ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP), Washington, D.C.
Vivien Godfrey, chief executive officer, resigned to pursue other interests, including the leadership of her two family-owned businesses in London and Florida. Julia Kadison, vice president of marketing, will assume day-to-day oversight of the program, effective immediately.

The University of Denver's Intermodal Transportation Institute, Denver, Colo.
Jeffrey Heller and Frederick Hunger were elected board members and will serve 3-year terms. Heller is vice president of intermodal and automotive marketing for Norfolk Southern Corp. He has more than 30 years of rail industry experience and has held sales and marketing management positions in container shipping and intermodal, both in the United States and abroad. Meanwhile, Hunger has served as chairman and CEO of The World Group of Cos. since 1995. He has 25 years of intermodal experience.

Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, Baton Rouge, La.
Karen Profita was named new executive director. Profita’s professional background includes more than 20 years of marketing, non-profit and fundraising experience. Most recently, she served four years as chief executive officer of the Capital Area United Way, and previously held senior leadership positions with Children’s Miracle Network and the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Blake’s All Natural Foods, Concord, N.H.
Amy Peterson was named marketing manager, responsible for directing the company’s marketing and social media efforts. Peterson spent eight years at Stonyfield Farm, where she held a variety of roles, including social media manager, assistant marketing manager and senior graphic designer. She also worked for four years as a graphic designer at Steffian Bradley Architects.

International of BRF, Brazil
Pedro de Andrade Faria was appointed chief executive officer, responsible for managing the company’s 19 commercial offices, 11 industrial units, two joint ventures and routine export procedures involving more than 120 countries. Faria worked as a member of the board of directors and director of investor relations of Tarpon. Prior to this, he served as executive partner of Patria Investments, responsible for monitoring the private equity portfolio. He has also worked at Manhattan Bank and Patrimonio/Salomon Brothers. Meanwhile, Simon Cheng was elected ad-referendum to the board of directors. The executive previously worked at BCG - The Boston Consulting Group and currently is an investment officer at Tarpon Investimentos.

Ready Pac Foods Inc., Irwindale, Calif.
Rick Montoya was promoted to vice president of the retail specialties (RTS) division, replacing Ken Ewalt, who has run the RTS division for the last 16 years. Montoya joined the Ready Pac team in 1996 as plant buyer and later moved into several subsequent positions of increased responsibility in the procurement function. Montoya left Ready Pac in 2003 to become general manager for the Giumarra Cos., and later re-joined Ready Pac in 2008 as procurement manager. Montoya has been very active in the local produce industry within the Fresh Produce & Floral Council, holding several committee chairman positions. As a result of this promotion, Sean McClure was appointed procurement manager. McClure began his career with the RTS division as a merchandiser in 1999, and was promoted to buyer in 2001 and senior buyer in 2006. Prior to Ready Pac, McClure was with Lucky’s grocery stores since 1990, where he worked in various key positions in the deli, dairy and produce departments.

Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark.
Several new senior leadership positions were created. They include Donnie King, president of prepared foods, customer and consumer solutions; Noel White, president of poultry; Steve Stouffer, president of fresh meats; James Young, group vice president of international; Hal Carper, executive vice president of strategy and new ventures; Russell Tooley, executive vice president of program management; Wes Morris, president of prepared foods; and Devin Cole, president of sales and marketing and chief commercial officer. Meanwhile, Jim Lochner, chief operating officer, announced his retirement, effective September 2014. Lochner maintains 30-plus-year career at Tyson Foods and IBP, inc. Following retirement, he will serve the company in an advisory capacity through the end of 2017. Also, Donald “Buddy” Wray, special assistant to the president and CEO, announced his retirement, effective February 2014. Wray served the company in various leadership roles until his retirement as president and COO in 2000, but in 2008 was called back by Don Tyson to provide strategic counsel.

Lasco Foods, St. Louis, Mo.
Corey Schiff was named vice president of sales and marketing. Schiff brings with him more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing management in the food, beverage and hospitality industry.

The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Paul Heldman, a 31-year Kroger veteran who has been serving as the company's general counsel since 1989, secretary since 1992 and executive vice president since 2006, will retire in the spring of 2014. As general counsel, Heldman built a strong team of in-house law and labor relations professionals, and has played an important role in many of Kroger's major decisions. For example, he helped Kroger avoid a leveraged buyout attempt in 1988 and implemented a restructuring and recapitalization effort that allowed Kroger to remain a public company while rewarding shareholders and expanding the availability of stock options to associates. He was also a key leader in the execution of Kroger's merger with Fred Meyer, Inc. in 1999. As a result, Christine Wheatley, vice president, senior counsel and assistant secretary, will be named secretary and general counsel, effective upon Heldman’s retirement. Wheatley joined Kroger in 2008 as corporate counsel. She became senior counsel in 2011 and vice president in 2012.

