SpartanNash's Mahoney Named Top Mich. Exec

Crain’s Detroit Business has named Kathy Mahoney, EVP, chief legal officer and secretary of SpartanNash, one of its 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan. The business publication’s first statewide list includes talented women who have worked their way to the top in all industries and sectors in the state.

Mahoney and her colleagues on the list will be honored June 21 during a special event at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich.

“It’s such an honor to be named among Michigan’s best and brightest women in business,” Mahoney said. “I work with so many amazing women within my own division and across SpartanNash, and I share this honor with all of them. This is recognition of the valuable contributions SpartanNash women make each and every day as we serve our customers and communities.”

Appointed SpartanNash EVP, chief legal officer and secretary in November 2015, Mahoney currently oversees the company’s legal, aviation, corporate communications, community development and government relations functions. She is also a trustee of the SpartanNash Foundation and a member of the Warriors at Ease Board of Directors and the Best Lawyers Advisory Board. Additionally, Mahoney is recognized as one of the 2012 recipients of Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery Awards, as well as a 2011 recipient of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Top 25 Industry Leader Awards.

Mahoney, who joined Nash Finch in 2004, served in a number of capacities, most recently as EVP, general counsel and secretary prior to the company’s merger with Spartan Stores and was responsible for legal, aviation, risk management, asset protection, safety, environmental and insurance procurement and claims management. She has worked as a trial lawyer and managing partner of two law firms. Mahoney was also a law clerk for a Minnesota Supreme Court judge before joining the Attorney General’s office in Minnesota in 1983.

Nominations for the 100 Most Influential Women in Michigan were accepted from readers, past honorees and Crain’s reporters and editors, as well as a review of the publication’s news stories involving women-led companies and initiatives. The top 100 women were selected because of their impact – managing big budgets, teams or civic initiatives – diversity and proven leadership.

Headquartered in Byron Center, Mich., SpartanNash distributes food to independent stores, corporate-owned retailers and military commissaries and exchanges located in 47 states and Washington, D.C., Europe, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Bahrain and Egypt. It also operates 160 supermarkets, primarily under the Family Fare Supermarkets, Family Fresh Markets, D&W Fresh Markets, Econofoods and SunMart banners.