Van Mackelenbergh Elected WFLO Chairman; Laurin Heads Up IARW

Derk van Mackelenbergh, managing director of Eurofrigo BV/Nichirei Logistics Group is the new chairman of the World Food Logistics Organization.

New IARW Chairman Larry Laurin (left), Vice Chairman Mark Blanchard (middle) and Treasurer Garry Tilburn assume their executive positions at the Palm Springs convention.

Janice Scott and Mike McClendon are the newly elected treasurer and vice chairman, respectively, of the World Food Logistics Organization.

Derk van Mackelenbergh, managing director of the Rotterdam, Netherlands-headquartered Eurofrigo BV/Nichirei Logistics Group, was elected chairman of the World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO) during the Global Cold Chain Alliance’s (GCCA) Annual Convention and Expo in Palm Springs, California, USA. He succeeded Don Schoenl.

Hans van Leeuwen of Frigolanda Cold Logistics, which also is headquartered in the Netherlands, gave the acceptance speech April 1 on behalf of Van Mackelenbergh, who had been unexpectedly called home because of a family emergency.

The new WFLO chairman’s “day job” entails operation of two public refrigerated warehouses that contain 67,000 pallet positions. Van Mackelenbergh initially joined Eurofrigo in 1985 as a shipping director. After eight years, he left the company and worked for two other Dutch logistics service providers. In 2000 he returned to Eurofrigo in Rotterdam as its deputy director, before becoming managing director in 2001.

Other WFLO officers elected to serve for a year-long term were Mike McClendon of Richmond Cold Storage Company, Richmond, Virginia, USA, vice chairman; and Janice Scott of Commercial Cold Storage, Mount Vernon, Washington, USA, treasurer.

At-large members of the WFLO board of governors elected in Palm Springs were: Greg R. Brandt of Nor-Am Cold Storage, Inc., LeMars, Iowa; Nicholas P. Pedneault of Congébec Logistics, Inc., Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; and Fred Walker of AmeriCold Logistics, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Larry Rauch of Los Angeles Cold Storage, Los Angeles, California, USA, was re-elected to the WFLO board, while Dr. Daryl B. Lund of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, was re-elected chairman of the WFLO’s Scientific Advisory Council and as a public member.

In other business during the convention, the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), a sister organization of the WFLO and fellow member of the GCCA, elected as its new chairman Larry Laurin of Conestoga Cold Storage, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Also voted into WFLO executive positions for year-long terms were Mark Blanchard of New Orleans Cold Storage, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, vice chairman; and Garry Tilburn of Reed Boardall Cold Storage, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom, treasurer.

New at-large members elected to the IARW board of directors were Barry Fischetto of Millard Refrigerated Services, Omaha, Nebraska, USA; Peter Quinn of Montague Cold Storage Pty Ltd., Keysborough, Victoria, Australia; and Mark Rumsey of Zero Mountain, Inc, Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA.

The new Heartland Chapter representative of IARW is Tom Poe of Crystal Distribution Services, Waterloo, Iowa, USA; and the new Southwestern Chapter representative is Michael Black of VersaCold, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

Meanwhile, a third member of the GCCA, the International Refrigerated Transportation Association (IRTA), elected Andrew Janson of Hanson Logistics, St. Joseph, Michigan, USA, as its 2009-10 chairman. Re-elected as vice chairman was Chris Kozak of Willis Shaw Express, Elm Springs, Arkansas, USA; while John Williamson of E. L. Johnson’s Sons and Mowat of Ilford, Essex, UK, was elected treasurer.

In addition, Matt Luckas of Hanson Logistics was elected as a new member of the board of directors. Re-elected to the board were John LaRue of Port of Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA; Brenda Goble of ICS Logistics, Jacksonville, Florida, USA; M.K. Wong of OOCL, San Ramon, Calif., USA; and Paul Zotolli of MSC, New York, New York.