ASSOCIATIONS/ORGANIZATIONS:
Convenience Distribution Association (CDA), Reston, Va.
Kimberly Bolin was appointed new president and CEO. Bolin has been acting as the interim president and CEO since Feb. 19, 2016. Bolin was previously executive vice president, where she was instrumental in the transformation of the association enacting the aggressive agenda put forth by the board of directors in early 2015, beginning with a name change from American Wholesale Marketers Association to the Convenience Distribution Association. While working for CDA, Bolin has been involved in membership, dues restructure, upgrade and integration of technology, development of virtual policy and environment with cloud-based systems, management of staff, development of state government affairs program, reinvention of the association's annual tradeshow and rebranding of the association. 

Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), Annapolis, Md.
President and CEO Marla Donahue announced plans to retire at the end of 2016. Donahue began her tenure as FPA president in 2000. Prior to that, she served as the president of the Paperboard Packaging Council, vice president of the Foodservice and Packaging Institute and director of government relations for the Can Manufacturer’s Institute. She also served in the George H.W. Bush White House.

American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), McLean, Va.
Alison Bodor was appointed new president and CEO, effective May 16, taking over for Kraig Naasz, who became president and CEO of Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). Bodor most recently served as executive vice president of the National Confectioner's Association (NCA), where she provided strategic leadership across multiple disciplines while directly leading the association’s public policy and advocacy team. In this capacity, she oversaw NCA’s legislative, regulatory and research priorities around health, food safety and quality, agriculture and trade policy and the cocoa supply chain. Previous to NCA, Bodor has held positions in domestic and international regulatory compliance at McCormick & Co. and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and spent four years conducting dietary risk assessments for the food and beverage industries with Technical Assessment Systems and then Environ International Corp.
 

PROCESSORS/RETAILERS/DISTRIBUTORS:
Kroger Co., Cincinnati
Kenny Kimball was promoted to president of Smith’s Food and Drug, Salt Lake City, Utah, effective April 30, succeeding Jay Cummins, who announced his retirement in February. Kimball joined the company in 1984 as a courtesy clerk in the Smith's division. He has served in several leadership roles with Smith's, including store manager, district manager and bakery director. In 2009, Kimball was named Smith's senior vice president of sales and merchandising. In 2012, he was named vice president of merchandising for the Ralphs division, and in 2013 was named vice president of operations for Ralphs. Kimball most recently served on special assignment at Kroger's general office in 2015, before taking on his current role of vice president of operations in February.

J.M. Smucker Co., Orrville, Ohio
Dennis Armstrong, senior vice president, supply chain logistics and operations support, announced plans to retire Sept. 30, following 37 years with the company. As a result, James Day will assume the role of senior vice president, operations. Day is currently vice president, coffee operations. Prior to that, he served in a variety of operations leadership roles within the coffee, consumer foods and natural foods businesses. He began his career with Smucker in 1988 as a process engineer at a fruit processing facility. Robert Ferguson will assume the role of senior vice president, supply chain. Ferguson is currently vice president, integrated business and program management. He has been vice president, integrated business and program management since the 2015 acquisition of Big Heart Pet Brands, where he held leadership roles for seven years with Big Heart and Del Monte Foods, Inc. He was also a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Both appointments will become effective May 1.

Maple Leaf Foods, Canada
John Bragg and Claude Lamoureux announced plans to retire from the company's board of directors, effective May 4. Bragg has served as a director since 2007, and is a member of the Audit Committee and the Safety and Sustainability (formerly Environment, Health and Safety) Committee. Lamoureux has been a director since 2008 and serves on the Audit Committee and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. The company also announced that Carol Stephenson O.C. and John Lederer were nominated to join the board as independent directors. Stephenson was the dean of the Ivey Business School at Western University from 2003-2013. She was president and CEO of Lucent Technologies Canada from July 1999 to February 2003. Prior to this, she held executive positons with Bell Canada, BCE Media and of Stentor Resource Centre, where she was CEO from 1993-1998. She is a director of General Motors Co., Ballard Power Systems Inc., Intact Financial Corp. and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. Lederer was the chief executive officer of US Foods, Inc. from 2010-2015, and from 2008-2010, he served as chairman and CEO of Duane Reade. Prior to that, he spent 30 years at Loblaw Cos. Ltd., and is also a director of The Walgreens Co. and Restaurant Brands International Inc.

