PEOPLE NEWS

With the addition of Kwik Trip's commissary facility in the Midwest, and the expanding foodservice category, the company has decided to merge the programs under the direction of a Food Safety director. Jay L. E. Ellingson has been chosen by Kwik Trip to be its first Food Quality and Safety director.

Ellingson most recently worked as the director of Marshfield Clinic Laboratories-Food Safety Services, located in Marshfield, Wis. Concurrently, he worked as the chief scientific officer for the Marshfield Food Safety LLC.

Ellingson is also an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Microbiology Department.

According to Kwik Trip, the addition of Ellingson to its team will allow it to be "on the leading edge of food safety and public health initiatives."

In other people news, NOCO Energy Corp. hired Scott Ernst as the director of Fuel Operations.

In this new position, Ernst will oversee NOCO's bulk plants, terminal operations and fleet fueling operations, and will report to Jim Korczykowski, general manager of the company's fuel division.

Ernst has more than twelve years of experience in management consulting, energy services and the engineering industries. Prior to joining NOCO, Ernst served as a management consultant for Gates and Co.

He is also a member of the Association of Energy Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Mensa.

In supplier news, two veterans of the foodservice industry, both with more than 20 years under their belts, have joined Hot Stuff Foods as division directors of Operations for the Eastern United States. Lisa Mulligan and David Mehl are new to Hot Stuff Foods, and will manage six to eight franchise territory consultants to encourage franchisee's growth with the company's plan.

"Both Lisa and David bring an impressive and successful background of customer service, management and recruiting, jumpstarting new and stagnate markets and working well with franchise partners," said Tom Rose, executive vice president and chief customer officer of Hot Stuff.

Mehl previously worked as the director of operations for Domino's Pizza. In that position he developed the facets of the chain's restaurant management, marketing and promotion and menu design and analysis.

Prior to his service at Domino's, Mehl held executive positions for Popeye's Shoney's Rally's and Wendy's.

Mulligan comes to the position from Pizza Hut where she worked in various positions, most recently as district manager and are and consulting coach. During her time at Pizza Hut, she received numerous awards, including Manager of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Highest Sales Growth Award and Turnaround Award.

In other people news, Mary Parsons has joined The Hershey Company as its vice president of Snack Platforms and Tech Center Operations. Parsons will report directly to the vice president of global innovation and quality, Dan Azzara.

In this position, Parsons will oversee research and product development programs for the company's snack platforms. She will also manage the Tech Center Operations and Sensory Science and Insights. Parsons will also work with the U.S. Commercial Group, the Global Growth and Innovation Group and the International Commerce Group.

Parsons has more than 20 years of experience in product and packaging development areas, research and development and consumer insight areas.

Parsons comes to this position from Frito-Lay, where she led a research and development team as the vice president of research and development. There she worked with innovating and developing for Frito-Lay's snacks, cookies, crackers, meats and nuts. She joined Frito Lay in 1987 as the project engineer/section manager.

In addition, Connie Craft has been promoted to the position of national sales manager for Hi Mountain Seasoning. In this position, she will be responsible for the development and management of house accounts, as well as the development of sales programs and promotions.

Craft will also make appearances at national and regional trade and consumer shows, and serve the public relations team with corporate presentations and key store events.

"Connie's sales experience in the outdoor industry and her knowledge of our company will be a tremendous boost to Hi Mountain Seasoning as we look to expand our presence and grow the company," said president Hans Hummel.

Craft reports directly to Hans Hummel and Kim Hummel, executive vice president.

Craft joined Hi Mountain Seasonings in 2004. Prior to that, she worked in the eastern region sale management team for Brunton.

In other supplier news, Burke Corp. promoted David J. Weber to executive vice president and corporate officer to its board of directors.

Weber most recently served as Burke's vice president of operations. In this new role, he will continue to service as the vice president of operations, as well as serve on the board of directors.

"Dave's outstanding leadership skills during times of planning, development, and system changes and his overall management have been instrumental in Burke's continues success and growth," said president Bill Burke, Jr.

The company credits Weber's offerings to its successful expansion to produce an additional 60 million pounds of meat annually.

Weber joined Burke in 1994 as the director of operations. Prior to Burke, he served management roles in various food-related companies, including Jerome Foods, the Turkey Store, Brakebush Brothers and Johnsonville Sausage.

In other people news, Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. has appointed Roland Glidden to the position of vice president of sales, grocery.

There Glidden, with more than 20 years of retail sales and sales management experience in the grocery industry, will develop and manage sales initiatives for the company.

"Roland is a proven, results-oriented leader in the retail technology space and we're glad to have him join our team," said Karl Schutz, vice president of sales and client management.

Prior to joining Fujitsu, he was vice president of sales for Retalix USA.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds