People on the Move: Murphy USA, Parker's, VP Racing Fuels & Yesway
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, new hires, promotions and people achievements happening in the industry.
Acosta
Full-service sales and marketing agency Acosta appointed Steve Matthesen as president and CEO. Matthesen, with more than 20 years of experience in consumer data, analytics, business strategy and operations, joins Acosta from The Nielsen Co., where he most recently served as president of Global Retail.
Prior to joining Nielsen, Matthesen was a partner at The Boston Consulting Group where he collaborated with leading consumer packaged goods companies to develop and execute growth strategies. He also served in the U.S. Air Force at the Space and Missile Systems Center.
In his new role at Acosta, Matthesen succeeds Robert Hill, who became vice chair of the board of directors. Hill has been with the company and industry for more than 30 years, serving in a number of capacities at Acosta since 1994.
Franklin Fueling Systems
Franklin Fueling Systems welcomed two new product managers. Tammie Scadden has joined Franklin as a senior product manager for fuel management systems. Scadden will be responsible for developing strategies and managing execution for continued profitable growth in the fuel management systems category.
In addition, Nicole Keppy has accepted a position as a product manager for service station hardware/transport systems. She will be responsible for driving profitable growth in the service station hardware and transport categories.
GreenPrint LLC
Joe Petrowski has taken a seat on GreenPrint LLC's board. As an executive leader with a track record of delivering value and and creative impact in the industry, Petrowski brings more than 30 years of experience to GreenPrint. Currently, he is the founder and managing director of Mercantor Partners, a private equity group focused on downstream energy distribution and retail convenience.
Previously, Petrowski served as CEO of the combined Cumberland Farms-Gulf Oil Group for more than 10 years. He is also a frequent contributor on CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.
"Joe is clearly an incredible addition to our team. We've all watched and learned from Joe's executive and strategic leadership over the years. GreenPrint is honored to have him join us," said Pete Davis, founder and CEO of GreenPrint. "Joe will bring a fresh new perspective, along with a passion for innovation, sustainability, and an unsurpassed knowledge of this industry to our efforts."
GreenPrint plans to leverage Petrowski's intellect and knowledge of the industry to help guide strategic planning and growth.
JTM Food Group
JTM Food Group added Tim Hart as sales director for its national accounts division. Hart brings nearly 20 years of foodservice industry experience to his role at JTM and will be responsible for building partnerships with national and regional chain restaurant operations across the country.
Prior to joining JTM, Hart served as the national sales and innovation leader for Cargill since 2006. In that position, he oversaw product development, innovation, planning, portfolio management and pricing for a global roster of foodservice customers. He also previously served as eastern area sales manager for Kraft Foodservice in Amherst, Mass. and foodservice director for Aramark in Hartford, Conn.
Miami Bay Beverage Co.
Miami Bay Beverage Co., maker of trimino protein-infused water, added two beverage industry executives to its sales team.
Lee Dixon has taken on the role of vice president of sales Southwest. Dixon was a long-time MillerCoors sales executive and most recently managed the Walmart account for the brewer. In his new role with trimino, Dixon leads and manages all direct distributor/broker sales, national accounts, and expand the brand’s footprint across 15 key states in the South Central and Southeast United States.
Rudy Byfield has become trimino's regional director for the New York and New Jersey metropolitan markets where he will be responsible for managing the distribution, national/regional chain business, local accounts, distributor relationships, staffing, as well as brand and marketing execution.
Byfield was formerly president of Aquaçai water and president and CEO/managing partner with CaribFusion Distributors in the Northeast.
Murphy USA Inc.
Rob Chumley joined Murphy USA Inc. as senior vice president, marketing. In the recently established role, Chumley will oversee the retailer's merchandising and marketing functions.
In this role, he will define the strategy for both marketing and merchandising and drive key initiatives to support retail operations and merchandising with a focus on loyalty, digital marketing and promotional programs.
Chumley has more than 25 years of experience at leading brands including 7-Eleven Inc., Kellogg`s, The Coca-Cola Co., Gillette and Procter & Gamble.
"Rob's proven track record for exceeding sales and profit objectives, building organizational capabilities and driving change make him an important addition to our leadership team. This new role aligns well with our broader strategy and the work of Rob and his team will be a strong component of our independent growth plan," said Andrew Clyde, president and CEO, Murphy USA.
NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC
Mike Bohnert has joined NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC as managing director. In his new position, Bohnert will lead in NRC's business development initiatives. Bohnert joins NRC with more than 25 years in petroleum and convenience marketing at a variety of companies including Mobil, ARCO and Core-Mark, where he rose to the position of executive vice president.
Parker's
Brittany Rehan has come on board at Parker's as a marketing assistant and graphic designer. In her new position, she is responsible for graphic design for the Parker's website as well as digital advertising.
Before joining Parker's, Rehan worked as the lead graphic designer at Pocket Media Marketing in Richmond Hill, Ga., where she developed creative signage, logos, business collateral, wall and window graphics, and vehicle wraps.
Reynolds American Inc.
Two new members are now serving on Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI) board of directors as Class II directors. New to the board are John Boehner, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and JeanMarc Levy, executive-in-residence at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Boehner will serve on the board's corporate governance, nominating and sustainability committee, and Levy will serve on the compensation and leadership development committee.
Levy fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Robert Lerwill in June. He is one of five RAI board members designated by Brown & Williamson Holdings Inc. (B&W), a subsidiary of British American Tobacco plc, under the terms of the 2004 governance agreement, as amended, between RAI, B&W and BAT. RAI's board now has 14 members.
"Both John and Jean-Marc bring valuable new experience and insights to the board in a dynamic environment," said Thomas C. Wajnert, chairman of RAI's board of directors. "As RAI gains momentum in its strategy to transform the tobacco industry, we welcome their fresh perspectives on our businesses and the rapidly evolving environments in which the RAI companies compete."
Scotsman Ice Systems
Nick Mirkovich joined Scotsman Ice Systems as the new vice president of sales and marketing. He will be responsible for managing sales through distribution, key chain and direct accounts throughout the Americas.
Mirkovich has spent nearly 15 years working in sales, marketing, product management and retail capacities at such companies as Newell-Rubbermaid, and most recently, Pactiv Food Packaging LLC as the national sales manager.
He will be based at Scotsman Ice Corporate Headquarters in Vernon Hills, Ill.
The Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association
Pamela Gorman comes on board at the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA) as the organization's new executive director, replacing Cynthia Cabrera. In this role, Gorman will lead national and state advocacy and legislative efforts; oversee state chapters; and represent SFATA with regulatory agencies, including at industry events; among other responsibilities.
Gorman founded U.S. Vapor Inc., a firm providing public affairs consulting to small business owners and advocacy nonprofit organizations working in the vapor industry. Prior to that, she was director of government relations for NJOY Inc., where she built the first government affairs department and program for an independent (not tobacco-owned) manufacturer.
She was elected to serve as a state representative in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2005-2006 and later as a state senator in Arizona from 2007-2010.
VP Racing Fuels Inc.
VP Racing Fuels Inc. appointed Gary Jaiman as regional manager — branded wholesale business development to support its growing retail branding program.
Jaiman started his career in the oil industry with Shell Oil Co. in a district manager role in Phoenix. That was followed by district manager positions with ConocoPhillips in Chicago and Southern California, as well as a tour in Dallas/Ft. Worth as a wholesale branding manager.
Most recently, he worked for Red Bull as a key account manager focusing on sales and marketing with independent convenience store chain owners.
The company has also appointed Kyle Moose as regional manager, western division. Based at the company’s regional sales office in Murrieta, Calif., Moose will be responsible for sales and distribution of race fuel in VP's western region which includes California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Montana as well as exports to Baja California, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific Rim.
He brings substantial industry experience to the position, including the last two years as business development representative for VP's western Region. During the 10 years prior to VP, he worked as a mechanic and engine builder for Varner Motorsports followed by a tour with Henson Clutch Components in sales and rider support.
In addition, Jonnie Lindberg Motorsports today announced a new alliance with VP Racing Fuels for the 2016 racing season. Jonnie Lindberg, reigning NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion, will rely exclusively on VP’s M1 Methanol in his attempt to secure a second championship this year.
Yesway
Yesway named Douglas New as its chief technology officer. He brings an extensive technical background and years of executive-level experience to the rapidly growing Des Moines-based company.
New most recently having served as chief information officer (CIO) at Tedeschi Food Shops, Inc., a New England-based retail convenience business. While CIO at Tedeschi, he developed technology strategy and oversaw all IT-related activities and support services for 181 stores and 2,300 employees.
He will report directly to Mark Daniels, the firm's chief strategy officer. He will be responsible for mapping and implementing Yesway's technology strategy, and his duties include defining the execution plan for Yesway's e-commerce platform.