Last updated on March 25th, 2021
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, a distributor of beverage alcohol based in Miami, Florida, has reorganized its supply chain team to better leverage its senior leaders to drive improved operational execution and enhanced talent development across all U.S. markets.
As part of this organizational change, the following promotions were effective Feb. 1:
David Gneo has been promoted to VP of operations with national responsibility. He currently holds the position of VP of operations for the east region. Gneo will have day-to-day overall responsibility for division performance and strategic initiatives. Reporting to Gneo will be the security, operations management, facility project management and analytics functions.
Joseph Merritt has been promoted to VP of fleet operations. He currently holds the position of VP of operations for the central region. Merritt will be responsible for all fleet operations, procurement, maintenance and related technology.
Both roles will report to Ron Flanary, SVP, national operations, Southern Glazer’s.
The reorganization also includes the creation of five new geographic zones: west, south central, north central, north east and south east. These geographical sub regions will allow the company’s operational leaders to extend their interaction to markets outside of their previous primary responsibility.
The following promotions support this new organizational model:
Roy Kohn has been promoted to VP of operations—north east, responsible for the open states of New York, Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia, as well as the control states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Pennsylvania.
Jason Witty has been promoted to VP of operations—south east, responsible for the open states of Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio, as well as the control states of North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Eric Lis has been promoted to VP of operations—north central, responsible for the open states of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South and North Dakota, as well as the control state of Michigan.
Bill Arends has been promoted to VP of operations—south central, responsible for the open states of Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee, as well as the control states of Mississippi and Alabama.
Robert Pavone has been promoted to VP of operations—west, responsible for Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
These roles will continue to have direct reporting relationship to the EVP and general manager of each market, with a dotted line reporting to Ron Flanary.
Bobby Burg, SVP and chief supply chain officer, stated, “With these changes, we can better leverage best practices across our entire footprint, while also providing our regional presidents with additional resources to help them achieve strategic initiatives and project execution. This high-performing, proven team of leaders provides a combined 150 years of experience to the organization that I trust will enhance our already industry-leading execution.”
Lee Hager, EVP, secretary and administration, added, “In their new roles these executives will be able to better share their knowledge, focus on career development of future leaders and help us build the strongest bench of operational talent in the industry.”
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is a multi-generational, family-owned company. The company has operations in 44 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Canada and the Caribbean, and employs nearly 22,000 team members.
