People and Industry News: September 2020

By Wayne Labs, Senior Contributing Technical Editor

Erik Blom — Duravant LLC appointed Erik Bloom to managing director of food processing EMEAI.

*Photo courtesy of Duravent LLC*

Industry News

PROMACH acquired MODERN PACKAGING, a manufacturer of filling and sealing solutions for the food and dairy industries.

LAND O'LAKES and MICROSOFT formed a multiyear strategic alliance to pioneer new innovations in agriculture and enhance the supply chain, expand sustainability practices for farmers and the food system, and close the rural broadband gap.

MARTIN BAUER’S newest manufacturing facility in Bethlehem, Pa., received organic certification from Quality Assurance International (QAI).

STELLAR celebrated its 35th anniversary, announcing that the majority of its workforce will shift to a full-time, work-from-home model.

ALLIED ELECTRONICS & AUTOMATION is adding product lines from RichTech, StarTech.com, Schmersal, Klüber Lubrication and OkDo to its lineup of more than 450 suppliers.

BORDEN DAIRY was sold for about $340 million to CAPITOL PEAK PARTNERS (majority owner) and KKR (minority investor).

APTEAN acquired WORKWISE LLC, ERP solutions provider for discrete manufacturers and CRM software.

U.S. FARMERS AND RANCHERS ALLIANCE has changed its name to U.S. FARMERS & RANCHERS IN ACTION.

CARBONLITE HOLDINGS LLC, plastic beverage bottle recycler, expanded its Dallas plant’s capacity to provide more recycled PET to its customers.

JULIUS MONTZ launched a new business unit that will offer advanced technology and technical expertise to breweries so they can reach near zero alcohol content in beer, wine and cider.

People News

DURAVANT LLC appointed ERIK BLOM to managing director of food processing EMEAI. He has over 20 years of experience in food processing technology, most recently serving as the managing director for Meyn Food Processing in the Netherlands.

BURNS & MCDONNELL in Minneapolis hired JOHN HATZUNG to lead the design of cold storage facilities throughout the Midwest.

REFRIGERATED SOLUTIONS GROUP appointed AARON BROWN to president, and CEO KEVIN FINK will step down in a planned transition following the sale of RSG from Standex to Ten Oaks Group.

NATURIPE FARMS promoted ARIBEL AGUIRRE-BECK to CAO/CFO to lead business operational affairs.

AAK USA signed ANTHONY JALIJALI as head of finance.

FOUNDATION FOOD GROUP welcomed JIM BARRON as its new national account sales manager.

MHS named Senior Vice President JOHN SORENSEN as the head of its North America Parcel division.

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Wayne Labs has more than 30 years of editorial experience in industrial automation. He served as senior technical editor for I&CS/Control Solutions magazine for 18 years where he covered software, control system hardware and sensors/transmitters. Labs ran his own consulting business and contributed feature articles to Electronic Design, Control, Control Design, Industrial Networking and Food Engineering magazines. Before joining Food Engineering, he served as a senior technical editor for Omega Engineering Inc. Labs also worked in wireless systems and served as a field engineer for GE’s Mobile Communications Division and as a systems engineer for Bucks County Emergency Services. In addition to writing technical feature articles, Wayne covers FE’s Engineering R&D section.