ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:

United Producers, Inc. (UPI), Columbus, Ohio
Dennis Bolling announced his retirement from president and CEO, effective end of the year. Bolling joined the company in 1989 as chief executive officer of UPI’s predecessor company, Producers Livestock Association.  Immediately prior, Bolling served as an officer with CoBank, serving cooperatives throughout Ohio.  Bolling also worked in several capacities with Ralston Purina. Mike Bumgarner, chief operating officer, was tapped to succeed Bolling. Bumgarner was previously with UPI from 1990 to June 2009 and held several management roles. In 2009, he left to establish the Center for Food and Animal Issues within Ohio Farm Bureau. He re-joined UPI in September 2013 to take on his current role.

Process Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA), Falls Church, Va.
Charlie Ingram, vice president of sales and marketing for Eriez, was appointed president, after serving as the association’s vice president. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Mercyhurst College’s Walker School of Business, the Sterling Technologies Inc. board of directors and the St. Vincent Board of Corporators.

American Beverage Association, Washington, D.C.
Christopher Gindlesperger, senior director, public affairs, resigned to join the National Confectioners Association as vice president of public affairs and communications.

International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE), Washington, D.C.
Robert Benton, senior vice president and chief manufacturing officer for Flowers Foods, Inc., and Jorge Zárate Lupercio, senior vice president of operations for Grupo Bimbo, joined the IBIE committee, which is comprised of volunteer members ofthe American Bakers Association (ABA), Washington, D.C., and BEMA, the Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds, Overland Park, Kan. Both Benton and Zárate Lupercio will represent ABA, ABA members and a cross-section of the baking industry.Meanwhile, former chairman Michael Beaty and committee member Rosalio Rodriguez resigned from the board of directors.
 

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:

GNP Co., St. Cloud, Minn.
The producer of the Just BARE and Gold'n Plump chicken products made some strategic organizational changes within the company's executive leadership team upon starting the first phase of a 2-phase expansion plan for its Cold Spring and St. Cloud, Minn., operations. Tim Wensman, a 34-year veteran, will serve as executive vice president of processing and supply. Brian Roelofs was named vice president of sales, marketing and service. He served as director of sales for nine years. Bill Lanners, a 30-year veteran who previously served as director of live operations, was appointed vice president of live operations and engineering. Peggy Brown, a 22-year veteran, will serve as senior director of human resources.

Sysco Corp., Houston, Texas
Joel Grade was named executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Sept. 1, following Chris Kreidler's decision to leave the company. Grade has served as Sysco's senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer since early 2014 with responsibility for field finance, commercial finance, financial planning and analysis, financial reporting and shared services accounting. He began his career at Sysco as a staff auditor in 1996, and has since held a variety of senior finance and commercial roles, including chief financial officer of Sysco Chicago in 2002, followed by chief financial officer of Sysco Canada in 2007. He was later promoted to president of Sysco Canada in 2010, and then became senior vice president of foodservice operations, North region and Canada in 2012.

The happy egg co., San Francisco
Gary Sundgren was appointed commercial director, effective March 23, tasked with supporting the company’s expansion in the specialty egg market and continuing its mission to bring innovation to the egg case. Previously, Sundgren was the national egg and cheese category director at Safeway Inc., where he advanced the company's retail and distribution strategy. Sundgren maintains more than a decade of experience in the retail industry.

Jensen Meat Co., Otay Mesa ,Calif.
Abel Olivera was named chief executive officer. Olivera has been with Jensen Meat since 2005 and served as chief operating officer since 2011.Olivera began his pre-Jensen career as a computer programmer and nearly a decade ago, became Jensen Meat’s operations manager. Since then, Olivera has overseen continuous years of double-digit growth and, in 2013, spearheaded the company’s $15 million relocation and new equipment investment, including the design and deployment of a computerized grinding line.  

Fortune Fish & Gourmet, Bensenville, Ill.
Greg Skotnicki, a 27-year veteran of the seafood industry, was named market manager for the company’s new Indianapolis, Ind., office. Skotnicki began his career in 1986 at Dixon Fisheries before moving to run the company's facility in Indianapolis. He then transferred into a national sales position at Bell Aquaculture before taking the position at Fortune Fish.

SUPPLIERS:

Genesee & Wyoming Inc., Darien, Conn.
Hunter Smith joined the company’s board of directors, effective March 27. Smith currently serves as vice president of finance for Celgene Corp.’s inflammation and immunology business unit. Prior to that, he has held various roles during a 14-year tenure at Bunge Ltd., including chief financial officer of two distinct business units, corporate treasurer and chief risk officer. Previously, he served as a director at UBS AG and started his career at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co.

Eriez, Erie, Pa.
Tim Gland was promoted to director-Erie operations, responsible for all manufacturing operations at the company’s Erie, Pa., headquarters and Asbury Road plants. His duties will include overseeing the facilities’ production control, purchasing, subcontract, shipping and stores operations. Gland joined Eriez a year ago as facilities director. Before his employment at Eriez, Gland worked for Lord Corp. as director-chemical and mechanical operations, where he was responsible for multiple manufacturing facilities in North America.

Plug Power Inc., Latham, N.Y.
Martin Hull was appointed chief accounting officer, effective April 1, responsible for enhancing the finance team’s ability to support Plug Power’s growth, as the company continues to build on the depth and breadth of its reporting and accounting competencies. Previously, Hull was a principal and director of Marvin and Co., P.C. Prior to that, he was an audit partner at KPMG LLP, serving various public companies. Hull brings extensive accounting, financial reporting and internal controls knowledge. The CAO position was previously filled by Jill McCoskey.