People on the Move: Love's, Acosta, Core-Mark & VERC
NATIONAL REPORT — Retailers, wholesalers and suppliers in the convenience store industry are only as good as their management teams and employees. In this special roundup, Convenience Store News runs down the most recent executive changes, new hires, promotions and people achievements happening in the industry.
Acosta
Acosta named Claudia Sáenz Amlie as chief human resources officer. Reporting directly to President and CEO Steve Matthesen, Amlie will be responsible for overseeing Acosta's human resources organization including talent acquisition and deployment, talent management, total rewards (benefits and compensation) and human resources operations.
Most recently, Amlie served as EverBank Financial Corp.’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer. Prior to that position, Amlie served as lead of human resources, chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC, a global investment firm.
Carlin–Group
Angela Angelilli joined Carlin–Group in the newly created position of director, convenience channel to further grow sales for its portfolio of regional and national client and customers. She is tasked with expanding Carlin-Group's sales and presence within the convenience store channel.
Angelilli spent the past 17 years at the Royal Buying Group, a Chicagoland-based company focused on the convenience store channel. Over the course of her career she has held the positions of membership account manager, director of membership, and vice president of sales before assuming the role of executive vice president.
Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc.
Jordana Kammerud joined Core-Mark Holding Co. Inc. as senior vice president and chief human resource officer. In her new role, she is responsible for employment engagement, talent management and development, and business partnerships.
Kammerud comes to Core-Mark from SC Johnson Co., where she held various human resources positions including vice president of the Global Commercial division. She has also held senior human resources roles at American Express and started her career at Chrysler in the United States and Germany.
GasBuddy
GasBuddy named Mark Coffey to the new position of senior vice president of strategic opportunities. Reporting to the chief executive and chief revenue officers, Coffey will be responsible for opening new, substantial, revenue-generating market, client and partner opportunities across GasBuddy's lines of business in advertising, fuel retailer services and mobile payments.
Prior to joining GasBuddy, he served as the chief revenue officer at Gameface Media. At Gameface, Coffey was responsible for securing the company's top revenue-generating partnerships. Prior to Gameface, he was senior vice president of revenue, partnerships and brand acquisition at Rue La La.
Coffey's long business development career also spans more than 10 years of media sales, including stints at New England Cable News and iHeartMedia.
Love's Travel Stops
Love's Travel Stops promoted two employees to help lead managers and team members at Love's growing number of travel stops. Gary Price has been promoted to vice president of operations, and Tony Cribb has been promoted to division director.
"As Love's continues to hire employees and open new stores at this rate, it's crucial to identify leaders who can help our store teams prosper," said Tom Love, executive chairman and founder. "Gary and Tony's years of experience in the industry will help them flourish in their new roles. Both have proven they are dedicated to the success of our stores, which translates to the best possible experience for our customers."
As vice president of operations, Price oversees store operations of more than 210 Love's locations in four divisions spanning numerous states mainly in the eastern United States. He shares the title of vice president of operations with Roger Ahuja, who oversees the remaining Love's locations.
Price began his Love's career in 2016 as a division director. Prior to Love's, he served as president of Corner Bakery Café in Dallas for four years. Price spent 10 years in the travel-stop industry with Pilot Flying J as vice president of human resources and food service operations, vice president of retail operations, division director, and regional manager. His career includes 12 years with PepsiCo Restaurants, Red Hot & Blue and Cinnabon.
Cribb began his Love's career in 1997 as an assistant store manager and served as a district manager for the last six years. In his new role as division director, he oversees store operations of more than 40 stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Prior to Love's, Cribb gained experience in the travel-stop industry working in restaurants and store management for Pilot Flying J for six years.
VERC Enterprises
Vicki Richard joined VERC Enterprises as human resources manager. In this role, her responsibilities will include employee relations, benefit management, production of weekly reports, and payroll activity. Richard brings 15 years of experience in the human resources industry to her post. She was previously the human resources manager for The Salvation Army, Kroc Center in Dorchester, Mass.
VideoMining
VideoMining hired Mike Burkenbine as senior vice president, retail solutions. He brings 20 years of experience in market research and the c-store industry to VideoMining.
Throughout his career, Burkenbine helped brands glean actionable consumer insights from syndicated and custom research while working with manufacturers, brands and retailers including ACNielsen, Nestle, Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mars, Disney, Sony, Walmart, Ralphs, Albertsons, Walgreens, BP/ampm and 7-Eleven.
Burkenbine will lead efforts to establish VideoMining's new C-Store Shopper Impact (CSI) subscription program and help c-store clients to activate the insights from the CSI platform
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) named Rich Mende its new director of channel programs. He joined WMMB with nearly 20 years of experience in retail sales management. Most recently, his experience included sales management roles at Dietz & Watson in Philadelphia, InnovAsian Cuisine in Tukwila, Wash., and Willow Brook Foods in Springfield, Mo.
As the director of channel programs, Mende will manage the development of WMMB’s consumer and retail cheese and dairy promotional programs and coordinate their implementation. Mende will also provide leadership and supervision to WMMB’s team of regional marketing managers.