People on the Move: Brother Mobile Solutions Inc., Delek US & Electrolux Professional Group

Brother Mobile Solutions Inc. 

In April, Brother Mobile Solutions Inc. (BMS), a provider of mobile, desktop and industrial printing, labeling and safety signage solutions, promoted Ravi Panjwani to president. Panjwani succeeded David Crist, who had served as BMS president since 2015.

Panjwani joined the company in 2006. While serving as vice president, he was responsible for driving the strategic vision and tactical execution of BMS. 

He brings more than two decades of experience in automatic identification, vertical markets product strategy, channel strategy, revenue growth and business development. Panjwani has spearheaded product development and industrial solutions, as well as driven the implementation of the company's business-to-business channel partner program, which grew the number of partners from the ground up to 400-plus.

His accolades include the 2020 Brother Board of Directors Innovation award.

Delek US Holdings Inc.

Delek made several changes to its senior leadership team, naming Joseph Israel executive vice president of operations for Delek US and Delek Logistics, and Tommy Chavez senior vice president of refining operations.

Meanwhile, Todd O'Malley and Nithia Thaver, executive vice president/chief operating officer (COO) and executive vice president/president of refining, respectively, will be leaving in the coming months to pursue other opportunities.

Israel and Patrick Reilly, who was previously named executive vice president and chief commercial officer, will split O'Malley's responsibilities. Both will report to Delek President and CEO Avigal Soreq. 

Israel will be responsible for refining operations at Delek US and for logistics operations at Delek Logistics Partners LP. Chavez will report to Israel and will oversee refining operations at Delek US. O'Malley will be available through Sep. 22 and Thaver until May 21 to ensure a smooth transition.

Israel is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of energy experience and a track record of driving operational excellence. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of Par Petroleum, a subsidiary of Par Pacific. He also served as senior vice president of Par Pacific Holdings, and as a member of Par Pacific's board of directors. 

Chavez brings three-plus decades of refining experience, most recently with TotalEnergies SE, where he held the position of general manager, Port Arthur Refinery and Petrochemical Complex. He has also served as a refinery general manager and vice president of operations excellence for Marathon Petroleum Corp. 

[Read More: People on the Move: Colonial Group Inc., CDA & Delek US Holdings]

Electrolux Professional Group

Foodservice equipment manufacturer Electrolux Professional Group tapped Jeremy Kleinberg as its new product line manager, cooking, on the company's Americas category management team.

Kleinberg will be an essential part of strategic growth with the cooking equipment portfolio of Electrolux Professional, the company stated.

"Professional cooking equipment really connected with me when I first heard about the opportunity," said Kleinberg. "Being a product manager is about being responsible for the success of your product line and part of that is knowing the products, but a bigger part is knowing your customer and what they need from you. I'm really excited to work with these well-respected brands delivering performance and value to our customers."

Kleinberg has more than 18 years of experience in product portfolio management in the flooring and consumer electronics industries. Notably, Kleinberg led the entry into the waterproof polymer composite flooring category, now the industry's largest and fastest-growing segment. Additionally, he worked with Internet-of-Things technology to reinvent a legacy smart home system, tripling sales in two years. 

GSP

GSP tapped Dave Johnson for the newly created role of chief revenue officer. 

A retail industry veteran, Johnson brings a wealth of marketing and merchandising experience from a broad range of sectors including convenience, specialty and other traditional retailers. Most recently, he served as a president of North America at beeline, a scan-based trading solution for fashion accessories. Before beeline, Johnson led global business development for WIS/CROSSMARK where he partnered with retailers to improve merchandising effectiveness and reduce operating costs. Johnson started his career at PepsiCo Inc., where he led the Frito-Lay convenience store channel in sales and operational roles.

"As our business has grown to support global multibusiness-unit brands, our sales and project management organization has grown as well," said Geoff Neuhoff, GSP CEO. "Dave's expertise across the retail landscape will support these teams' efforts to drive store-level innovation and execution across a broad range of retailers."

Harbor Foods

Independent distributor Harbor Foods appointed two new members to the board of directors: Lynn Kilbourne and Jack Cuniff. The two replaced longtime board members Bob Erickson and Paul Ellingson. 

As a third-generation family member, Erickson will remain connected to Harbor, while Ellingson will continue to support the company as an owner of key industry partner Bargreen & Ellingson, a family-owned restaurant design and equipment provider.

"Effective governance is a vital component of a successful family business, and our experienced board members give Harbor additional perspectives and knowledge," said Justin Erickson, chairman and CEO of Harbor Foods. "As we celebrate our 100th year, our business becomes increasingly complex, and the board's guidance helps us fulfill our purpose of 'Fortifying Community.'"

Kilbourne currently serves on the boards of LLBean and the Joshua Green Corp. and previously served on the boards of PMI Worldwide, Saax Underwear and Z Gallerie. She was the president of Zumiez Inc. from 2008 to 2014 after serving as the executive vice president and general merchandise manager from 2004 to 2008, when she also helped take the company public. 

Cuniff became chairman of the board for Les Schwab on Jan. 1, 2023, after five years as CEO. Cuniff joined Les Schwab in 2008 as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Les Schwab Tire Centers. Prior to Les Schwab, he served as COO of Adidas North America and helped start a company called Sports Inc. which was eventually sold to Adidas AG.

