Dan is a partner in the KPMG Tampa office, with 14 years of experience in providing auditing and accounting services for clients primarily in the retail and consumer goods industries. Dan’s experience includes auditing and accounting for both private and public companies, including internal controls audits. Dan recently completed a four year rotation in KPMG’s Department of Professional Practice, and is a frequent presenter at continuing professional education events. Dan graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 with Bachelor and Master of Accounting degrees, and is a licensed CPA in Florida and New York.
Mark Belford is a Managing Director and co-head of the Consumer & Retail Investment Banking practice at KPMG. He and his team provide a broad range of investment banking and advisory services, including Mergers & Acquisitions advisory and Capital Markets transactions. His primary areas of industry focus include specialty retail, food retail, ecommerce and consumer products. Mark has completed over 100 transactions aggregating approximately $17.6 billion in transaction value.
Benton has eight years of experience as a private sector economic development professional representing companies in their expansion and development projects. Benton is the former senior manager for a national boutique site selection and incentive negotiations consulting firm. During his career, Benton has successfully orchestrated dozens of projects and analyzed hundreds of locations for companies while securing economic development incentives and public-private partnerships that have had a direct reduction in the clients’ initial or recurring costs. The business acumen developed by being a licensed real estate broker and formerly in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company has helped Benton locate US headquarters, manufacturing, chemical, distribution and back-office projects. Education and professional affiliations Benton graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a Bachelor’s in Finance. He then went on to earn his JD from Charlotte School of Law. Benton is admitted to the North Carolina State Bar in addition to being a licensed North Carolina real estate broker.
Rose is an Executive Director in the State and Local Tax (“SALT”) Southeast Area Business Incentives Group of Ernst & Young LLP covering 6 States. Rose identifies business incentive opportunities for clients in Southeast Area locations and has secured millions in savings for clients with facility or equipment expansion projects. She has an exceptional track record of establishing relationships and building support teams with key government officials and the private sector to maximize business incentives for clients. Rose has helped clients realize significant benefits in areas such as state and local grants, local property tax reduction vehicles, training program reductions, expedited permitting, reduced land costs, sales and use tax abatements, enterprise zone benefits, income tax credits, infrastructure grants, and utility rate reductions. Rose has over 25 years of project management and economic development experience in local and statewide development. Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Rose directed economic development and corporate expansion programs for Fulton County (Atlanta). Also, Rose was a former senior project manager for Oglethorpe Power Corporation. She has served as lead project manager on numerous corporate relocation and expansion projects in industry sectors including office headquarters, financial services, telecommunications, technology, broadcasting and entertainment networks, manufacturing, distribution, etc.
Kevin Coupe is the author of “Retail Rules! 52 Ways To Achieve Retail Success," a guidebook for competing effectively and efficiently on Main Street. And he is the co-author, with Michael Sansolo, of “The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies,” which uses film narratives to teach about leadership, marketing and surviving the workplace. For more than 16 years, he’s had his own website/blog – MorningNewsBeat.com – that was launched almost before the word "blog" was coined. MNB provides what Kevin calls “business news in context, and analysis with attitude” to some 35,000 subscribers all over the world. An independent survey ranked MNB as the “top industry news and information site.”
As Senior Principal, Randy Evins leads business development and thought leadership activities for SAP America’s Food and Drug Retail vertical. Randy has more the 30 years of experience in the retail food and drug specializing in business process improvement in all areas of the store and specializes in fresh products business process.
Tom Flynn is the VP, Global Supplier Solutions at PRGX Global. Tom has been a transformative executive in the Procure-to-Pay space for over 15 years. He is a frequent contributor and speaker at industry events and in various publications. For his efforts, Tom has earned recognition as a “Pro to Know” in each of the last three years by Supply & Demand Chain Magazine. Prior to his time at PRGX Tom founded multiple P2P firms including AuditSolutions, Inc. and Lavante, Inc – the latter of which was sold to PRGX in November of 2016. During his time in P2P Tom has personally sold, serviced or advised over half of the enterprises throughout the Fortune 1000. Tom is a graduate of UCLA and is married with one 9-year-old “rock-star” daughter, Izzy.
Kathy Fulton is Executive Director for American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). She leads the organization in facilitating donations of logistics services and equipment to enable delivery of millions of dollars of humanitarian aid. Kathy served as the organization’s director of operations until her promotion in 2014. Ms. Fulton’s passion is the intersection of supply chain and emergency management, focusing on the critical role logistics and supply chain professionals play in disaster relief. She serves on national workgroups focused on efficient coordination of logistics activities during disasters, including those hosted by the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Research Board, and the National Emergency Management Association. Preceding her work with ALAN, Fulton was Senior Manager of Information Technology Services at Saddle Creek Logistics Services where she led IT infrastructure implementation and support, corporate systems, and business continuity planning. Kathy holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics from Northwestern State University of Louisiana and Master’s degrees in Business Administration and Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida.
