WAITSFIELD, VT. – Northeast dairy farm cooperative Agri-Mark, Inc., which owns the Cabot Creamery brand, announced it filled three leadership positions.
Chief executive officer David Lynn announced the cooperative hired Dan Serna as its chief financial officer and Spencer McDonald as its senior vice president of sales. Meanwhile, Derek Zwegust received a promotion and is now vice president of supply chain and logistics.
Agri-Mark shared that Serna will lead its finance and treasury functions, such as accounting, risk management and producer payroll. The cooperative’s previous CFO, Frank Mehm, retired this summer after 40 years at Agri-Mark.
Serna first worked for the cooperative as a college intern in 2004 and returned as a college graduate from Yale University in 2008 to work as a business analyst for two years. Since that time, he earned a master’s degree from Harvard Business School and worked for such companies as General Mills, MetLife Investment Management and Manulife Investment Management Timber and Agriculture (MIMTA). Before returning to Agri-Mark, he served as director and senior portfolio manager for MIMTA.
“It feels as though Dan has come home, back to where he began his career nearly 20 years ago,” Lynn said. “Dan brings us a deep working knowledge of lending, value creation and scaling, plus he has a strong appreciation and understanding of the cooperative business model.”
Agri-Mark’s senior vice president of sales, McDonald has worked in the consumer packaged goods industry for close to three decades. He most recently spent two years in charge of Mowi’s sales team. His past professional experience also includes time at Turkey Hill Dairy, where he led the sales team, and 12 years with Schwan’s Consumer Brands in various sales roles.
“We are thrilled to have Spencer on board,” Lynn said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience leading teams and executing sales strategies. As we grow and expand our brands, Spencer’s leadership and background in the CPG world, specifically in dairy, will be invaluable to us.”
Promoted to vice president of supply chain and logistics at Agri-Mark, Zwegust began with the cooperative as a financial analyst close to five years ago. Per Agri-Mark, his responsibilities will cover such areas as cheese grading and inventory management, sourcing and procurement, logistics, and supply chain planning. Zwegust replaced Val Adams in the role after Adams was promoted to senior vice president of finance.
Most recently, Zwegust was director of corporate strategy at Agri-Mark, leading strategic planning. His background also includes time at Keurig Dr. Pepper, where he also was involved with strategy, supply chain matters and logistics. Zwegust earned an industrial engineering degree from Georgia Tech.
“Derek has made significant contributions since joining just five years ago,” said Lynn. “The knowledge he has gained through the network optimization project and establishing our new distribution facility has prepared him for this new leadership role. We are excited to see him grow and learn.”