Jackson's

Sweet potato chip snack brand Jackson's expanded its sales and marketing team, naming Andy Malloy president of sales and marketing, and Dan Wilfand and Todd Tolis as director of natural channel sales and director of alternative channel sales, respectively.

Malloy brings more than 20 years of high-level sales leadership in the CPG space to his new position, having served in a variety of roles at major brand organizations including PepsiCo's Frito-Lay and Materne North America's GoGo squeeZ. In his new role, he will oversee the sales and marketing team, as well as the sales and marketing agencies that partner with the brand.

With more than nine years of sales and account management experience, Wilfand joins Jackson's from Spudlove, where he directed Western regional sales. Past account management within the natural food industry include roles with Bragg Live Food Products and Tasty Bite. As director of natural channel sales, Wilfand will manage Whole Foods and Sprouts Farmers Market relationships and oversee all natural and specialty retailers nationally.

Tolis has more than 15 years of sales and distribution expertise in the natural, mainstream and foodservice segments, leading a broad portfolio that included grocery, club, military, travel, convenience stores and a lengthy tenure at Field Trip. In his new role, Tolis will manage relationships in a wide range of verticals including c-stores, travel sector and the military community, among others.

Navitas Credit Corp.

Navitas Credit Corp., a subsidiary of United Community Banks Inc., hired Len Baccaro as its new vice president of business development and sales in the strategic accounts division. 

Baccaro will report to Michael Karman, senior vice president of the specialty finance division, and will be responsible for developing relationships with manufacturers and vendors in multiple retail verticals.

"Len brings a strong equipment financing background and expertise to the Navitas brand," said Karman. "He and his team's record of success in these strategic verticals will help the company expand our reach into these markets and help more businesses get the financing they need."

Baccaro brings with him nearly 40 years of industry experience to Navitas. He previously owned and sold two equipment brokerage firms: Independent Capital and American Equipment Finance. After selling each, he worked first for First Sierra Financial as vice president of sales and then at Ascentium Capital as senior vice president of sales, leading their largest vendor sales group and overseeing business development for the franchise team.

Onvo

Onvo named Gerald Danniel as its chief strategy officer and executive vice president to support the continued execution of the company's strategic endeavors.

Danniel has been with Onvo for 20 years and has spent the last 11 and a half years as Onvo's COO. He has overseen Onvo's operations as the company expanded into new territories and rebranded from Liberty Travel Plazas to Onvo in 2020.

Onvo named Jeff Byard to take over as COO from Danniel. Byard joined the company in 2022 as executive vice president of business development after more than 30 years at Sunoco LP.

"We're excited for this new chapter for Onvo and for Jeff and Gerald. When we determined there was a need for someone to oversee the continued implementation of Onvo's strategic plan, it was clear that Gerald was the perfect candidate for the position given his extensive experience with the company," said Andy Aulakh, co-founder of Onvo. "Bringing Jeff to the COO was the logical next choice for us given the wealth of experience he brings to us from his career at Sunoco."

Prairie Farm Dairy

Prairie Farms Dairy promoted Chris Hackman from senior vice president of operations to COO. He succeeded Gary Aggus, who had served as COO since 2006 and announced in February that he would be stepping down from the position.

"I am grateful for Gary's dedicated service as chief operating officer and wish him the very best as he transitions into the next phase of his career. At the same time, I am thrilled to have Chris assume this critical leadership role and look forward to our work together for many more years," said Matt McClelland, Prairie Farms executive vice president and CEO. 

Hackman's leadership within the dairy industry is significant. He currently serves on the Missouri State Milk Board Advisory Committee, Missouri Dairy Products Association board of directors and the All Star Association board of directors. In 2017, he was inducted into the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors and received the Missouri Dairy Hall of Honors Leadership Award for his outstanding service to the Missouri dairy industry.

VideoMining LLC

Alicia Cleary joined VideoMining as the vice president of marketing and industry relations.

Cleary will lead all efforts for marketing, branding, corporate identity and public relations, as well as continue to serve as a key partner and supporter of VideoMining's retail communities and industry organizations.

Cleary brings years of experience to the role, previously serving as the head of industry relations for Anheuser-Busch In-Bev, where she was responsible for industry engagement and retailer partnerships.

Yesway

Yesway named Thomas W. Brown its chief real estate officer. Brown comes from Brookwood Financial Partners, a private equity real estate firm.

In his new role, Brown will be responsible for directing all real estate related activities for the firm, including identifying potential site and convenience store acquisitions, and overseeing the firm's store remodel, raze and rebuild, and new-to-market construction initiatives.  

Brown has served at the helm of the company's expansive campaign to grow its portfolio through the completion of new stores and remodeling projects across its geographic footprint. He will also remain president of Brookwood and continue to serve on Brookwood's Executive and Investment Committees.

Prior to joining Brookwood in 1994, Brown was a vice president of Winthrop Management and served as director of national real estate operations. He also served as president of a publicly held national real estate firm where he was responsible for the real estate operations of 250 office buildings and shopping centers throughout the United States.