Howard (Robin) Alton III

Pan-O-Gold Baking Co., President and C.E.O.

Howard (Robin) Alton III, president and C.E.O. of Pan-O-Gold Baking Co., also serves as first vice-chairman of the ABA.

“Robin Alton is a young, dynamic leader of one of the major independent baking companies. Without fanfare, he and the Pan-O-Gold team continue to push process and product innovation to grow their business and meet their customers’ needs,” says Robb MacKie, ABA president. “As a result, they are consistently rated one of the top suppliers to their customers. Robin also brings a keen sense of priority and urgency to the ABA Executive Committee. While relatively new to the Executive Committee, he already is pushing ABA to be more results- and bottom line-focused.”

Ric Jurgens

Hy-Vee, C.E.O.

Ric Jurgens, C.E.O. of Hy-Vee and current chairman of the Food Marketing Institute, is a founding member and vice chairman of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, whose goal is to reduce obesity in America. Jurgens has been instrumental in organizing the efforts of this C.E.O.-led coalition of retailers, manufacturers and others to design initiatives that help people develop healthier eating and exercise habits. Under his leadership, Hy-Vee has become a touchstone for health and wellness information, both in its stores and in the communities it serves. In-store dietitians and the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System, which help shoppers determine food’s nutritional merit, are two of the health-related services available in the chain’s 231 stores.

Rich Hoskins

Colborne Foodbotics, President

As the team leader at Colborne Foodbotics, Hoskins believes in fostering a “success breeds success” attitude. The approach sometimes pushes the envelope, but creates innovation and competitive advantages for customers. “As team leader of IBIE, I pretty much do the same thing. Both these organizations have developed outstanding, dedicated people who diligently know how to pursue successful outcomes and produce great results,” he says. “The initial IBIE surveys, and our company’s lead follow-up activities, have definitely indicated that there is an increasing demand for catching up with the updating of plant operations industry wide. There is a renewed sense of optimism among industry suppliers and a genuine increase in projects appearing throughout the country.”