Certified Group and Food Safety Net Services (FSNS), a Certified Group Company, announced the appointment of John R. Nelson as chief operating officer, where he will lead and support Certified Group’s management of its various business holdings that address food, food safety, nutraceuticals, and other industries.

Nelson’s track record in driving organizational growth comes from over 20 years of being in the TIC (testing, inspection and certification) industry and holding technical, quality, and leadership roles. Most recently he served as executive vice president, transportation & industrials at Element Materials Technology where he orchestrated a transformation of the T&I sector and built a $240-million business servicing more than 12,000 customers in seven countries.

Previously, Nelson worked with Inspectorate, acquired by Bureau Veritas in 2010, as senior vice president, laboratory services Americas where he transformed a business that was severely constrained by its longstanding single-market focus into a comprehensive laboratory services provider, unlocking diversification opportunities that generated substantial higher-margin organic revenue growth.

“John possesses a foundation of technical experience with a strong background in operational leadership, commercial focus, and continuous improvement,” says John Bellinger, CEO of Certified Group and FSNS. “His strengths in implementing strategic vision, financial performance, and technical growth are what we need to expand our capabilities to meet our clients’ pressing needs in a dynamic global economy.”

Nelson holds a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry and an MBA from Texas Tech University, while also recently completing the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.

Certified Group is a North American provider of testing and regulatory consulting services with laboratories located in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, Ontario, and Alberta. The Certified Group of companies includes Certified Laboratories, EAS Consulting, FSNS, Labstat, LabSmart, ABC Testing, Microconsult Inc, and MicroQuality Laboratories. The Certified Group provides total testing and regulatory guidance solutions in the food, food safety, supplement & botanical, cannabis, and other industries. FSNS, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is a national network of ISO 17025 accredited testing laboratories that provides expert technical resources that assist companies with implementing food safety and quality programs that deliver critical information needed to improve process controls. For more information, visit www.FSNS.com.