HOUSTON, April 30, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY), North America's largest foodservice marketer and distributor, announced today that Donald K. Hunt will retire as president and chief executive officer of Sysco Food Services of Pennsylvania, LLC, a SYSCO broadline distribution subsidiary located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Debra S. Ulrich, who is currently executive vice president of that company, will become president and CEO. Both moves are effective July 1, 2008.
Mr. Hunt joined SYSCO in 1979 as a marketing associate at the company's Houston subsidiary, where he progressed through a variety of sales management positions. In 1985, he transferred to the New Orleans operating company to serve as vice president of sales, then in 1993, he moved to SYSCO's Seattle operation to serve as senior vice president of sales and marketing. He was named senior vice president of Sysco Food Services of Horseheads (NY) in 1995, and two years later was promoted to president and chief executive officer of that company. In 1999, when the Horseheads operation merged with neighboring SYSCO companies in New York and Pennsylvania, he became executive vice president at Sysco Food Services of Central Pennsylvania. He assumed his current duties in 2000.
Mr. Hunt, a native of Akron, Ohio, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1975. He and his wife Susette reside in Harrisburg.
Ms. Ulrich began her SYSCO career in 1978 at the company's Miami operation as a secretary and progressed through positions including marketing associate, account executive, dry products merchandiser, healthcare specialist and manager of business development. In 1983, she joined SYSCO's Houston operating company as an account executive and went on to serve as district sales manager, assistant manager of program sales and then manager of program sales. Ms. Ulrich joined SYSCO's corporate headquarters in Houston in 1989 as director of multi-unit sales and advanced to senior director of multi-unit sales in 1996. In July 2002, she was promoted to vice president of multi-unit sales at FreshPoint, Inc., SYSCO's specialty produce subsidiary. In 2004, she stepped up to her current position as executive vice president at Sysco Food Services of Central Pennsylvania.
Ms. Ulrich is a native of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. She is a 1977 graduate of Penn State University, where she earned a bachelor of science degree in foodservice and housing administration and where she currently serves as president of the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society. She and her husband Bill have one grown son and reside in the Harrisburg area.
Sysco Food Services of Central Pennsylvania, LLC, markets and distributes food and related products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments, business and industry locations and other foodservice customers throughout central Pennsylvania.
SYSCO is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers that prepare meals away from home. Its family of products also includes equipment and supplies for the foodservice and hospitality industries. For the fiscal year 2007, the company generated $35.0 billion in sales. For more information about SYSCO, visit www.sysco.com.
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