ConAgra Foods, Inc., Omaha, Neb.
Johan Nystedt was appointed vice president, treasurer and investor relations officer, effective April 11, 2016. Nystedt comes from Levi Strauss & Co., where he most recently served as corporate treasurer and vice president of finance, and led the company’s global treasury, business development and investor relations functions. Prior to joining Levi Strauss in 2011, he spent four years at Kraft Foods Inc. as the assistant treasurer, and six years at Altria Group, Inc. in global corporate finance.

Tyson Foods, Inc., Springdale, Ark.
Jason Nichol was promoted to senior vice president, Walmart, tasked with leading strategic initiatives at Walmart, including animal well-being and sustainability. In addition, he will develop the appropriate capacity footprint needed to drive Tyson Foods’ future growth with Walmart. Nichol joined The Hillshire Brands Co. in 2014 as vice president, Walmart-retail packaged goods, before transitioning into the role of vice president, Walmart-fresh for Tyson Foods in 2015. In that role, Nichol led strategic initiatives in all areas of the business, guided the Tyson Foods team in its shared goal of building success with Walmart and developed Tyson Foods team members in their professional growth. 

FOODSERVICE:
McDonald’s Corp., Oak Brook, Ill.
Andrew McKenna, chairman of the board, announced that he will stand for re-election as a member of the board. McKenna has served as a director for 25 years and as chairman for the past 12 years.

SUPPLIERS:
Navistar, Inc., Lisle, Ill.
Jonathan Peisner was appointed vice president, investor relations, responsible for developing the company’s investor relations strategies, leading investor marketing activities and managing relationships with the company's shareholders and analysts. Peisner takes over for Kevin Sadowski, who is moving into another leadership role in the company's finance group.Peisner boasts a 35-year background in accounting, finance and investor relations. He comes from KAR Auction Services, Inc., where he most recently served as treasurer and vice president, investor relations. Prior to that, he held leadership roles in investor relations at Collins & Aikman and Lear Corp.

Power Automation Systems (PAS), Lathrop, Calif.
Michael Felbinger was appointed as general manager of the Lathrop facility, which will immediately serve as the Swisslog Americas West Coast location, after being acquired by Swisslog.
 
Klöckner Pentaplast, Gordonsville, Va.
Brent Jones was appointed chief financial officer. Jones has broad experience as a financial executive with specific strengths in the chemical industry. Prior to joining Klöckner Pentaplast, he served as interim CFO at Pall Corp., where he advanced through several senior finance leadership roles of increasing responsibility in the areas of treasury, investor relations, financial planning and analysis and corporate development. Prior to this, he was managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Meanwhile, Peter Heinze was appointed chief operating officer, taking over for Markus Hoelzl, who has served as the company’s director and CFO for the past seven years and stepped down from his positions, effective immediately. In 2012, Hoelzl led the recapitalization process that enabled Klöckner Pentaplast’s acquisition by SVP. Heinze will be responsible for leading the company’s global operations, including supply chain, manufacturing, quality and procurement. In his last role, Heinze was chief executive officer of the Galley Division of Zodiac Aerospace Group. And, former CTO Marc Setzen assumed the newly created position of chief engineering officer, providing strategic direction on industry technology trends.

Linde, LLC, Murray Hill, N.J.
Erik Fihlman was named program manager, bakery, prepared foods and seafood, for the food and beverage group, responsible for leading the commercialization  of new solutions-based technologies and marketing programs serving industrial and wholesale bakeries and processors of prepared foods and seafood. Fihlman brings 10 years of experience in roles spanning field engineering, project management and solutions selling. Among previous positions at Linde, he was responsible for food freezing and chilling applications, technical sales and food industry segment growth for Linde’s Eastern U.S. and Midwest regions. Before joining Linde, he served eight years as a pilot in the U.S. Navy.

Aseptia, Raleigh, N.C.
John Hudson joined as executive vice president and chief intellectual property (IP) officer, responsible for IP strategy and commercialization, IP portfolio management and development, IP-related transactions and IP education, awareness and monetization. Hudson brings nearly 20 years of intellectual property experience to his new position, including work with international consulting firms. Immediately prior to Aseptia, Hudson was a member and co-leader of Deloitte’s National Intellectual Property Advisory practice. During his 8-year tenure in this role, Hudson provided a variety of IP services to clients such as asset valuations, the development and implementation of strategic and enforcement licensing programs, royalty audits and the purchase and sale of IP portfolios.