The World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO), a member of the Alexandria, Virginia, USA-headquartered Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA), has selected five finalists for the 2021 Don Schlimme Future Leader Award. They were chosen out of 25 applicants as among the best and the brightest North American future leaders in the temperature-controlled logistics industry.
The finalists are Tamara Palefsky (pictured at left above), continuous improvement manager at United States Cold Storage; Troy Stokes (above right in photo), senior project manager Lineage Logistics; Eric Geiger (pictured at left in photo below), warehouse manager at Americold Logistics; Emily Goracke (seen in middle of photo below), customer account manager at SnoTemp Cold Storage; and Colt Miller (seen at right in photo below), warehouse supervisor at Mattingly Cold Storage.
“This class of Don Schlimme Future Leader Award finalists demonstrates the quality of individuals involved in the cold chain industry and the great potential we have for the future,” said GCCA President and CEO Matthew Ott. “These nominees show great passion for their job and go above and beyond to get the job done. We are proud to work with them.”
This year’s application review happened virtually and applicants for the award were evaluated by a panel of industry leaders. The finalists will compete for the top honor at the IARW-WFLO Convention taking place from October 7-10, 2021 in Austin, Texas. The winner will be eligible to compete against other GCCA future leaders from around the world in the 2021 Global NextGen competition happening virtually, later this year.
Established in 2015 by WFLO, the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award recognizes talented young professionals. Nominees must demonstrate excellence in their work, the potential to excel further in the many facets within the industry, and possess insight into their organization’s strategic values and direction, policies, and ways of working.
The award is named in honor of Donald V. Schlimme, Ph.D, who passed away in 2012 and was a longtime member of the WFLO Scientific Advisory Committee (1983-2012) and served as a WFLO staff advisor for many of those years. He was an expert in food science and cold storage and was committed to sharing his extensive knowledge.
