ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

North American Meat Institute (NAMI), Washington, D.C.

William Westman was named senior vice president of international affairs, acting as the staff liaison to the institute’s International Affairs Committee. Westman joined American Meat Institute (AMI) in 2010 after a 29-year career with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service. Most recently, Westman was the agricultural minister counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where he was responsible for the overall supervision and management of USDA’s largest overseas operation.

Norm Robertson will serve as NAMI's vice president of regulatory services, responsible for leading the institute’s efforts in providing timely and effective regulatory assistance to NAMI members. Previously, he served as the executive associate director of regulatory issues at the North American Meat Association (NAMA). Prior to joining NAMA, he spent 20 years with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in a variety of in-plant and district office roles. Also, long-time National Meat Association and NAMA staffer Ken Mastracchio was promoted to senior director of regulatory services and Andrea Perkins was promoted to director of regulatory services. Mastracchio joined the National Meat Association in 1993 and joined USDA in 1973. Perkins also previously served in various inspection roles at FSIS.

Eric Zito was named senior director of membership and exposition services, where he will oversee NAMI member benefits and recruitment and assist with exhibit sales for the International Meat Expo and the Annual Meat Conference. He previously was AMI’s director of membership and exposition services, joining the organization in 2006. Michael Schumpp was named manager of public affairs and member communications, and will be the editor of the weekly publication, Lean Trimmings. Christina Marmor was named senior manager of meetings and conference services, responsible for coordinating and executing all aspects of NAMI and NAMIF meetings. Marmor began her career in 2000 at AMI, and then logged 15 years of meeting and conference management experience at other organizations.

Lastly, Nicole Vetsch was named manager of education and workforce development, responsible for overseeing NAMI and NAMIF award programs, as well as assisting in speaker engagement and education programming. Within the NAMI Foundation (NAMIF), Betsy Booren was named president, where she will oversee the research and technical functions, and serve as vice president of scientific affairs. Booren is a member of the National Advisory Committee on meat and poultry inspection, and serves as the liaison to the Meat Institute’s Scientific Affairs Committee. In addition, Susan Backus was named executive director of the NAMIF, where she will serve as the institute’s vice president of regulatory and scientific programs and staff liaison to the Health and Wellness Advisory Committee.

Robotic Industries Association (RIA), Ann Arbor, Mich

Earl Wohlrab, robotic and palletizing systems product manager for Intelligrated, was elected to the board of directors. Additionally, Wohlrab will continue his involvement with the RIA-certified integrator steering committee for manufacturing and distribution. Wohlrab boasts 20 years of experience in the material handling industry with nearly 15 years of experience in robotics.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:

Saputo, Inc., Canada

Carl Colizza was promoted to president and CEO of the dairy division, after Lorenzo Spinelli announced plans to step down, effective April 1. Colizza has been with the company since 1998, and has held several senior management positions in operations.

Sargento Foods Inc.,Plymouth, Wis.

Wade Zoroya was promoted to national account sales manager, part of the Kroger sales team, responsible for driving the execution of the Kroger joint business plan for Western Kroger divisions, as well as focus on category and brand development. Zoroya joined the Sargento Foods family in September 2013 as customer business manager. Ryan Lane was named regional merchandising manager in the foods sales department, responsible for retail merchandising and identifying opportunities among key markets and customers. Before joining Sargento, Lane was an account manager at Hilti North America and a retail operations manager for Advantage Sales and Marketing, where he led the Western region for Mars Petcare.

Perdue Foods, Salisbury, Md.

Randy Day was appointed president, effective Feb. 11. Previously, Day was executive vice president of supply chain for Perdue Foods. He joined Perdue Farms in 1980, and has held various positions in distribution and sales before being named director of quality assurance and product development in 1992. He was then promoted to vice president in 1993, and in 1996, was named vice president of quality assurance and logistics and later promoted to president and general manager of foodservice and prepared foods, where he was responsible for further-processed turkey and foodservice operations, foodservice sales and marketing, business development and the division's overall direction and focus. In July 2008, Day became senior vice president of Perdue AgriBusiness LLC, responsible for business development and strategic planning as well as management of Perdue BioEnergy LLC and Perdue AgriRecycle LLC. In August 2013, he returned to the foods business as senior vice president of sales and supply chain optimization. Day currently serves on the National Chicken Council Board of Directors.

