GMA to Honor Hy-Vee’s Jurgens
Ric Jurgens, retiring chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee Inc., and Dean Pappas, former CEO of Clement Pappas and Co. Inc., have been selected to receive the 2011 Grocery Manufacturers Association’s Hall of Achievement Awards.
“Lifetime achievement is the hallmark of the GMA Hall of Achievement Award, and by that standard, no two people are more deserving than Ric Jurgens and Dean Pappas,” said Pamela Bailey, GMA president and CEO. “Their business savvy, their desire to make the world a better place and their compassion for their associates, their communities and their consumers sets them apart.”
A 42-year veteran of the company who’s retiring in June, Jurgens (pictured at left) has been Hy-Vee’s top officer since 2006. He has bolstered Iowa-based Hy-Vee’s reputation as an industry leader in health and wellness and has made a strong commitment to environmental sustainability. Jurgens served as chairman of the Food Marketing Institute and helped launch the industry’s Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and groundbreaking front-of-package nutrition labeling initiative. He has also been asked by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad to co-chair the governor’s Healthiest State Initiative, a plan to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation over the next five years.
Pappas joined Clement Pappas and Co. in 1962. He and his brother, Peter, grew the company to a leader in the supply of private label fruit juice beverages and cranberry sauce to leading wholesalers and retailers throughout North America, and Pappas was chairman and CEO until his family’s recent sale of the business in June 2011. Pappas’s long-standing commitment to the CPG industry is evidenced by his 27 years of service on the National Food Processors Association, Food Processors Association and GMA Boards of Directors, including serving as chairman of NFPA in 2004. He also served as president of the National Juice Products Association, chairman of the Food Institute, New Jersey Food Processors Association, and the New Jersey Farm Workers Corp. This past April, Pappas and his wife, Zoe established the Dean C. and Zoe S. Pappas Visiting Scholar Endowment Fund, with a $1 million endowment to bring renowned speakers to Richard Stockton College.
“The GMA Hall of Achievement Award is presented to the best and brightest in the CPG industry and GMA is proud to honor these two men who have been so successful as business leaders and who have given so much back to the industry and to their communities,” Bailey said.
The GMA Executive Conference will be held Aug. 25-27, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo.
The Washington, D.C.-based Grocery Manufacturers Association is the voice of more than 300 leading food, beverage and consumer product companies that sustain and enhance the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe.