The Human Capital Group Recruits CEO for Wendy’s Quality Supply Chain Cooperative
February 10, 2021 – Brentwood, TN-based executive search firm The Human Capital Group | a Gallagher Company has placed Pete Suerken as the new president and CEO for Wendy’s Quality Supply Chain Cooperative (QSCC) in Dublin, OH David Alexander, a managing director with The Human Capital Group, led the assignment.
“We were honored to serve as Wendy’s partner for this search, and excited to see a tremendous talent like Pete join the Wendy’s family,” said Mr. Alexander.
Mr. Suerken brings a wealth of supply chain and restaurant leadership experience to Wendy’s. He joins QSCC from Resin Technology Inc. (RTI), a leading packaging and materials provider, for which Mr. Suerken served as president since 2017. At RTI, he held full operational, strategic and P&L leadership, leading transformation, and driving profitability and strong operational performance. From 2004 to 2017, Mr. Suerken served as executive vice president of food and packaging procurement for Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions in Louisville, KY. From 1995 to 2004, he was a vice president at Chicago-based Archer Daniels Midland.
As a senior leader in global supply chain and business operations, Mr. Suerken has had an accomplished career driving supply chain, strategic sourcing, procurement, distribution logistics, commodity management and business transformation operations for large enterprise corporations. He has built a reputation for his ability transform business practices and organizational cultures, maximizing spend, implementing cost control and introducing strategies to improve operational performance. He also specializes in developing and implementing processes and solutions that redefine operational value, stimulate performance improvements and meet client and business requirements. As an experienced member of executive leadership teams, Mr. Suerken has a history of success in building top-performing teams, establishing positive market presence and driving sustainable revenue gains to support the continued growth of enterprise organizations.
QSCC is the independent purchasing cooperative for the Wendy’s system. QSCC is the third-largest purchasing cooperative in the quick-service restaurant industry, with nearly $4 billion in buying power. QSCC is part of the Wendy’s extended family.
Finding Transformational Leaders
Founded in 2000, The Human Capital Group is an executive search and leadership consulting firm assisting clients domestically and internationally as they seek to find and grow transformational leaders. The firm has completed more than 800 searches for a wide variety of senior roles across multiple industries.
Throughout his career in human resources, Mr. Hayes has been focused on helping organizations acquire, coach and develop leaders. As his career progressed, he served in leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Amoco/BP, Frito-Lay, MagneTek, Russell Corp. and ultimately as CHRO at ClientLogic. Those experiences gave him deep insights into both the day-to-day and longer-term challenges facing organizations as well as the impact that having the right individuals in leadership positions can have on an organization’s teams and overall performance.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, IL. The company has operations in 35 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.
Mr. Alexander joined the Human Capital Group in 2019. Based in the firm’s Dallas office, he is charged with supporting the firm’s ongoing growth of its executive search and leadership advisory services. Mr. Alexander is a senior global human resources executive with extensive expertise in public and private equity boards, strategic planning, growth, talent management, recruitment and retention, executive and sales compensation, organizational change, employee development, mergers and acquisitions, employee relations, HRIS and benefits management. Previously, he was chief people officer of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers. Before that, he held CHRO roles with FleetPride Inc. and DFC Global Corp. He has also served in senior HR positions with AT&T, SAP and Washington Mutual Bank.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
