.png)
Join the Contract Packaging Association (CPA) and the Chicagoland Food& Beverage Network (CFBN) for a dynamic gathering of contract packagers and manufacturers, food & beverage brands, and industry suppliers as we explore the key challenges currently facing our industry. Through engaging discussions and shared insights, we’ll tackle the challenges we face as the supply chain and retail channels once again undergo changes and upheaval.
Touring Innovation. Then, experience the science and creativity behind flavor development with an exclusive tour of McCormick Flavor Solutions, consistently rated as one of the Best Places to Work in the US. See firsthand how cutting-edge technology and expertise come together to create the flavors that shape the food and beverage industry.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, collaborate, and gain a fresh perspective on the future of contract packaging and manufacturing—one flavorful insight at a time!
AGenda
1:00 PM Doors open (Snacks & Beverages Available)
1:30 PM Welcome (CFBN and CPA Overviews)
2:00 PM Panel Discussion: Business Challenges Today
3:00 PM Break
3:15 PM Panel Discussion: Managing Business Volatility
4:30 PM Tours of Facility / Networking Activity
4:45 PM Additional Networking (Mocktails & Heavy Appetizers Available)
6:00 PM Event Ends
PANEL: 'Business Challenges Today'
.JPG)
KEVIN COOKE, CPA
Principal
CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP)
Kevin is a Principal at CliftonLarsonAllen, a professional services firm experienced in delivering integrated wealth advisory, outsourcing, audit, tax, and consulting services with over 130 locations throughout the USA and global reach through CLA Global. Kevin is a member of the Agribusiness, Food, and Beverage Group at CLA where he leads the food and beverage practice both in Chicago and firmwide. He specializes in performing financial statement audits and other assurance services, transaction advisory, profitability advisory, and general consulting to clients.
ERIC GREENBERG
Principal Attorney - Eric F. Greenberg, P.C.
Food & Drug Law
Eric Greenberg is an attorney who has been practicing Food and Drug law for over 40 years. He represents companies who develop, make, package, co-man or co-pack, supply or distribute food and beverages, and help them comply with federal and state legal requirements regarding manufacturing, ingredients, labeling and other issues. Among his clients are the Contract Packaging Association, a membership organization for co-man and co-pack companies, their suppliers and brands. In addition to his law practice, he is legal columnist for Packaging World magazine, and a member of the Adjunct Faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California. He serves on the Board of Directors of Bigger Table.
.jpg)
MARY KEISER, CPCU
Senior Vice President
National Food & Beverage Practice Leader
HUB International
Mary Keiser serves as Senior Vice President, National Food & Beverage Practice Leader. Mary is a dynamic insurance leader with over 16 years of expertise in risk management and client advisory services. A strategic force in business development, client retention, and associate mentorship, Mary has played a pivotal role in shaping Food & Beverage market intelligence and strengthening key carrier partnerships. She thrives on developing creative solutions to the complex exposures faced by food manufacturers, distributors, retailers, warehouses, and restaurants.
Prior to joining HUB in 2025, Mary led the Food and Beverage Practice for a leading national broker, where she built and led a specialized team delivering cutting-edge market insights, benchmarking, and innovative risk solutions to clients in the food, beverage, and cannabis industries. Under her leadership, the practice achieved exponential year-over-year growth since 2019.
.jpg)
R.J. PARRILLI
CEO
Midway Staffing
RJ Parrilli is the CEO of Midway Staffing and its affiliated entities. He has co-founded several staffing and recruitment firms specializing in food manufacturing & distribution, light industrial, construction, office, and healthcare roles. Under his leadership, his companies have become some of the largest and fastest-growing privately held staffing agencies in the U.S.
JAMES (Jim) PFEIFFER
Managing Director
Alvarez & Marsal
Jim Pfeiffer is a Chicago-based Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm with over 11,000 professionals serving clients in more than 35 countries. Jim is based in Chicago and is part of A&M’s Corporate Performance Improvement practice. Jim has served food and beverage clients across the ecosystem – from agricultural cooperatives to ingredients to finished goods manufacturing. He specializes in complexity reduction and operations cost optimization; he has delivered meaningful improvements in product margins, direct and indirect materials and services cost, labor cost, transportation and logistics costs, manufacturing throughput, lead time, first-pass yield, customer service performance, inventory investment, and obsolescence expense.
