Shearer’s is excited to welcome Steve Fuechtmann as our new CFO, effective April 2023.

Steve grew up on a family farm in Minnesota, got his degree in accounting, and then started his career in public accounting as a CPA with Arthur Andersen in their audit group. He was then recruited to Best Buy and worked in a variety of FP&A roles, ultimately being named director of finance and CFO for the Best Buy for Business division, where he worked with senior management to turn around the money-losing business to profitability. After a stint at EcoLab as senior director of FP&A responsible for strategic and annual planning, he was hired by Schwan Foods as VP of FP&A and Treasury. He worked with the company's new CFO to implement a financial planning process, recapitalize the business, and was eventually promoted to CFO for the largest segment of the Schwan business, the Consumer Brands division. Here he joined a new CEO to quintuple the business profitability by developing improvements in pricing and supply chain streamlining.

After success with Schwan Foods, Steve became the Chief Financial Officer of Links Snacks, a $1.4 billion family-owned manufacturer of beef jerky and meat snacks. In this role, he was responsible for all finance, treasury, and IT functions. He then joined Kindeva, a $400MM private equity-backed company of drug delivery devices.

We are pleased that we have recruited him to join us, as he recognizes our tremendous business potential, vision, focus, and the results that the Shearer's business offers.

Favorite Snack: Salt & Vinegar Chips

Greg Sprutte joined Shearer’s in July 2009 and was promoted to Chief Information Officer in March 2021. Over his 13+ years with Shearer’s, Greg has served in a variety of IT Leadership roles, helping Shearer’s with technology enablement that has supported growth and performance improvements. Through Greg’s leadership, Shearer’s Information Technology team continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of the business by providing a stable and secure technology platform that delivers cross functional value.

Greg holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems and a MBA from Kent State University. Despite his teenage son and daughter being better golfers, he aspires to improve and enjoys playing golf in his spare time.

Favorite Snack: Mesquite BBQ Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

Zach Ramos joined Shearer’s in July 2022 as Chief Commercial Officer joining the organization after 15 years with Kellogg Company where he most recently served as the Vice President and General Manager of the Foodservice business unit within Kellogg Company’s Away From Home Channel.

In his 20+ year career Zach has led the creation of numerous winning business strategies and launched innovative consumer programs across borders through Global customer partnerships.

Zach has spent significant time in both sales and marketing organizations progressing into increasingly elevated roles. He began his career with Cintas Corporation, where he also split his time between sales and marketing. Zach is a people-first Commercial leader who balances both the customer-facing selling aspects of the role with a general manager and operations perspective.

Zach holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Management and Marketing from Cornell University where he was a letter winner in Track and Field. He currently resides in Glen Ellyn, Illinois with his wife and three sons and spends his free time coaching his children’s sports teams and trying to improve his golf game.

Favorite Snack: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pablo Cussatti joined Shearer’s as Chief Supply Chain Officer in January, 2024.

Pablo is a transformational leader who optimizes teams through people, processes, and technology.

Pablo has a background in Mechanical Engineering and started his career as a Control System and Automation Engineer.  Pablo has been leading teams in Food Manufacturing for over 30  years where he spent 10 years at Pepsi and then increasing responsibilities with companies such as Dean Foods, Pinnacle Foods, and Ventura Foods. In each of his roles, he has proven improvement in Safety, Quality, Customer Service and Cost Productivity.

In his most recent role as COO for food manufacturing company CH Guenther, Pablo led 28 manufacturing plants worldwide.  During his time there, Pablo and his team made significant improvements in cost stabilization, instituted a Management Operating System to connect business plans to the facilities, as well as implementation of a global productivity program to track and increase productivity and KPI’s while driving lower costs through all aspects of operations.

In his free time, Pablo enjoys cycling, running, camping, and hiking with his wife of 26 years. He also has two children.

Favorite Snack: Jalapeño-flavored kettle chips

Kathy Vanderwist joined Shearer's in October 2022 as Vice President and General Counsel. Kathy's deep experience spans 30+ years and across multiple industries. As a seasoned Legal Executive, Kathy has led several companies in complex contract drafting and negotiation, litigation management, labor and employment law, compliance program development and training, as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Kathy holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh and received her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School.

Kathy resides in Ohio with her husband. She has three grown children, a new granddaughter, and four “grandcats.” In her spare time, she loves to bake, especially Greek pastries and desserts. Kathy also loves playing golf and watching football – Go Browns!

Favorite Snack: Cheese Puffs

Joline joined Shearer’s in the fall of 2021 as the CHRO with responsibility for all facets of Human Resources. She and the team are focused on building upon, enhancing and strengthening our programs with a specific commitment to the engagement and development of our employees.

Prior to Shearer’s, Joline most recently served as CHRO for Tarkett North America where she was responsible for the development and leadership of the human resources function. The majority of her career was with Alcoa Engineered Products & Solutions, a manufacturing industry leader serving the aerospace, commercial vehicle and building and construction industries.

Joline held various HR roles with Alcoa, most recently as the vice president of HR for the Engineered Products and Solutions group. In that role, she provided HR oversight and leadership for the five business units within EPS.

Joline earned her BA in Political Science from John Carroll University and her juris doctorate from Capital University. Joline loves spending time with her three kids, her dog Ben, and with coffee – in no particular order.

Favorite Snack: Kettle Chips

Mark McNeil joined Shearer’s in May 2021 as President & Chief Operating Officer as part of an internal succession plan. He was appointed CEO and Board Member of Shearer’s in September 2022.

Mark is a seasoned food industry executive with a strong track record of delivering results as a retailer, manufacturer, and as an accomplished CEO. With more than 20 years of experience, he has helped boost profits and maintain strong performance at several large food manufacturing companies, including Weston Foods, US Foods, and Lassonde Pappas.

Immediately Prior to joining Shearer’s, Mark served as the CEO of Bonduelle Americas, a $1 billion leader in private label vegetables and fruits. During his time there, Mark integrated a significant acquisition and improved the company’s top and bottom line by consistently focusing on his core performance drivers, Employee engagement, Customer relationships, Revenue Management and Operational Productivity.

Mark shuttles between Ohio and Cape Elizabeth, Maine and when not on an airplane he can be found on a golf course or cheering for his hometown Toronto Maple Leaf’s.

Favorite Snack: Double Crunch Salt & Vinegar Chips

Bill Nictakis, one of our current independent Board members, was named Chairman and CEO of Shearer’s in February 2018. Bill’s work on our Board in helping develop the Value Creation Plan and his extensive experience in our industry make him an ideal CEO to lead our company.

Bill brings more than 33 years of experience to our team and embodies the values of our company with a proven track record of success. Most recently, Bill was CEO at Waterloo Industries Inc., where he led the purchase and subsequent sale of the last remaining US retail tool chest company. Prior to this role, Bill was an executive at Hanesbrands, where he held various positions including Chief Commercial Officer and Co- Chief Operating Officer – Champion brand and global supply chain. Prior to that, he served as the President of the $2 billion U.S. Fresh Bakery division of Sara Lee. Bill spent the first half of his career with Frito-Lay, holding a variety of finance, sales and marketing leadership positions during his 18 years with the company, including leading Frito-Lay’s 20,000-person DSD sales organization.

Bill earned his bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Virginia and his master's degree in business administration in finance from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He is a CPA and has served on our Board of Directors since 2012.

Favorite Snack: Vanilla Sugar Wafers