STÄUBLI appointed GERALD VOGT as its new chief executive officer. Vogt, an experienced manager from within the company’s own ranks, takes over management of the diversified and growing family owned company. The 50-year-old Franco-German engineer and business economist has been responsible for the global Robotics business as group division manager since mid-2016 and is already a member of Group Management.

FRISTAM PUMPS USA announced that HANNAH IHLENFELDT has joined the company as a bilingual applications engineer. She joins the company with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin—Platteville. She is bilingual in Spanish and has a background working in engineering prior to joining Fristam. In her new role, Ihlenfeldt will provide technical support and customer assistance to Fristam’s Latin American customers.

SHICK ESTEVE welcomed LINDSAY PREISINGER to the position of business development manager. She has experience in the packaging industry and will be connecting with all manufacturers in the food and beverage industries.

GODIVA, owned by YILDIZ HOLDING, named NURTAC ZIYAL AFRIDI as CEO. The announcement caps her two months serving as interim chief executive officer in which she and her leadership team developed a three-year strategy to seize new opportunities through GODIVA’s dynamic omnichannel structure.

READING BAKERY SYSTEMS appointed ANDREW ROSENTHAL to general manager as Richard Starke has stepped down and retired from the position. Prior to joining RBS as a project manager in 2018, Rosenthal’s experience included serving as the design engineer for Vermeer Corporation in Pella, Iowa, as well as project engineer at Reading Truck Body LLC.

NAI, a designer and manufacturer of custom interconnect solutions that deliver power and signals to monitor data, connect people and keep equipment operating, announced the appointment of DELICE JAVALERA to fill the new position of director of operational excellence. In this new role, Javalera will be responsible for supplier quality and operations planning, and will also act as the primary operations interface with customers.

The DESIGN-BUILD INSTITUTE OF AMERICA named Water Design-Build Council Executive Director MARK ALPERT, PE, as one of five industry leaders chosen for the 2020 Class of DBIA Fellows. Designated Design-Build Professional™ Fellow status is the highest level of DBIA certification and acknowledges the achievements of the nation’s most accomplished design-build professionals. For more than 40 years, Mark Alpert has been a pioneer in the development of collaborative project delivery for water and wastewater projects.

STELLAR—a fully integrated firm focused on design, engineering, construction and mechanical services worldwide—promoted seven key leaders on its senior management team. BOB HEPP has been named division vice president of parts, service and compressors; CHRIS WILLIAMS, division vice president of mechanical services; JUSTIN BRIDEGAN, vice president of marketing; and STACEY KING, vice president of human resources. In the Commercial Division, JOE MARK, JOHN BOWLES and TIM JENKINS were all named vice presidents of operations.

MASSMAN AUTOMATION DESIGNS LLC, a designer and manufacturer of packaging equipment, hired RAY MUSSON as regional sales manager of case packing and palletizing for the company’s Central and Central South regions.

WESTROCK, a provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, announced that MARGARET HERNDON has joined the company as chief marketing officer.

VIKING MASEK has announced that a major expansion of its U.S. headquarters in Oostburg, Wis. is underway. The $4 million project broke ground in early November 2020 with expected completion in July 2021. The building expansion will add 24,000 sq.-ft. of warehouse/production space plus 9,000 sq.-ft. of office areas.

ALLIED ELECTRONICS & AUTOMATION completed an expansion of its North American distribution center in Fort Worth, Texas, which adds more than 200,000 sq.-ft. of space and a full complement of the latest digital order fulfillment center technology from global intelligent automation solutions provider KNAPP.

CAMFIL AIR POLLUTION CONTROL announced construction of a new manufacturing facility in Jonesboro, Ark. to replace its previous building that was destroyed by a tornado in March 2020. The new facility will be located at Craighead Technology Park. The target date for completion is early 2022.

Blueberry growers across America established a new coalition, the AMERICAN BLUEBERRY GROWERS ALLIANCE, to seek relief from rising imports that are harming their businesses.

KAESER COMPRESSORS INC. broke ground on a new 30,000-sq.-ft. facility expansion, primarily to serve employee welfare needs.