Adam is Director in KPMG's Consumer and Retail Strategy practice, based out of Boston. Prior to joining KPMG, he spent four years with Deloitte and most recently five years with Oliver Wyman focusing on the retail and consumer goods industry. In this capacity, he has continued to honed his experience in growth strategy, merchandising strategy (pricing, promotions, space allocation, etc.), store formats, private label, loyalty programs, and supply chain optimization. Much of his work has been driven by M&A activity and truly enjoys opportunities to drive strategic change and performance improvements across the industry.
Kindra is an award-winning columnist, author, and national champion storyteller. As a former Director of Marketing and VP of Sales, Kindra discovered the most effective method for capturing attention and increasing revenue—great storytelling. Kindra’s work can be seen in a weekly column at Inc.com, and has been featured in SUCCESS Magazine, Entrepreneur.com and behind the scenes in New York Times bestselling books. A former board member of the National Storytelling Network, and with a Masters’ Degree in Organizational Communications & Management, Kindra now teaches innovative brands and executives to close more sales, become better leaders and blowup brands with the irresistible power of strategic storytelling.
Andrew S. Harig currently serves as Director of Government Relations at the Food Marketing Institute. In this position, he is responsible for lobbying Congress and the Administration on behalf of FMI’s members, with a primary focus on agriculture, taxes, trade and pensions.Prior to joining FMI, Harig was an associate trade advisor and speechwriter for the Senate Finance Committee under its Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT). From 1999-2001, he was the senior research associate for the Global Economic Policy Project at the New America Foundation, a Washington, DC-based think tank.Harig holds a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.
Michael Howse, VP - Internal Audit and Asset Protection , CAE Michael has over 30 years of experience in internal audit, accounting and finance in the oil & gas, manufacturing, distribution and retail sectors. Currently, Michael is the Vice President, Internal Audit and Asset Protection at SpartanNash, a Fortune 500 company, which consists of three primary operating segments: Military, Food Distribution and Retail. SpartanNash is a leading multi-regional grocery distributor and grocery retailer and the largest distributor, by revenue, of grocery products to military commissaries and exchanges in the United States. In addition to being a member of the planning committee for the current FMI Internal Auditing Conference, Michael serves on the Board of Governors of the Western Michigan Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and is on the Accounting Advisory Committee at Davenport University. He has been a frequent speaker at IIA functions and at audit director roundtable events, where he has spoken on such topics as operational auditing, fraud investigations, Sarbanes-Oxley and enterprise risk assessments and management.
Michael joined K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc. (parent company of Food City and Super Dollar banners) in March 2012 and is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer with oversight of the Finance & Accounting and Information Technology functions.
Headquartered in Abingdon, VA, the company operates 130+ retail food outlets, including 101 pharmacies and 99 fuel/convenience stores throughout southeast KY, southwest VA, east TN, and north GA. It is the 3rd largest private company based in VA with annualized revenues of $2.45 billion and 16,000+ associates. The locally owned company (13% ESOP) is well regarded for excellence in customer service, associate career opportunities, and community involvement. Food City is Bristol Motor Speedway’s longest running sponsor and the second longest running sponsor in NASCAR motorsports with the Food City 500 in April & Food City 300 in August each year.
Rick Marino is CEO of the Stores Consulting Group. Prior to this, Rick built and ran both Accenture’s and Capgemini’s Store’s Improvement practice for North America. Rick is one of the premier thought leaders in the retail industry and has been featured on CNBC’s Black Friday’s retail winners and losers report. He has a dozen years of industry experience working at retailers such as Limited Brands, Kohl’s and Federated / Macy's Department Stores. Rick has developed and executed the industry’s leading retail store performance improvement practice, and his clients include Ahold, Kroger, Giant Eagle, Albertsons, and more. Rick’s stores and company transformation practice has assisted retailers to become profitable and remain viable for the long term. Over the past twenty-five years, Rick and his teams have improved the industry’s profitability by over $8 Billion Dollars. Rick has a BA in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University and a MBA in marketing.
Gregg Maxwell, Group Vice President Controller of Albertsons/Safeway, has led the National Accounting Service Center for the past 18 years and was instrumental in the implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Section 404 compliance efforts in 2004. With the merger of Safeway and Albertsons, the National Service Center is now responsible for all aspects of the retail accounting processes and payroll for 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants with 20 different banners throughout the United States. Prior to joining Albertsons/Safeway, Gregg worked for the Dial Corporation for 18 years. He was Director of Finance for the International Division, including Asia/Australia and lived in Hong Kong for a time. Gregg is a Certified Public Accountant and has a Master’s Degree in Business.
Elizabeth is an audit partner with nearly 20 years of experience in public accounting. She serves as the firm’s National Audit Industry Leader for the retail sector is a core partner in KPMG’s National Office in New York. Elizabeth started her career in KPMG’s Orange County, California office before transferring to the Seattle office and ultimately taking on her present role in KPMG’s department of professional practice in New York. She also spent three years abroad in Zurich, Switzerland working in KPMG’s US GAAP Accounting and Reporting group. As the Retail National Audit Industry Leader, Elizabeth is responsible for supporting engagement teams in providing quality audit services to clients in the retail industry. In this role, she is also responsible for knowledge management and communications – helping to ensure that information about retail industry issues (including technical accounting and auditing matters), trends, best practices, and information about KPMG resources are communicated to engagement teams and clients.
