EAST LONGMEADOW, MASS. — The maker of The Missing Link pet products, W.F. Young, has appointed three new leaders to support what the company described as rapid growth ahead of its 130th business anniversary next year.
Andy Leebrick has joined the company in a newly created position of chief revenue officer. In this role, Leebrick will help drive sales growth and product innovation as part of the company’s executive leadership team.
Andy Leebrick, chief revenue officer at W.F. Young.
Leebrick brings more than 30 years of pet specialty and CPG experience to W.F. Young, including previous positions with Safeway and General Mills. The last eight years of his career were spent as vice president of global product and sales development at KONG Company.
“We are so excited for Andy’s leadership as he is exceptionally skilled to accelerate our strategic growth and product portfolio,” said Jaime McKinley, president of W.F. Young. “Andy has a proven track record of building customer and partner relationships across the globe, and we are thrilled to share a mutual passion for improving the lives of animals.”
Dale Kiefer has been tapped as vice president of operations, succeeding William Bradford upon his retirement. He brings vast supply chain experience from previous positions in the international, CPG and human health supplement spaces. Most recently, he served as director of contract manufacturing and procurement at i-Health/DSM.
Dale Kiefer, vice president of operations at W.F. Young.
Keifer is a Six Sigma Green Belt Certified and a APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional. He is also an adjunct professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he teaches supply chain management.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dale to the W.F. Young family,” said Vicki Evans, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “His years of experience in logistics, supply chain and manufacturing management in the consumer-packaged goods industry are a perfect fit to lead our dynamic operations team during a time of accelerated growth.”
John Williams has joined the company in the newly created position of director of digital marketing, where he will be tasked with providing tactical and thought leadership for the company’s expanding digital and e-commerce initiatives. This includes growing the company’s reach, engagement and loyalty across W.F. Young’s digital channels.
John Williams, director of digital marketing at W.F. Young.
Williams offers more than 15 years of digital marketing experience from previous positions with Farmer’s Insurance Group, CDK Global, Moneytree and Hanapin/Brainlabs. He most recently served as director of digital marketing for Saatva.
“There is palpable excitement on the marketing team with John’s addition,” said Amy Cairy, vice president of marketing. “We’ve had the great fortune of working with John from the agency side at Brainlabs and also in a consulting role, and so we know the value that his expertise and data-driven approach brings in helping us achieve our digital marketing goals.”
Read more about personnel changes throughout the industry.
