CSNews Hall of Fame Announces 2014 Inductees

YORK, Pa. and TEMPLE, Texas -- Scott Hartman, president and CEO of Rutter’s Holdings Inc., and Steve Brady, vice president of business development at McLane Co. Inc., have been selected as this year's inductees into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a gala banquet and induction ceremony this fall.

Hartman is a member of the third generation operating Rutter’s Holdings, three companies that consist of 60 convenience stores trading as Rutter’s Farm Stores; Rutter’s Dairy Inc., operating in the Mid-Atlantic states; and M&G Realty, a real estate management company. Rutter’s Holdings in the oldest vertically integrated food company in the United States and still operates a family farm that dates back to 1747.

Brady, meanwhile, has experience and expertise spanning 27 years in the grocery distribution business. He has been responsible for managing McLane Grocery Distribution’s overall New Business Development process through his team of sales professionals supporting more than $30 billion in annual sales from 20 of the McLane Distribution facilities covering the entire U.S., in addition to the development of third-party logistical relationships.

The CSNews Hall of Fame, launched in 1987 with the induction of Chester Cadieux of QuikTrip Corp., has recognized convenience store industry pioneers and innovators from retailer and supplier companies of all sizes. Retailer inductees have included John MacDougall of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes Inc., Dick Wood of Wawa Inc., Carl Bolch Jr. of RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., Dean Durling of QuickChek Corp., Sonja Hubbard of E-Z Mart Stores Inc., and Steve and Stan Sheetz of Sheetz Inc.

Inductees into the supplier wing of the Hall of Fame have included Dave Riser of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Jerry Rose of McLane Co., Joe Burke of Coca-Cola Enterprises, Greg Gilkerson of PDI Inc., Robert Sears of Altria Group Distribution Co., and Tom Joyce of The Hershey Co.

MORE ABOUT THIS YEAR’S HONOREES

At the age of 12, Hartman began working in convenience stores for 11 summers and then returned to the family business in 1990. He was previously employed by Price Waterhouse as senior manager in the Consulting Practice from 1983 to 1990. Hartman received a BBA Accounting Degree from George Washington University and an MBA from Duke University. He is a certified public accountant.

Hartman has been a forceful advocate for the convenience store industry. He served on the NACS Board of Directors and Executive Committee from 1998 to 2009, and was NACS Chairman from 2005 to 2006. He has also chaired numerous NACS committees, including the Technology Committee, Research & Development Committee, and Audit Committee.

Rutter's chief exec is also a past chairman of the Petroleum Convenience Alliance for Technology Standards (PCATS), the Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council, and the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, along with serving on many local charitable boards.

Additionally, he's been a guest lecturer at Boston University, is a member of the Food Industry Hall of Fame, and served on advisory boards to various companies such as The Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc.

In 2009, Hartman was awarded the CSNews Top Tech Executive Award, and he was the first retailer inducted into the PCATS Technology Hall of Fame in 2013.

Like Hartman, Brady has made meaningful contributions to the convenience store industry as well. He serves on the NACS Supplier Board and chairs the NACS Manpower Committee. He is also a member of the NATSO Chairman’s Circle and a long-standing strategic partner of SIGMA.

Brady’s career has been marked by progressively more responsible positions, including various sales and marketing roles with regional wholesalers for nine years. At McLane, he's served as corporate national account manager; division vice president of sales in several geographically dispersed McLane divisions; director of business development for McLane Grocery Distribution; vice president of sales, Convenience & Military; and his current position as vice president of business development.