Scott Moses is a Managing Director and Head of the Food Retail and Restaurants Investment Banking practice at Peter J. Solomon Company. He specializes in retail sector strategic and financial advice, with a focus on mergers, acquisitions, sales and divestitures of traditional and specialty grocers.
Craig is a Director with the Stores Consulting Group. Craig has over 27 years combined industry and consulting experience. Seven years experience working exclusively as a solution lead in Retail Profit Recovery / Shrink Management and Operations Management for the Stores Consulting Group and Capgemini. Craig managed shrink and profit management projects nationally and internationally. Prior to consulting, Craig worked for an industry leading provider of POS Transaction Monitoring software and loss prevention business analytics and spent over 20 years in the retail industry in loss prevention leadership roles.
Bill was recently promoted to Corporate Audit Director and prior to that he was the Corporate Internal Audit Manager for the past 11 years. Bill is responsible for auditing the Corporate, Distribution and Vendor Promotional allowance functions for SpartanNash. His responsibilities include internal control and risk assessment, regulatory compliance, external audit and regulator coordination, scheduling, staff evaluation, hiring/termination, and reporting findings to management and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. Bill has over 37 years of audit management experience in all aspects of auditing including compliance, operations, finance and IT, using a process auditing approach. He has performed process review-based internal control methodologies for companies in the financial services, healthcare, retail, distribution and manufacturing industries. He has participated in Sarbanes Oxley 404 Certification testing at an electronics distributor, a large financial institution, manufacturers, and a retail/distribution company. Bill has a Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting and Computer Science from Kent State University and a degree from the School of Bank Administration, Madison, Wisconsin, Audit Major. He holds a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and a Certified Accounts Payable Professional (CAPP) (expired) designation. He has been a past instructor of audit processes and has been a speaker at multiple professional chapter meetings and seminars, including the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Audit and Finance Seminars (2016, 2013 & 2009).
Andrew Nodes leads Business Development for Instacart on the East Coast, working with national, regional, and local retailers. By developing partnerships between Instacart and retailers, and managing key accounts, Andrew helps grocers achieve maximum value from the Instacart platform and offerings. Through these partnerships, Instacart has established its retailer marketplace strategy. Prior to joining Instacart, Andrew was a management consultant at A.T. Kearney based in their Washington DC office, concentrating on the retail and consumer packaged goods industries. His project work ranged across retail’s and CPG’s value chains, from operations strategy to merchandising to supply chain to omnichannel strategy. Previously, he worked for BearingPoint and Hilltop Advisors.
Clay serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Brookshire Brothers, a Lufkin, Texas based grocer that is owned by its 6000 employee owners. The native East Texan began his career with Brookshire Brothers in 2004 as a Staff Accountant managing fixed assets. Clay currently oversees the Accounting functions, Treasury & Finance, Budgeting, Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management, Strategic Planning and Information Technology. A graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University business school, Clay also holds an MBA from his alma mater. A former police officer, Clay and his wife Stephanie have four children ranging in age from 13 years to 7 years old. Clay lives out his company’s purpose of being a community grocer through his ongoing involvement with a number of non-profits, youth and business organizations in the region.
In her role as the Chief Food & Product Safety Officer & Senior Vice President of Food Safety Programs for the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Dr. Hilary Thesmar provides leadership for all safety programs for FMI’s retail and wholesale members and provides support for members on food safety training programs, FSMA training, recall plans and management, crisis management, research, and overall safety and sanitation programs. She also works with the FMI Foundation on food safety education and research projects. Dr. Thesmar has a Ph.D. in Food Technology from Clemson University, a Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition from Winthrop University, a bachelor’s degree in Food Science from Clemson, and she is a Registered Dietitian. She has over a decade of experience in scientific and regulatory affairs with food trade associations. Dr. Thesmar is an active member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), the International Association for Food Protection and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. Thesmar currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Partnership for Food Safety Education.
Bryan focuses on security, privacy, and risk services that include security assessments, vulnerability and risk management, security monitoring, incident response and compliance frameworks. Bryan has over 20 years of security experience, working with a variety of companies with a focus on planning, design and delivery of high-performing, cost-effective enterprise security programs. He has extensive experience developing and implementing information security management processes, concepts, solutions and technologies (Microsoft products, EMC, Salesforce, etc.) with a focus on data protection, security architecture, industry leading practices, and frameworks and regulatory compliance (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley [SOX], Payment Card Industry [PCI], National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST], International Organization for Standardization [ISO]). Bryan has previously led a number of data protection assessments and policy development engagements, which focused on security governance, data privacy, information classification and handling, and overall data protection processes. He also serves as the Florida security, privacy, and risk leader, where he facilitates clients’ development and implementation of effective security program management practices across a variety of industries. Prior to joining RSM, Bryan held executive and senior-level positions, including chief information security officer (CISO), with organizations in industries such as defense and aerospace contracting, pharmaceuticals and finance. In addition, Bryan has been with one of the Big Four and another large consulting firm, where he served as the PCI leader and the data privacy champion.