ALEXANDRIA, Va. – This week, the Conexxus Nominations Committee, comprised of current and former chairs of the organization, announced its nominations for Conexxus Business Committee Chairs. The chairs, who will be members of the Conexxus Board of Advisors, will be elected at the General Assembly meeting on April 27, during the Conexxus Annual Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. 

The nominations are:

• Vice Chair: Doug New, Chief Information Officer, Tedeschi Food Shops
• Retail Business Requirements Committee: Eric Hinkle, Manager of Centralized Pricebook, C-stores/Small Format Division, The Kroger Company
• Technology Research Committee: Hubert Williams, Chief Information Officer, Maverik
• Membership and Marketing Committee: Drew Mize, Chief Operating Officer, Pinnacle Corporation

The Nominations Committee thanks these individuals, and their companies, for their commitment to the organization’s vision, mission and work.  As a member-owned and -operated non-profit technology standards body, Conexxus could not do the work it does without the dedication expressed by these nominees.

Candidate Biographies:

Doug New, Chief Information Officer, Tedeschi Food Shops
Doug has been with Tedeschi Food Shops for five years, serving as the company’s first CIO and VP of Technology, and is responsible for driving value for the business through the application of technology.  He came to Tedeschi Food Shops and the retail industry after establishing a career delivering effective solutions to organizations in the finance, government, telecommunications and services industries.  Doug has been a Conexxus board member and chair of the Conexxus Technology Research Committee since 2013. In his capacity as TRC Chair, he has been instrumental in improving NACS and Conexxus programming, specifically the NACS Show “Technology Edge” program, and founding the highly valuable “Technology Trips” where industry IT executives are exposed to cutting-edge retail technologies.

Eric Hinkle, Manager of Centralized Pricebook, C-stores/Small Format Division, The Kroger Company
Eric supervises the maintenance of the pricebook for all Kroger Company’s 780 convenience stores, maintaining the interface between the point-of-sale and back office accounting software, assisting with the implementation of the convenience-targeted marketing programs and building communications with vendors to share electronic data. Eric joined Kroger in 2005 as director of retail automation/pricebook. Prior to joining the company, he worked 11 years for Town & Country Food Stores Inc. in San Angelo, Texas, where he started at the store-level as a store management trainee, working his way through store manager to store auditor, pricebook administration, MIS Support coordinator and finally to director of retail automation. Prior to moving to Texas, Eric worked for Git-N-Go Convenience Stores in southwest Missouri, where he was an assistant store manager. During his college days, he also worked several summers for Coastal Convenience Stores in Iowa as a store clerk. Eric has been highly engaged in Conexxus’ Electronic Business to Business Committee work over the past several years.

Hubert Williams, Chief Information Officer and VP of Connect, Maverik
Hubert is the vice president of technology and development of the 250-store Maverik chain, overseeing IT operations, project management and process development as the chain has established itself as a leader in leveraging web and social media channels to promote brand image and improve operational efficiency. Hubert came to Maverik from Wawa, where he was director of solutions delivery and has previously served in IT leadership roles with both Sunoco Inc. and Susser Petroleum. While at Sunoco, Hubert participated in the EB2B work that led to automated fuels documenting.

Drew Mize, Chief Operating Officer, Pinnacle Corporation
For two decades, Drew has been leading strategy and development of technology based automation solutions for the retail convenience and petroleum industries. As COO, he oversees daily operations and strategy for the product management, professional services, client support and development functions of the company. He has been with Pinnacle since 2005, originally serving as vice president of retail solutions, and most recently as vice president of product management and marketing. Prior to joining Pinnacle, he was vice president of TMI Services Inc., of Fort Worth, Texas. Drew has served and still serves on multiple committees including the NACS Supplier Board, NACS Convention Committee and the Conexxus Board of Advisors.

Only Gold Conexxus members may vote for the Committee Nominations and each Gold member company only gets one vote. Under the Conexxus Bylaws, Gold members have until midnight April 13 to nominate other qualified candidates for these positions, and a final slate of candidates will be published April 14 in advance of the April 27 voting.