PANEL: 'Managing Business Volatility'
CHARLES WEINBERG
Chief Executive Officer
MSI Express
Charles is starting his 17th year as CEO, and has helped grow MSI Express through a combination of organic growth and acquisition of other Contract Manufacturing companies – Manufacturing Solutions International, Express Packaging, Power Packaging, and PacMoore Products. He has cofounded MSI in 2008 starting with a single installation. Prior to MSI, he managed contract manufacturing for Smurfit Stone Container for 6 years. Charles' Consumer Packaged Goods experience is based on 16 years of engineering and manufacturing roles at The Clorox Company. His career started with 5 years of engineering and operations roles at Bethlehem Steel Corporation. He holds a Masters Degree in Business from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
TJ WIDUCH
Director of Specialty Flavor Operations
McCormick FONA
TJ has nearly 40 years in the taste solutions industry. He oversees end-to-end Supply Chain for all Flavors, Seasonings, and Ingredients for McCormick North America. This includes overseeing three manufacturing facilities and more than 4,000 different product SKUs. He began his career at FONA in 1987, serving roles in all aspects of manufacturing operations. At FONA he also held roles on the commercial side, from Account Executive to Sales Leader to Business Unit director to Executive Vice President. He led the growth of several business units as well as leading growth globally establishing entities in UK, China, and Latin America. In 2019, TJ transitioned back to Supply where he focused on serving customers, on time, in full, with premium quality. When McCormick & Co acquired FONA in 2020, TJ was a crucial leader in the transition and has continued to lead by scaling a customer-centric approach and service to McCormick Flavor Solutions. He continues to lead manufacturing for the Specialty Flavor Value Stream.
.jpg)
LACEY YOUNG
Plant Manager - Geneva, IL
General Mills
Lacey Young is a Plant Manager with over two decades of experience at General Mills, currently serving on the Geneva Team. Her career progression demonstrates increasing responsibility, including Plant Manager at the Fridley, MN facility (2021-2023), Snacks Supply Chain Manager (2020-2021), and Fruit Operations Business Manager (2019-2020). Prior to these leadership roles, she held operational and quality management positions at multiple General Mills facilities across New York, Missouri, and Iowa. A passionate advocate for frontline leadership, Lacey believes it is essential for future manufacturing success. Her expertise includes leading teams through Human and Organizational Performance initiatives, fostering learning-oriented cultures. She is deeply committed to manufacturing's critical role in providing consumers with high-quality food products, recognizing the importance of these careers for both individual development and consumer satisfaction.
Event Hosts
.jpg)
RON PUVAK
Executive Director
The Association for Contract Packagers and Manufacturers (CPA)
Ron Puvak has been in the packaging industry for over 48 years. In 1976 he began his career as a Research Technician managing projects in Material Strength studies, Fracture Analyses and Technology Training. Later he was promoted to Technical Sales Representative with responsibilities for the development and promotion of inspection systems to the packaging industry. Next, he assumed the roles of Regional Manager – Europe, New Product Marketing Director and finally New Business Development Director.
In 2007 he joined Plastic Technologies Inc. where he focused on Marketing and New Business Development for the PTI family of companies. For over 10 years he was the Managing Director, of the PTI’s/SBA-CCI joint annual event “The Packaging Conference”.
ALAN REED
Executive Director
The Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network
Alan Reed is the Executive Director of the Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, a startup, nonprofit organization that brings industry players together, provides a forum for collaboration and support, and better connects the 4,500 companies in the industry across Chicagoland to drive innovation and growth in the region. The group leverages the power of the food & beverage industry in Chicagoland to grow the industry, and the local economy.
Prior to this new role, Alan was Executive Vice President, Strategy & Innovation at Dairy Management, Inc., and was responsible for creating and driving innovative strategies to grow dairy demand. Before joining DMI, Alan was a strategy consultant working with a variety of Fortune 100 companies. Alan has a degree in Telecommunications from Indiana University, an MBA in Management & Strategy from Northwestern University, where he has taught innovation and new product development, and a certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Notre Dame.
This event is organized JOINTLY with:
AND IN COLLABORATION WITH:
