FKI Logistex announces the appointment of Manuel Barragan Ramirez as general director of FKI Logistex de Mexico S.A. de C.V., the company’s operating unit in Mexico. Barragan comes to FKI Logistex with more than 15 years of material handling experience, most recently as general director of Dematic S.A. de C.V. In his new position, Barragan will be based out of Mexico City and will oversee the daily operations of the FKI Logistex office, including sales, engineering, service, and administration.

Hormel Foods Corporation has announced the retirements of Joseph D. Clougherty, president of Clougherty Packing, LLC., and Anthony P. Clougherty, executive vice president, administrative services for Clougherty Packing—a wholly owned subsidiary of the Austin, Minn.-based multinational consumer foods company. Succeeding Joe as president is Greg N. Longstreet, who previously served as vice president of foodservice sales for Clougherty Packing’s Farmer John brand.

Chef John DaLoia, formerly the top Culinarian at McCain Foods USA, joins Stampede Meat Inc. in Bridgeview, Ill. as director of culinary - corporate executive chef. He will work cross-functionally with R&D, sales, production, and marketing to help drive quality, innovation, and new business development. DaLoia will be based at the company’s culinary center in Bridgeview.

Mepaco has hired Randy Rhude as Midwest Sales Engineer. Randy joins Mepaco with over 14 years of service and experience with Triple/S Dynamics, Cozzini and Multivac.

Anthony DiGiovanni has joined PBI-Dansensor America Inc. as a technical sales specialist complementing the team representing the permeation system line. He is located at the North America headquarters office in Glen Rock, N. J. DiGiovanni will be focusing his attention on expansion of PBI-Dansensor’s Lyssy line of permeability testing systems for transmission rates for moisture vapor, oxygen and other gasses through films, metallized films and nonwovens barrier and breathable materials.

Gainco Inc. announces that James M. Khoury has joined the company as director of electrical & software engineering. In this position, Khoury will manage all activities pertaining to the engineering and development of Gainco products and systems. He will also be a member of the company’s strategic management team. Prior to joining Gainco, he was employed by Nordson Corporation for over 10 years, where he held senior engineering and managerial positions in the company’s product development, corporate research and technology departments.

The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has announced that Larry Brown, vice president educational programs, is retiring from the organization in September, after 30 years of service. Brown started working at USPOULTRY in 1977 as the director of communications. He is currently in charge of the annual USPOULTRY seminar series and student educational programming. Brown received a tribute June 9 at a dinner during the USPOULTRY board of directors meeting in Blaine, Wash.

Zentox Corporation announces the addition of Mike Roman from Charlotte, N.C., to its technical staff. As a program engineer for Zentox, Roman will provide engineering support as well as project involvement for both the new and existing Cascade Water Reuse Systems and the PathX Salmonella Control Systems. He will also focus on process and equipment design, installation, modification, and upgrade.

Sara Goetz has been promoted to the position of group leader of the analytical chemistry department at Q Laboratories Inc. Sara has worked as an analyst at Q Laboratories Inc. since 2001, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Northern Kentucky University. As group leader, Sara will be responsible for optimizing sample turn-around time, responding to client inquiries and requests and maintaining the overall excellence of the chemistry laboratory and laboratory staff.