FMI – The Food Industry Association announced its 2023 board of directors elected at its annual Midwinter Executive Conference in Orlando, Florida.
The new slate will guide the implementation of FMI’s 2023-approved strategic plan during a time of rapidly evolving industry challenges and opportunities and reflects the breadth of the product supplier and retailer/wholesaler communities. The outgoing board officers, first elected in 2020, agreed last year to continue serving in order to provide continuity to the association amid ongoing supply chain and inflation challenges.
“The entire food industry – from product suppliers to retailers and wholesalers – takes great pride in carrying out our mission to feed families and enrich lives. Recent years have brought tremendous challenges to keep our businesses operational, maintain the health of our associates and provide our customers with the products they need to thrive,” said Leslie G. Sarasin, FMI president and CEO.
“FMI is incredibly grateful to our outgoing directors under the leadership of our immediate past chairman Randy Edeker for guiding our industry through these difficult times, seizing opportunities to better position our industry for success and meeting this historic moment with a profound spirit of commitment to our industry peers and our customers. We look forward to continuing to build on these successes with incoming chairman Brian George at the helm and our slate of new directors in the year ahead.”
Brian George, incoming FMI chairman and president, chairman and CEO, Alex Lee Inc., said, “Coming off the disruption of the last three years, the food industry is at a pivotal point where both challenge and opportunity meet. We strive to deepen our industry knowledge through education, strengthen our industry partnerships through collaboration and encourage policies that cultivate a flourishing business environment through advocacy efforts in Washington. I’m incredibly honored by the trust my industry peers and colleagues have placed in me as FMI’s incoming chairman at this critical juncture as we collectively work to fulfill our mission to feed the American people.”
New officers (two-year term):
- Chairman: Brian George, Alex Lee Inc., Hickory, North Carolina;
- President and CEO: Leslie G. Sarasin, FMI, Arlington, Virginia;
- Immediate past chairman: Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee, West Des Moines, Iowa;
- Vice chairman, communications: Tony Sarsam, SpartanNash Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan;
- Vice chairman, finance: Oscar Gonzalez, Northgate Gonzalez Market, Anaheim, California;
- Vice chairman, food safety: Joe Colalillo, ShopRite of Hunterdon County, Flemington, New Jersey;
- Vice chairman, independent operators: John Najjar, Seaside Market, Cardiff by the Sea, California;
- Vice chairman, industry relations: Susan Morris, Albertsons Cos., Boise, Idaho;
- Vice chairman, member services: Lisa Roath, Target Corp., Minneapolis, Minnesota;
- Vice chairman, product supplier: Twyla Bailey, Mondelez International, The Woodlands, Texas;
- Vice chairman, public affairs: Reynolds Cramer, Fareway Stores, Boone, Iowa; and
- Vice chairman, wholesaler: Sandy Douglas, UNFI, Providence, Rhode Island.
Directors (three-year term): David Ball, John Bagan, Brandon Barnholt, Craig Boyan, Michael Bozzuto, Chris Coborn, Charles D’Amour, Tim Devanney, Chris Foley, Tony Gavin, Jerry Golub, Shane Grant, Kevin Holt, Dean Janeway, Todd Jones, Matthew Jonna, Laura Shapira Karet, Noah Katz, Norman Mayne, Sean McMenamin, David Mitchell, Michael Needler Jr., Cory Onell, Bob Palmer, Arthur Potash, Michael Potthoff, Jason Potter, Steve Presley, Patrick Raybould, David Rice, Melody Richard, Brian Sappington, Joe Sheridan, Jack Sinclair, Carlos Smith, David Smith, Steven Smith, Mark Smucker, Mike Stone, Terry Thomas, Russ Torres, Tobias Wasmuht and Lauri Youngquist.
Chairman’s appointees (two-year term): Tim Figge, Don Fitzgerald, Ari Labell, Patrick Meehan, Oli Morton, Jon Nudi, David Parry, John Ross and Randy Skoda.
A full member listing of FMI’s leadership can be found here.
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