Meet the 2019 Top Women in Store Brands
The store brands industry would be a lesser place without them, a much lesser place. The “them” are the nine women being honored as the 2019 Top Women in Store Brands.
These women epitomize what every company in America wants in an A-list employee, no matter the gender. The women being honored this year are diligent, industrious, committed and conscientious, among other superlatives that could be used to describe them.
Each year, Store Brands and Women Impacting Store Brand Excellence (WISE), a professional development organization, solicit nominations from the private brand industry to identify and honor a select few of these women through the Top Women in Store Brands program, which was created to provide well-deserved recognition for female professionals who have achieved exceptional success and bring a passion for store brands to their day-to-day activities.
This year’s categories of recognition include six Functional Expertise areas: research and development/quality assurance; supply chain/procurement; operations; sales, marketing merchandising; and corporate services. These awards are given to women who have made a significant professional contribution to their companies and/or the store brand industry through their accomplishments in their respective fields.
There is also the Innovation Award, given to a woman who has brought game-changing innovation to her company and/or the store brand industry through the introduction of new products, packaging, technology and other functional areas. The Sparkplug Award is given to a woman who is relatively new to store brands and has made a noticeable impact.
Finally, there is the Lifetime Achievement Award, given to a woman who has spent the majority of her career in store brands and has “made her mark” through professional achievements, as well as personal contributions to her employer(s), colleagues, community and the industry.
Here are this year’s honorees:
• Julie Jevins, senior manager of product development, Albertsons Cos. — Functional Expertise: R&D/QA Award.
• Anitra Farmer, director of human resources and facilities, Topco Associates LLC — Functional Expertise: Corporate Services Award.
• Lisa Schechterman, director of marketing, Great Lakes Cheese Co. — Functional Expertise: Marketing/Merchandising Award.
• Sarah Fair, director of creative services, Daymon — Functional Expertise: Operations Award.
• Lisa Eatherton, business manager, John B. Sanfilippo & Son Inc. — Functional Expertise: Sales Award.
• Jill Truitt, vice president of contract manufacturing, TreeHouse Foods — Functional Expertise: Supply Chain/Procurement Award.
• Angela LePore, senior food technologist, Simmons Pet Food — Sparkplug Award.
• Robin Beck, senior scientist, Target Corp. — Innovation Award
• Hope Schoeffling, vice president of retail sales for Camerican International — Lifetime Achievement.
To select the TWISB honorees, a committee consisting of representatives from both Store Brands and WISE reviewed nominations submitted by representatives within the store brand industry. The committee carefully evaluated the nominations, assessing each nominee’s accomplishments to determine the honorees in all of the categories.
The award winners will be recognized during WISE’s annual meeting and luncheon on Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel in Rosemont, Ill. The event coincides with the opening day of the Private Label Manufacturers Association’s Private Label Trade Show. For more information about the meeting, visit http://womeninstorebrands.com.
The TWISB honorees also will be featured in a cover story in the October 2019 issue of Store Brands.
