling, joined the sales and project management team. Paulsen’s skills also include application engineering, project management, mechanical and electrical equipment estimating, proposal and presentation writing along with superior customer service.

Kendall Packaging Corp., Mequon, Wis.
Jon Solberg was named area sales manager, responsible for marketing the company’s complete product offering, developing and securing new customers and assisting the direct customer focus team. For the past 26 years, Solberg has been involved with high-barrier, high-performance packaging and maintains global experience in all facets of film making, printing and converting. The addition comes after the announcement of Kendall’s plant expansion at the Jefferson, Wis., location. 

IN MEMORIUM: E. LINWOOD “TIP” TIPTON, INTERNATIONAL DAIRY FOODS ASSOCIATION
E. Linwood "Tip" Tipton, the first president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, passed away Oct. 12 after a year-long illness. He leaves behind a lasting legacy of tremendous industry growth, creativity and collaboration while working with all segments of the dairy industry, as well as business associations and the Capitol Hill community.

Tipton started his dairy career in the 1960s as an economist with the Eastern Milk Producers Cooperative, where he supported efforts to streamline regulated farm milk pricing. Not long after, he was recruited to join the staff of the Milk Industry Foundation and the International Ice Cream Association and began to build a foundation for bringing new cohesion and growth to the industry. Also at this time, he co-founded a hotel/motel and restaurant chain, which grew over time to more than 30 properties. Tipton served as chairman of the board and CEO and ultimately sold the chain in 2000.

In 1980, he founded the annual International Sweetener Colloquium, bringing together food and beverage companies that use sugar to discuss common issues. In 1983, he and his wife Connie Tipton founded the Annual Capitol Hill Ice Cream Party, and in 1984, the couple led efforts to have then President Ronald Reagan proclaim July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of July as National Ice Cream Day.

Fresh from this success, Tipton founded the Dairy Forum in 1985 as an event for encouraging policy dialogue among processor and producer leaders. In 1988, he created the International Dairy Show, an industry tradeshow that today features the newest innovations in technology, packaging, ingredients and services for the dairy foods industry.

In 1990, Tipton rallied dairy food processors to create the International Dairy Foods Association, which brought together the Milk Industry Foundation, the International Ice Cream Association and the National Cheese Institute in an effort to magnify the voice of the dairy processing industry in Washington, D.C.

“If we hadn’t come together to speak with one voice, we’d be lost now,” says James Erickson, chairman of Anderson Erickson Dairy. “Forming IDFA was building a foundation for what we are faced with today.”

At the same time, Tip and Connie advocated for an act of Congress to authorize a dairy industry commodity check-off program. Milk companies passed a funding referendum in 1993 that established the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) to speak directly to consumers to improve milk’s image and communicate milk’s nutritional benefits, while identifying ways to expand industry sales and spur product innovation. In 1995, the first Milk Mustache ads, featuring supermodels Naomi Campbell, Iman and Christi Brinkley, ran nationwide, creating an instantly recognizable and iconic campaign that continues today.

"He had a long-term view of where our industry needed to go and implemented many effective initiatives to help us get there," says Mike Nosewicz, chairman of IDFA and vice president, fresh dairy, The Kroger Co.