DAKOTA, ILL. — Berner Food & Beverage LLC, a private label and contract manufacturing supplier of food and beverage products, has unveiled a new leadership team, including a new chief operations officer, chief financial officer and director of procurement, sales and operations planning, Alternative Medicine.
Kelly Diamond has been promoted to COO. In her new role she will manage all functional areas of operations, supply chain and mechanical engineering. Ms. Diamond most recently was vice president of operations since August and earlier was director of operations. Before joining Berner in 2017, she spent nearly a decade at Dean Foods. She also brings experience from positions at Woodward, Inc. and Anderson Packaging Inc.
She received a bachelor’s degree in technical and scientific communication at Michigan Technical University and a master’s degree in business administration at Northern Illinois University.
David Dunavant has joined Berner as CFO. Mr. Dunavant has more than 15 years of experience as a CFO, most recently with Vital Records Control Companies. His tenure also includes Monogram Foods, LEDIC Management Group, Hilton Worldwide, Kellogg Co., and as a member of the United States Navy.
A certified public accountant, Mr. Dunavant received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master of business administration degree in finance, insurance and real estate, both from the University of Memphis.
Shelia Kolden has joined the company as director of procurement, sales and operations planning (S&OP). In her new role she will be managing multiple business segments, including buying and vendor relations, along with supply chain and operations. Prior to Berner she was procurement manager at Monogram Foods. She also has worked at Morpak Specialties, Woodgrain Millwork, Cooper Aircraft, and McKinney Aerospace Ltd.
Ms. Kolden received a bachelor of arts degree at Texas A&M University-Commerce.
“Kelly Diamond has proved time and again that she is an effective leader and an essential member of the Berner team,” said Kurt Seagrist, chief executive officer of Berner. “We cannot wait to see the impact she makes, guiding Berner forward as our new chief operations officer. We are also extremely excited that David Dunavant and Shelia Kolden have also joined our leadership team. They will bring new energy and further support our efforts, as our organization moves into the future as a leading supplier of food and beverage products for our customer and retail partners.”
