People on the Move: Altria, Paytronix & PepsiCo Inc.
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 at the top in the industry.
Altria Group Inc.
Jacinto "Jase" Hernandez joined Altria Group Inc.'s board of directors as of Nov. 1. He will serve as a member of the Finance and Innovation committees.
Hernandez served as a partner and investment analyst for Capital Group and its subsidiary, Capital World Investors. He joined the Capital Group companies in August 2000 and retired in June 2022 after having spent 22 years covering a variety of industries, including U.S. tobacco, helping lead the research portfolio for one of the largest growth mutual funds in the world and serving in key leadership roles.
Hernandez is a director of Pioneer Natural Resources Co.
In addition, W. Leo Kiely III, a director since 2011, will retire from Altria's board following completion of his current term. He will not stand for re-election at Altria's 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Encompass Technologies
Encompass Technologies announced that Ray Guerin, former chairman and CEO of Reyes Beverage Group, joined its board of directors. Guerin's addition comes as the company accelerates growth and scales the Encompass network to unlock growth and drive efficiency for producers, distributors, and retailers across the beverage industry.
Guerin helped lead Reyes to become the country's largest beer wholesaler and the sixth-largest privately held company in the United States. In his 27 years with the company, Guerin played a key role in growing Reyes' employee base from 700 people to 31,000 across 46 states and 18 countries.
Jonathan O'Neil, founder of Encompass, continues as the executive chairman driving the company's solutions strategy.
Paytronix Systems Inc.
Paytronix Systems Inc. named Elizabeth King to the new position of chief people officer (CPO). In this role, King will work closely with company leadership on talent acquisition, engagement, training and development, employee experience, infrastructure and organizational design for the company's worldwide employee base.
As the company's first CPO, King will create a framework for new employee programs and help the company deliver policies and protocols for the changing modern workforce.
King comes to Paytronix from Motif FoodWorks Inc., where she helped the fast-growing food technology company build an employee culture that demonstrated and pushed forward the idea that employees are the reason for the company's success on the product side.
Prior to joining Motif FoodWorks, King worked as a human resources (HR) consultant for Capsule8 Inc., a cybersecurity startup. Her experience also includes roles as HR business partner at Nuance Communications Inc.; HR operations manager for RSA, the security division of EMC; and senior HR positions with BMC Software, The Hanover Insurance Group and Shawmut Design and Construction.
PepsiCo Inc.
PepsiCo Inc. appointed C.D. Glin to president to of the PepsiCo Foundation. He will also continue in his role as global head of philanthropy for PepsiCo and will report to Roberto Azevedo, chairman of the PepsiCo Foundation and chief corporate affairs officer for PepsiCo.
Glin previously served as vice president of the PepsiCo Foundation. He joined the PepsiCo Foundation in 2021 and has been instrumental in the launch and expansion of a variety of global philanthropic initiatives.
As president of the PepsiCo Foundation, he is stepping into a leadership role within the PepsiCo Foundation's board of directors. He will continue to oversee the foundation's strategic direction towards a more sustainable food system through the PepsiCo Foundation's three core pillars: food security, safe water access and economic opportunity.
Perfetti Van Melle
Perfetti Van Melle named Paula Dart vice president, Growth & Transformation for Perfetti Van Melle North America, which is based in Erlanger, Ky. Dart joined the confectioner on Oct. 6 to establish this new executive leadership team role for North America.
"As we continue to grow rapidly and meet fast-changing consumer behaviors and market dynamics, we're pleased to welcome Paula as key new member of our executive team. Her wealth of experience and history of success in growth and business transformation with leading global consumer companies will be key in reaching our aspiration of leading North America in our confectionery categories of gum, candy, and mints," said Sylvia Buxton, president and CEO of Perfetti Van Melle North America.
Dart comes to the company from multinational beverage company, Diageo, where she was vice president of global ecommerce and led a newly formed Center of Excellence. Prior to Diageo, she was with The Coca-Cola Co. for more than 20 years, progressing her career across marketing, strategy, innovation, and category and customer management, rising to global vice president level roles in these areas.
Swisher
Swisher promoted Chris Howard to executive vice president, External Affairs and New Product Compliance. Howard succeeds Joe Augustus, who recently announced his retirement after more than 33 years with the company.
Howard previously held the role of senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer at E-Alternative Solutions (EAS), a Swisher company. Over the past six years, he played a leading role in advancing several EAS and Swisher initiatives and regulatory compliance programs, including for Leap and Rogue tobacco products as well as novel CBD products.
In his new role on the executive leadership team, Howard will accelerate Swisher’s external affairs strategic objectives and mold a new section providing regulatory approval and compliance support for new product development.
Howard previously served as general counsel for Fontem Ventures (blu), associate general counsel for Lorillard Tobacco Co. and several in-house counsel positions with Syngenta.
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