Five New Retailer Members Join NACS Board of Directors

CHICAGO -- Five new retailer members have been elected to serve on the NACS Board of Directors and assumed their positions during the board meeting held at the 2011 NACS Show, which kicked off this Saturday. NACS is led by a 30-member Board of Directors.

The new retailer members are: Graham Bennett, president of Quality Oil Co. LLC dba Quality Mart (Winston-Salem, N.C.); Sam Hirbod, CEO of Pacific Convenience & Fuels LLC (San Ramon, Calif.); Julie Jackowski, senior vice president, corporate general counsel and human resources for Casey's General Stores Inc. (Ankeny, Iowa); Jared Scheeler, director of retail operations and partner of Bobby & Steve's Auto World (Minneapolis, Minn.); and Kevin Smartt, CEO of Kwik Chek Food Stores Inc. and owner of McCraw Oil Co. & Affiliates (Austin, Texas).

Each year, 28 industry retailers are elected to the board, including two retailers from non-North American countries. In addition, the chairman and chairman-elect of the NACS Supplier Board serve on the Board of Directors.

A new NACS Supplier Board also has been named for the 2011-2012 term. Scott Hill, vice president of convenience sales for Jack Link's Beef Jerky, was named board chairman and Lucia Romanello Crater, vice president of retail sales for Cardtronics Inc., was named chair-elect and will succeed Hill as 2012-2013 chairman. Hill and Crater were elected to their positions during the NACS Supplier Board meeting that also took place during the NACS Show.

The NACS Supplier Board is composed of individuals from NACS supplier member companies that represent different product and service categories in the convenience store industry. Board members are nominated by the Supplier Board Nominating Committee and elected by the board.

Three vice chairmen were also appointed to the five-member Supplier Board leadership team: Wendy Redmond, director of sales-convenience format for Snyder's-Lance Inc.; Robert Sears, director of trade relations at Altria Group Distribution Co.; and Joseph Vonder Haar, managing partner of iSEE Store Innovations Inc.

In addition, five new members were elected to the Supplier Board: Andy Carr, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Air-Serve Group LLC; Tony Gaines, director of national accounts at E&J Gallo Winery; Elizabeth Jarocki, regional vice president of convenience national accounts, at Kraft Foods Global Inc.; T.J. Powers, senior manager of business development for Kellogg Co.; and David Riser, vice president of external relations-trade marketing for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.