RABOBANK announced the recipients of its annual Rabobank North America Leadership Awards. The awards celebrate both large-scale food and agricultural corporations, and fast-growing emerging companies that are setting admirable examples of industry stewardship, sustainability and innovation across the region. This year’s winner is PEPSICO, a global food and beverage company headquartered in Purchase, N.Y. The 2020 Rabobank Award for Leadership in Sustainability was presented to GENERAL MILLS, a global packaged food company based in Minneapolis, for its bold regenerative agriculture projects, sustainable sourcing, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and commitment to 100% renewable energy in operations by 2030. The 2020 Rabobank Award for Emerging Leadership in Innovation recipient is IMPERFECT FOODS, a San Francisco-based company with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone by delivering “imperfect” produce and grocery items directly to consumers through its e-commerce platform.

The J.M. SMUCKER CO. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Natural Balance® premium pet food business to NEXUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP in a cash transaction valued at approximately $50 million.

DOMINION ENERGY and SMITHFIELD FOODS INC. completed the first renewable natural gas (RNG) project through their joint venture, Align Renewable Natural Gas. Located in Milford in southwestern Utah, the project is now producing RNG from a network of 26 family farms that raise hogs under contract with Smithfield.

FDT GROUP announced that FUJI ELECTRIC has joined its organization as a corporate member.

RAWSON/INDUSTRIAL CONTROLS, an ERIKS company, has announced an agreement with EMERSON INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION & CONTROLS (formerly GE Intelligent Platforms) to become an official channel partner in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.

Hormel Ingredient Solutions announced the opening of its expanded Burke Corporation’s 210,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in Nevada, Iowa. The facility makes meat crumbles, meatballs and diced meats. The project, first announced in FE in November 2018, was valued at $150 million at that time. The facility includes new X-ray, vision and metal detection systems on all incoming raw materials.

Ferrero North America announced plans to build a new chocolate manufacturing center in Bloomington, Ill. It will be Ferrero’s first chocolate production plant in North America. The new facility will be an expansion of Ferrero’s Bloomington facility and will allow the company to produce chocolate for Crunch, 100Grand, SnoCaps, Raisinets, Goobers, Ferrero Rocher and other Ferrero products made in North America. The $75M expansion will add 70,000 square feet to Ferrero’s current facility, and is projected to start construction by spring 2021.

High Road, a craft ice cream manufacturer, finalized the acquisition of the former Three Twins plant in Sheboygan, Wis. The acquisition will double the brand’s packaged ice cream capacity, strengthening its national distribution.

Grayson Natural Farms LLC, a producer of the Landcrafted Food grass-fed, organic meat snacks brand, will invest $1.5 million to expand its smokehouse and production operation in Grayson County, Va., adding 35,000 sq.-ft. to its manufacturing facility.

Prairie Dog Pet Products, a premium manufacturer of freeze dried, smoked and natural pet treats, is allocating $18 million in 2021 for equipment and facilities in its Abilene, Texas and Montrose, Colo. locations, expanding output and increasing food safety and innovation.

Pretzels Inc. plans a significant investment in the construction of a state-of-the-art production facility inside of VenturePark in Lawrence, Kan. The new 150,000-sq.-ft. facility is expected to be operational in late 2021.

Shenandoah Valley Organic, a family owned organic chicken company, will establish a second 75,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in the City of Harrisonburg, Va. The new facility will increase production capacity and retail packaging, and create 110 new jobs.

Santa Cruz Nutritionals plans to expand operations in Sumter, S.C. The $84 million investment will create 164 new jobs and includes a total of 144,000 sq.-ft. (total includes a 120,000-sq.-ft. distribution center). The facility will open in late 2024.

EnviroFlight LLC, an insect producer supplying to the animal/pet food and plant nutrition markets, is spending $20 million to expand its Marysville, Ky. processing facility, adding 173,000 sq.-ft. to its facility.

Nestlé USA will invest more than $100 million to expand its Jonesboro, Ark. plant. The company plans to renovate and add 90,000 sq.-ft. to the facility, which when completed will have another line to make Hot Pockets.