Golden State Foods (GSF), Irvine, Calif.
Larry McGill was promoted to corporate vice president, president and CEO of KanPak U.S., which GSF acquired in October 2013. During his 15-year tenure with GSF, McGill has served in a variety of leadership roles across the world, including managing director of GSF – Egypt; vice president, worldwide sales and marketing, GSF – CIM; chief operating officer of GSF – Conyers; and most recently, corporate vice president and president, food processing.

FOODSERVICE:

The Wendy’s Co., Dublin, Ohio
Bob Wright will rejoin Wendy’s in early December as chief operations officer. Wright is a restaurant industry veteran with a broad leadership background, including previous Wendy’s brand experience.

SUPPLIERS:

Eriez, Erie, Pa.
Bill Dudenhoefer was promoted to market manager-heavy industry, responsible for overseeing equipment and orders for heavy industries, including aggregates, ceramics, power generation, mining, utilities and more. Dudenhoefer joined Eriez in 1998, serving as technical sales representative until his promotion in 2006 to separation product manager.

PICS Auditing, LLC, Irvine, Calif.
Jeffrey Muto joined as vice president of global marketing, responsible for leading global expansion strategy, marketing and product management worldwide. Muto comes from Rearden Commerce (now Deem), where he spent four years as vice president of marketing and strategy. Prior to Rearden, he has held marketing executive positions at Polyglot Systems and LogicalApps (acquired by Oracle), and global marketing leadership roles with Oracle and Saba Software.

Breakthrough Fuel, Green Bay, Wis.
Peter Romenesko was promoted to director of energy solutions, responsible for managing the end-to-end fuel management strategies for clients. These strategies focus on the pricing and procurement of transportation fuels, including natural gas and alternative fuels, to support some of North America's largest supply chains. He will also continue his role as the publisher of Breakthrough Fuel’s monthly trade magazine, the Breakthrough Advisor. Prior to the promotion, Romenesko was the senior manager of marketing.

NDC Infrared Engineering, Irwindale, Calif.
Teruo Horino was appointed sales manager, Japan, responsible for the web gauging and metals systems. Horino brings many years of experience in industrial measurement and control systems across a wide range of applications, including power, energy, web gauging and industrial automation.

Alchemy Systems, Austin, Texas
Mike Gainer was appointed chief financial officer, responsible for all of Alchemy’s finance and treasury functions. Gainer is a seasoned finance professional with more than 20 years of experience. Prior to joining Alchemy, he spent nine years at Dell in numerous finance roles, including finance director of the $600 million Compellent division and financial director for all merger and acquisition activity within Dell's Enterprise Solutions business. Previously, he spent 10 years as a small company controller and self-employed financial consultant.

Choptank Transport, Preston, Md.
Doug VanDerveer joined as director of specialized logistics. VanDerveer brings a vast knowledge of transportation and logistics. Most recently, VanDerveer was operations and facilities manager at A.W. Sisk & Sons. He was also national distribution manager for Boater’s World from 1990-2009, responsible for arranging, tracking and cross-docking all inbound and outbound shipments.

Stellar, Jacksonville, Fla.
Dan Fonner was hired as new division manager of refrigeration services, tasked with growing Stellar’s operations and maintenance service, a complete outsourced solution for refrigeration and utility infrastructure operations. Prior to joining Stellar, Fonner was a senior manager with Heinz North America, managing the company’s North America supply chain indirect procurement team. In that role, he initiated programs to outsource factory store room operations and material sourcing, facility services management and powerhouse management. He also managed capital spend and utility commodities. Prior to overseeing indirect procurement, Fonner led a global utility optimization program for Heinz’s 80 factories worldwide.

IN MEMORIUM: JOSEPH SEDLAK, SEDLACK MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
Joseph Sedlak, founder of Sedlack Management Consultants, Highland Hills, Ohio, passed away Sept. 9. In 1958, Sedlak founded Sedlak Management Consultants, which continues provides logistics consulting throughout the world.

IN MEMORIUM: MICHAEL MILES, KRAFT FOODS
Michael Miles, former president and CEO of Kraft Foods Group, Northfield, Ill., passed away. Miles joined Kraft in 1982 and was named president and CEO in 1986, where he led the company during its acquisition by Philip Morris in 1989. A long-time food industry and advertising agency executive, Miles was well renowned for his marketing savvy and ability to recognize and develop talent. His influence in the industry spanned decades as members of his team went on to become CEOs and general managers at leading consumer packaged goods companies, advertising agencies and Kraft itself.