ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Long Beach, Calif.
Seventeen-year Harbor Department employee Matt Plezia was named the new director of master planning, which is part of the port’s Bureau of Planning and Environmental Compliance. Plezia will be responsible for evaluating port land use, maintaining the Port Master Plan, preparing long-range cargo forecasts and evaluating the economic impacts of port operations. The division also leads the port’s coordination with the Long Beach Gas & Oil Department regarding oil operations in the Harbor District, and works closely with other city departments, Coastal Commission staff and local and regional planning agencies. Plezia has been serving as acting director of master planning since September, following the retirement of director Larry Cottrill. Plezia joined the Port of Long Beach in 1997 as a trade analyst, moved to planning in 2002 and was promoted to manager of master planning in April 2013.

American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), McLean, Va.
Gordon Speed was appointed new director of government affairs, responsible for helping develop and direct the institute’s federal, state and international public policy advocacy objectives and efforts, effective Jan. 1, 2015. Most recently, Speed served as director of strategic development for the National Association of Manufacturers. Speed also held senior positions at Crowell Moring, LLP, Cassidy & Associates and Freedom Works, as well as having worked on Capitol Hill.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS:

Cargill, Minneapolis
Carlson CEO Trudy Rautio was elected to the board of directors. Rautio, who was named president and CEO of Carlson in 2012, has been a senior executive with the company since 1997. Prior to her current role, Rautio served as executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer of Carlson since 2005. Rautio serves on the board of directors of Carlson, the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Securian Holding Co., Donaldson Co. and the Bemidji State University Foundation. Meanwhile, senior vice president Bill Buckner will retire in February 2015 after 27 years with the company. He is credited with helping the company build its meat and poultry businesses, and has been closely involved with Cargill's food safety efforts. Also, Todd Hall was named to the Cargill Leadership Team in charge of the company's strategic direction, growth and capital allocation. Hall is a 32-year veteran of Cargill. He joined the company in 1982 and has held general management positions with the animal nutrition businesses until 1998, when he joined the animal nutrition leadership team. In 2001, Hall oversaw Cargill's acquisition of Agribrands International, the company’s largest acquisition at the time. He was promoted to president of Cargill Animal Nutrition in 2004, and in 2008, became a platform leader focusing on poultry operations in Central America, China, Europe, Thailand and the United States.

Pinnacle Foods, Inc., Parsippany, N.J.
The board of directors elected Muktesh ("Micky") Pant, chief executive officer of KFC, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., as independent director of the company and a member of the board's Audit Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Pant has been CEO of KFC since January 2014. Prior to that, he held other leadership positions at Yum! Brands, including CEO of Yum! Restaurants International, president of global branding for Yum! Brands and president of Taco Bell International.  Prior to joining Yum! Brands, he held roles at Unilever, PepsiCo, Inc. and Reebok International Ltd. Pant replaces Jeff Overly, Blackstone operating partner, who stepped down in light of Blackstone's reduced ownership position.

2 Sisters Food Group, UK
Food industry heavyweight Ian Toal was appointed to the newly created role of divisional managing director, responsible for the company’s added-value poultry, chilled, food to go, meal solutions and ready-to-cook divisions. Toal brings a wealth of experience, having enjoyed a 30-year career in food industry management. His most recent position was CEO of Adams Foods, maker of Kerrygold and Pilgrim’s Choice cheeses. Prior to this, he worked as managing director of Delice de France and was a trading director at foodservice giant Brakes.

Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Nora Aufreiter, director emeritus of McKinsey & Co., was elected to the company's board of directors. Aufreiter has maintained roles of increasing responsibility during her 27 years with the firm, including serving on their global personnel committees. Her roles included leading the firm's North American retail practice, North American branding service line, McKinsey's Toronto office and the firm's consumer digital and Omnichannel service line, which she led until her retirement in June. Meanwhile, David Dillon, who led the development of the company's Customer 1(st) Strategy, will retire as chairman of the board, effective Dec. 31, after 38 years of service. As a result, Rodney McMullen, chief executive officer, was named a replacement chairman, commencing Jan. 1, 2015. McMullen has served on the board of directors since 2003.

Ready Pac Foods, Inc., Irwindale, Calif.
Cary Okawa was named vice president and corporate controller, responsible for the accounting operations of the company, ensuring quality financial reporting, the safekeeping of accounting records and company assets and maintaining internal controls and budgets. Most recently, Okawa served as vice president and corporate controller at Newport Corp., where he assumed global responsibility for financial reporting, planning and analysis, SEC/GAAP compliance, shared services and enterprise risk management. Okawa maintains over 24 years of finance and accounting experience with companies such as Ceradyne, Advanced Medical Optics and Tektronix, among others.

SUPPLIERS:

TricorBraun Design & Innovation Group is a business unit of TricorBraun, Oak Brook, Ill.
Lauren Dembek joined as marketing communications manager, responsible for day-to-day management of print, online and website marketing communications and planning and execution of long-range marketing campaigns. She will also be responsible for developing and implementing TricorBraun’s Nimblefish content calendar, working closely with outside agency partners.Dembek comes to TricorBraun from RR Donnelley, where she was a sales account representative. During her six years with the company, she consulted with a wide range of companies on their communication goals and advised and executed the most effective print solutions to a wide variety of markets. Her efforts resulted in bringing 65 new accounts to the organization.

Beckhoff Automation, LLC, Savage, Minn.
Aurelio Banda will become the company’s president of North American operations, effective Jan. 1, 2015. The subsidiary’s current president, Graham Harris, will assume a regional management role. As president, Banda will oversee all operations at the headquarters, where administration, sales and marketing, customer service and technical services/support are managed. Previously, Banda was vice president of sales and marketing, North America for Beckhoff.

NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG), Greenville, N.C.
Chuck Pascarelli was promoted to president, Americas, effective Jan. 1, 2015. In this new position, Pascarelli will oversee all sales, marketing, manufacturing, finance and pricing functions for theHyster and Yale product lines, as well as their extensive distribution networks across the Americas. His responsibilities will also encompass all NMHG products and lift truck services, financial services, fleet management, national accounts and dealer relations for the Americas.

Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.
John Sztykiel announced his retirement as president and CEO, effective Feb. 19, 2015. He will serve as a member of board of directors until his term expires in May 2015 and as a consultant to the company until Aug. 31, 2016. Chief operating officer Daryl Adams will succeed Sztykiel as president and CEO.  Adams joined Spartan Motors as chief operating officer, effective Aug. 11. Prior to joining Spartan Motors, he was chief executive officer of Midway Products Group, and has held a succession of management positions over a 17-year career with global automotive supplier Lear Corp., including senior leadership roles in Lear's North American and European operations.