Kraft Foods Group, Inc., Northfield, Ill.

George Zoghbi, currently vice chairman, operations, R&D, sales and strategy, was named chief operating officer, responsible for overseeing the company's U.S. business units and teams, including sales and marketing services. He will continue to lead Kraft's integrated supply chain, working closely across all operations to make appropriate investment decisions, drive productivity and deliver strong execution of the company's innovation and brand marketing plans. Also, Chris Kempczinski, who currently leads Kraft's Canada business unit, will assume an expanded role as executive vice president of growth initiatives and president of international. Kempczinski will work closely with Zoghbi to formulate strategy, including mergers and acquisitions, and develop and deploy innovation platforms for Kraft's sustainable growth. He will continue to lead Kraft Canada and will use his deep marketing and industry experience in his new responsibilities overseeing Kraft's international markets, including exports.

The company also announced that Teri List-Stoll will be resigning from her post as executive vice president and CFO, effective Feb. 28. List-Stoll has been with Kraft since September 2013, and has led the company's financial operations, including accounting and reporting, financial planning, treasury, tax, audit and investor relations. Additionally, Chuck Davis will be leaving his position as executive vice president of research, development, quality and innovation.

ConAgra Foods, Inc., Omaha, Neb.

Sean Connolly was named new chief executive officer, replacing Gary Rodkin, effective April 6. Connolly was president and CEO of The Hillshire Brands Co. from the time of its formation as an independent company in 2012 to its sale to Tyson Foods in August 2014. Prior to his Hillshire Brands, he was chief executive officer for Sara Lee North American retail and foodservice, as well as president, Campbell Soup North America.

SUPPLIERS:

Invata Intralogistics, Inc., Conshohocken, Pa.

Lance Anderson was named vice president of sales, tasked with leading the company’s sales efforts, including directing the account management process, empowering the sales team, advancing in-house sales technology and effectively communicating Invata’s value proposition, while shepherding clients from initial discovery through detailed design, contract execution and after-market account management. Anderson joins Invata with 16 years of sales and management experience in complex, high-dollar, highly automated, software-driven material handling environments for Fortune 500 clients worldwide. He brings with deep experience in the design and implementation of order fulfillment systems (unit sortation, PTL, voice/RF), sortation systems and warehouse management and warehouse control systems.

Choptank Transport, Preston, Md.

Paul Wood was appointed new director of carrier services, responsible for overseeing carrier compliance, strategic planning, carrier development and customer relations. Wood is no stranger to supply chain management and logistics. From 1992-2010, he worked at Tyson Foods in their warehouse and transportation division. While there, he held several managerial positions, including fleet manager, load planner, sales services and load planner manager. Later, Wood became project manager for their newly acquired Tom McLeod Software. Meanwhile, Courtney Clopper was tapped as corporate recruiter. 

Spartan Motors, Inc., Charlotte, Mich.

James Orchard was appointed to the board of director. During his 46-year career, Orchard has held executive and leadership positions with companies in the automotive, truck and aftermarket parts industries. From 2008-2014, he served as the chief executive officer of Dayco, LLC.

Intelligrated, Atlanta

Parks Stewart was named senior sales engineer for the southern regional sales and operations, responsible for managing existing accounts, improving efficiency and driving growth efforts in the region by identifying new business opportunities. Stewart is the primary point-of-contact for customers’ initial system concept and design, and serves as liaison between client staff and Intelligrated’s lifecycle support services.

Stewart brings 10 years of sales experience developing automated material handling solutions built around customers’ unique business and market requirements. Stewart partners with companies to identify and leverage best-fit solutions across Intelligrated’s complete portfolio of automated equipment, order picking technologies and software. Prior to joining Intelligrated, he served as general manager for CAMotion, Inc.

Matrix Technologies, Inc., Maumee, Ohio

David Blaida was promoted to executive vice president. Blaida has been with Matrix Technologies for 25 years in various positions, including engineer, group leader, department manager, director of sales and marketing and vice president. He is also a member of the corporation’s board of directors.