ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
California Dairies, Inc., Visalia, Calif.
John Azevedo was re-elected to serve another year as chairman of the board for the 2015-2016 term. Azevedo has served as chairman since May 2013. John Moons was re-elected as first vice chairman; Manuel Machado, former treasurer, will serve as second vice chairman; Edwin Koetsier was re-elected as secretary; Charles DeGroot will join as treasurer; BJ Schoneveld was re-elected as member-at-large and Simon Vander Woude will join as member-at-large.

PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, Reston, Va.
The owner and producer of the PACK EXPO portfolio of tradeshows welcomed Glen Long as senior vice president, effective June 22. Long will focus on driving alignment between PMMI members and the industry’s end-user community. Long brings 30 years of experience, having worked in a variety of capacities in the machinery industry. He served as PMMI chairman in 2004, is a past-chair of PMMI’s Education Committee and currently serves on PMMI’s board of directors.

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Ben E. Keith Foods, Fort Worth, Texas
Mike Roach, president since 1997, announced his retirement, effective June 30. Under his leadership, Ben E. Keith Foods grew dramatically in sales, profits, geographic coverage, breadth of inventory and number of facilities in operation. Mike Sweet, current executive vice president, will be succeeding Roach. Sweet joined Ben E. Keith Foods in 1999, and has held leadership positions in sales, purchasing, marketing and operations. He most recently was responsible for numerous company initiatives as well as the strategic planning for the food division. Brian Lynch was also promoted vice president of sales development and training. Lynch joined the company in 2002. He most recently served as director of sales development and training, where he was responsible for division-wide sales initiatives and professional development of the sales force. 

Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth, Wis.
Daniel Clarfelt was named customer business manager within the consumer products division, responsible for managing the sale of all products within the Kansas City, Mo., region. Previously, Clarfelt worked as the business development manager on the Sargento Foods account at Advantage Sales and Marketing, where he exceeded all market goals for sales, profitability and speed-to-shelf on new items and retail execution.

The Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Fred Morganthall, currently president of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, was named senior vice president of retail divisions. Morganthall has been president of Harris Teeter Supermarkets since 1997, and brings more than 37 years of grocery industry experience to his new role. Meanwhile, Rod Antolock, currently Harris Teeter's executive vice president, was named president of Harris Teeter. Antolock began his retail career in 1978 with Albertsons, where he held a number of leadership roles.

SUPPLIERS:
Westfalia Technologies, Inc., York, Pa.
Logistics industry veteran Jose Ferreyra was hired as quality assurance manager, tasked with championing the company’s high-quality standards and automation solutions to ensure customer satisfaction and drive ongoing improvement. With more than 15 years of experience, Ferreyra will troubleshoot system issues, assist in the development of systems designs, specifications and costing and manage projects and job sites as needed. Previously, he spent almost 10 years with the company, serving as a project manager, vice president of operations and business development manager. Ferreyra also worked as senior project manager for a global industrial equipment manufacturer, and as a regional commercial director for a logistics and materials handling solutions provider.

VersaCold Logistics Services, Canada
Mark Dienesch was named executive team and leader of the sales and marketing customer solution team. He joins VersaCold from iMD Health, where he was chief operating officer. Prior to that, Dienesch was vice president sales, national fast freight, and held senior roles with Consumer Impact Marketing (now Mosaic Marketing) and GE Capital.

Navistar International Corp., Lisle, Ill.
Jeff Sass was appointed senior vice president, North America truck sales and marketing. Sass joins Navistar following a 20-year career at PACCAR, Inc., serving in various roles in marketing, dealer development, customer service and sales for PACCAR Leasing, PACCAR Parts, Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors. He most recently served as national sales manager for PACCAR Parts.

Intelligrated, Cincinnati
Bruce Sudler was promoted to sales manager for its Midwest regional sales and operations based in Woodridge, Ill. In his new role, Sudler will lead sales efforts throughout the Midwest, focusing on business development and long-term customer engagement. He will also provide strategic counsel to a team of sales engineers located in Chicago, St. Louis and New Brighton, Minn. He will also collaborate with the region’s engineering teams to develop best-fit solutions that solve distribution, fulfillment and end-of-line manufacturing challenges. Sudler joined Intelligrated in 2011 as a senior sales engineer, providing client relations, solution development, engineering and project management oversight for key accounts in the Midwest. He brings 23 years of material handling and executive-level sales experience to his new role.

Burris Logistics, Milford, Del.
Bob Koerner and Thère du Pont were appointed to the board of directors. Koerner joins after serving as the chief executive officer of Total Logistic Control. Currently, he is principal of BK Partners, serving as a mentor and consultant in supply chain management. du Pont is president of the Longwood Foundation and serves on the boards of both DuPont and WSFS. He formerly served as senior vice president, operations and CFO of drugstore.com and president and CFO of Wawa, Inc.

IN MEMORIUM: HOWARD BERNSTEIN, MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENT DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION

Material handling veteran Howard Bernstein passed away May 18 at 92. Bernstein served on the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association (MHEDA) board for 18 years, including as president in 1965. He was president of Atlas Lift Truck until 2011, when he retired to focus on his scholarship program.

"Howard was one of the greatest leaders and icons in this industry and an example of someone who truly gave of himself for the betterment of others,” says Liz Richard, executive vice president of MHEDA, Vernon Hills, Ill. “He never stopped sharing his gifts of experience and knowledge. The past few years, Howard passionately worked to help raise the awareness of this industry among students through the establishment of the Howard Bernstein Industrial Distribution Scholarship, first by seeding the fund with $150,000 and then tirelessly fund raising within the material handling community, bringing in tens of thousands of dollars. His message was about the importance of ‘investment’ in young people. I was fortunate to have worked with Howard on this effort, and have had the pleasure of Howard's friendship and mentorship for the past 20 years. The material handling industry has lost a great man." 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Palm Springs Air Museum, www.palmspringairmuseum.org. To make a donation to the Howard Bernstein Scholarship Fund, make a check payable to MHEFI and put Howard Bernstein Scholarship Fund in the memo. Mail attention to Donna Varner at MHI, 8720 Red Oak Blvd., Suite 201, Charlotte, NC, 28217.