Welcome to another edition of CPO News! There are lots of stories to cover today, so grab yourself a cup of coffee and ease into the week with us. Got any procurement news to share? Drop us a line at editor at cporising dot com. Thanks, and enjoy!
Elior Group Names Ruxandra Ispas as Chief Procurement and Logistics Officer
CNA Insurance Names Doug Kortfelt as SVP and Chief Procurement Officer
FreightWaves Names Brian Reed as EVP of Supply Chain and Global Strategy
Indigo Names Frank Crespo as Chief Supply Chain Officer and SVP
DeKalb County Procurement Whistle-blower Alleges Bid Rigging, Retaliation in Lawsuit
Arizona Procurement Executive Files Wrongful Termination Suit, Alleges Retaliation
Elior Group Names Ruxandra Ispas as Chief Procurement and Logistics Officer
Earlier this month, the Elior Group, a Paris-based business catering and support services provider, announced that it has named Ruxandra Ispas as its newest Chief Procurement and Logistics Officer, and has appointed her to its Executive Board. Ispas is a 20-year procurement executive who in her previous role served as CPO at London-based SIG plc. In her new role, Ispas will lead Elior Group’s sourcing and procurement programs, and balance a commitment to driving corporate social responsibility (CSR) with business performance. Ispas earned a Master’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the University of Bucharest. She speaks five languages, notably Spanish, Romanian, German, French, and English.
CNA Insurance Names Doug Kortfelt as SVP and Chief Procurement Officer
Last week, CNA Insurance, a Chicago-based commercial insurance provider, announced that it has named Doug Kortfelt as Senior Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer, effective immediately. Kortfelt will bring more than 25 years of director, manager, and executive-level procurement experience to bear in his new role at CNA, where he will be responsible for leading CNA’s Enterprise Vendor Management and Procurement teams. He had served as CPO and Global Head of Accounting Services at Nasdaq. Kortfelt got his start in procurement as a strategic sourcing consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Procurement & Operations from Michigan State University and a Master of Business Administration in Finance and General Management from Cornell University.
FreightWaves Names Brian Reed as EVP of Supply Chain and Global Strategy
In early April, we learned that FreightWaves, a Tennessee-bases provider of Blockchain-enabled fleet management, freight-forwarding, and logistics services, had named Brian Reed as its newest Executive Vice President of Supply Chain and Global Strategy. Reed will bring his more than 18 years of supply chain experience to bear in his task to digitally transform the way that FreightWaves forecasts freight and analyzes and manages risks for its customers. In doing so, he will oversee the development and use of advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence, Blockchain, and other Industry 4.0 technologies. Reed will also stand up a professional services unit, FreightWaves Advisors, which will as as a sort of internal consultancy that will help client organizations benchmark their operations and implement digital solutions, like Blockchain. Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and Genetics from the University of Texas at Austin.
Indigo Names Frank Crespo as Chief Supply Chain Officer and SVP
In other supply chain news, Boston-based Indigo, an agricultural / biotechnology firm, announced the appointment of Frank Crespo as Chief Supply Chain Officer and Senior Vice President. Crespo will help to drive value through Indigo’s supply chain; and as a former CPO at multiple, big-name agricultural and manufacturing firms, he is the man to do it. Crespo brings more than 25 years of category management, procurement, and sourcing experience to bear in his new role, having previously worked at Caterpillar, Honeywell, Praxair, Texas Instruments, and HP. Crespo also served for 24 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve and retired recently with the rank of Captain. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Naval Academy and his Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
DeKalb County Procurement Whistle-blower Alleges Bid Rigging, Retaliation in Lawsuit
Last month, Ardent Partners learned that Theresa Slayton, a former procurement official with DeKalb County in Georgia, filed a wrongful termination / whistle-blower lawsuit against the County. In the lawsuit, she alleges that she was demoted and ultimately terminated for reporting corrupt procurement activities, like bid rigging and collusion. Slayton was terminated in August 2017 after having served in the role for a couple of years. It should be noted that the current Chief Procurement Officer, Talisa Clark, had been hired in March 2017, just five months before Slayton’s termination. This is a developing story — please stay tuned.
Arizona Procurement Executive Files Wrongful Termination Suit, Alleges Retaliation
And in another potential whistle-blower case, Ashoke Seth, the former procurement administrator for the state of Arizona’s Department of Administration, has filed suit against the State of Arizona after he says he was terminated in retaliation for questioning the contracting practices of fellow state executive. In a lawsuit filed in March, Seth alleges that he was forced to resign after he had repeatedly questioned several contracts of interest to Kevin Donnellan, a deputy director at the agency and policy advisory to the governor. Seth alleges that Donnellan “went behind his back” to pressure procurement officials to approve a number of contracts with various local vendors. State officials contest that he was forced to resign due to rampant dysfunction within the procurement office, a charge that Seth denies. Currently, Seth and the state of Arizona are awaiting decisions on the case, and whether it will be dismissed or allowed to move forward as a whistle blower lawsuit. We will update readers as we learn more.
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DeKalb County Names Talisa Clark Chief Procurement Officer
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