People on the Move
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Michael Keown will join Farmer Bros. Co. on March 23 as president and CEO. He comes from WhiteWave Foods Co., a subsidiary of Dean Foods Co., where he served as president, Indulgent Brands, which includes International Delight and Land O'Lakes. He also was responsible for WhiteWave's alternative channel business, which is composed largely of foodservice.
According to the company, Farmer Bros. interim co-CEOs Jeffrey Wahba and Patrick Criteser, who "led an impressive financial turnaround over the last year, will return to their respective roles as treasurer and CFO of Farmer Bros., and president and CEO of Coffee Bean International, a subsidiary of Farmer Bros.
Farmer Bros. Co. is a manufacturer, wholesaler and distributor of coffee, tea and culinary products.
In other people news:
Booz & Co.
Thomas J. Blischok joined management consulting firm Booz & Co. in its San Francisco office. Bringing more than 30 years of experience in global retailing as a consultant and thought leader, he will contribute market insight, technology expertise, industry guidance and retail thought leadership to develop winning strategies for the firm's retail and consumer packaged goods clients.
Prior to joining Booz & Co., Blischok spent eight years at Symphony IRI Group as president of Retail, as well as Global Strategy and Innovation. Before that, he served as chairman and CEO of his own strategic technology consulting firm, MindMeld LLC.
ExxonMobil Corp.
Henrietta H. Fore was elected to ExxonMobil's board of directors. Fore is chairman and CEO of Holsman International, an investment and management company. The ExxonMobil board now stands at 12 directors, 11 of whom are non-employee directors.
Galleria Retail Technology Solutions
Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category optimization solutions, named Andrew Lynch as a business consultant. He previously worked as a solutions specialist for RGIS, a global inventory, supply chain and merchandising solutions company, where he specialized in macro software for the retail industry.
Galleria also hired Jackie Warburton as a project manager. Prior to joining Galleria, Warburton worked for 17 years with Vertex Data Management, an international business process and customer management outsourcing company, where she managed projects for retail, finance, utility and public sector clients including Selfridges, Tesco and the National Trust.
Both Lynch and Warburton will work with clients globally.
Hostess Brands Inc.
Hostess Brands Inc. Chief Executive Brian Driscoll resigned last week, leaving the company's new restructuring expert to lead the business as it tries to survive its second bankruptcy filing in recent years, according to media reports.
The maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread said Gregory F. Rayburn, who was tapped as chief restructuring officer Feb. 22, will take the helm as president and CEO following the departure of Driscoll, who ushered Hostess into bankruptcy in January.
The Pinnacle Corp.
The Pinnacle Corp. promoted Drew Mize to chief operating officer. In his new role, Mize will be responsible for product management, marketing, client services, development and information technology.
Mize joined the organization in 2005 as vice president of Retail Solutions, and most recently served as vice president of Product Management and Marketing.
Pinnacle is also pleased to welcome the following recent new hires to the Pinnacle team:
• Jim Adams, Client Support Representative
• Yiraine Colon, Accounting Assistant
• Jason Harmolin, Inside Sales Team Lead
• Troy Jones, Developer II POS Payments
• Randy Kuykendall, Developer II POS Payments
• Kristen Riley, Developer II POS Payments
• Heather Smith, Graphic Artist/Marketing Coordinator
Pointsmith
Pointsmith, an at-store point-of-purchase management company, hired Parnali Sen to serve as account executive for the company's Shell Oil account. In her new role, Sen will help manage all aspects of the Shell Oil account, including the development of multiple monthly at-store marketing promotions and corresponding point-of-purchase production and fulfillment activities for Shell's extensive network of branded gas stations throughout the United States.
All promotions and activities are managed through a customized store profile database developed exclusively for Shell utilizing Pointsmith's proprietary database technology, according to the company.
Source Refrigeration & HVAC
Source Refrigeration & HVAC named Bruce Buchholz as president and CEO, effective March 12. He replaces Lauren Abrams, who resigned as CEO last month for medical reasons.
Buchholz has been a senior executive in the HVAC industry for more than 25 years and brings to Source extensive leadership experience in domestic and international operations. Most recently, he led two companies focused on environmentally "green" solutions in the HVAC and clean technologies markets.