Iowa Grocery Industry Association Names 2 Board Members

The Iowa Grocery Industry Association (IGIA) has elected two new members to its board of directors.

Nominated by their peers, the new board members are Tom Laven, regional VP, southern region at Boone-based Fareway Stores Inc., and Bev Jessen, owner of Battle Creek-based grill cylinder-exchange company Cylinder Express. The final selections were made by the board nominating committee and voted on by members at the association’s annual meeting last month.

“We are excited to have Bev and Tom join the board,” said IGIA President Michelle Hurd. “They will add new areas of expertise and perspectives that will enrich the association and make us even stronger.”

Laven has worked at Fareway for 36 years, starting as a grocery bagger while still in high school. He then took a full-time position in 1986 at the Iowa Falls, Iowa, store, and worked his way up through the ranks at six locations before becoming a store manager at the south Ankeny store in 1999. In 2005, he took on a corporate supervisory role and began leading the direct store delivery team four years later, until he was promoted to his current role this past spring.

The IGIA board consists of 21 directors from various member categories: 10 retailers; two wholesalers; two convenience store operators and seven brokers and manufacturers. Board members are asked to sit on at least one IGIA committee, attend the organization’s major events, support its promotions, and be actively engaged in legislative activities and support.

The association also recently elected Dana Sump, of Ankeny-based c-store operator Casey’s General Stores, chairman of the board.