Bleed, Duve appointed to new WQA roles
WQA announced Marketing & Communications Director Wes Bleed has been named to the new, expanded role of Membership, Marketing & Communications Director, while Heather Duve became the new Membership and Development Associate Director. Bleed joined WQA in 2016 and has led the association’s overall marketing and communications strategy, website content, social media strategy, podcasts, advertising and promotion of all WQA programs and services. In his new role, he will have expanded responsibilities for directing and administering the Membership Department.
Duve, who joined WQA in 2016 as Membership Relations Manager, has achieved year-over-year record sponsorship participation for WQA events. She takes on additional responsibilities, such as administering WQA’s membership recruitment and retention programs, and supporting members and member committees in establishing membership standards.
Chestnut, LaForce, Schellhammer new NSF VPs
Tom Chestnut has been named VP and COO at NSF International, while Colette LaForce joins NSF as VP and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Joel Schellhammer serves in the newly created position of VP and Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer (CSIO). Chestnut will support the needs of the growing organization and will focus on day-to-day operations across the company. He joined NSF in 2006 as VP of Supply Chain Food Safety and was promoted to lead the Global Food Division in 2009. LaForce will oversee marketing, communications and regulatory affairs for the global organization. She brings more than 20 years of experience leading global marketing, product marketing, digital, brand and communications teams across the technology and professional services industries.
LaForce previously served as Chief Marketing Officer at AMD, ICF, Dell Services and Cars.com. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Notre Dame, has been named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology and CMO of the Year, and currently serves as board chair at Farms Work Wonders. Schellhammer will lead corporate strategy development, mergers and acquisitions, standards development and digital and disruptive innovation. Most recently, he served as VP of Growth, Value Creation and Digital Innovation at Steelcase. Prior to Steelcase, Schellhammer held several roles at Kimberly-Clark. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Hillsdale College (Michigan), a Master’s Degree in Japanese studies (Cambridge University, UK) and also holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School (Cambridge, MA).
Hach co-Founder dies
Hach Company announced that co-Founder Kitty Hach-Darrow has died at her home in Loveland, CO, at the age of 97. Her business acumen and innovative spirit are an enduring legacy at Hach, more than 70 years after she founded the company with her husband, Clifford. From modest beginnings, Hach grew to become one of the world’s most successful water quality analysis organizations, employing thousands of associates around the world. Kathryn ‘Kitty’ Carter was born in Bucklin, MO, in 1922, the only child of a Ford car dealer and a teacher. She began her education at what is now Columbia College, but later transferred to Iowa State University, where she met her future husband, a chemist named Clifford Hach. They married in 1943 and had three children. In 1947, Cliff and Kitty founded their company with $15,000 that Clifford had earned from the sale of a patent describing a new way to generate carbon dioxide to fight fires.