Shenandoah Valley Organic (SVO), an organic protein company in Harrisonburg, Virginia, has named Jefferson Heatwole chief sales officer (CSO) and Dorothy Muszynska chief marketing officer (CMO), effective June 20.
In his new role, Heatwole will continue to lead the sales, supply chain and customer service teams. He also will be heavily involved in new product and business development. He joined SVO in 2014, the same year the company was founded. Since then, “he has worn many hats and is responsible for multiple SVO successes and milestones,” the company says.
He was the driving force behind the branded product sales strategy, Farmer Focus, and initiated the “fully-cooked” product development program. He led the company’s move from bulk product sales to predominantly retail sales. Over the last two years, he spearheaded the charge in doubling SVO’s sales,
Muszynska recently joined the company as CMO, a newly created position. She has more than 15 years of marketing experience in the food industry. She has both classical marketing training and large company experience, along with navigating the entrepreneurial environment in working with smaller, family-owned and private equity-backed businesses. Muszynska has created and implemented marketing plans, launched new brands into new channels, and worked with CEOs and boards of directors to define strategic direction and organizational identity, according to SVO. She has worked in both retail and foodservice channels, leading cross-functional teams from concept creation to execution, “delivering strong, sustainable revenue and profit gains.”
SVO was founded in 2014 by Corwin Heatwole, a lifelong farmer. Through the Farmer Focus Business Model, SVO treats farmers as true partners and offers them fair compensation for their hard work.
