ATLANTA – NACS announced the election of four retail members to serve on its Board of Directors. The new Board members were named to their positions during the NACS Board of Directors meeting at the NACS Show in Atlanta. The NACS Show is ranked one of the 50 largest annual trade shows in the United States.
The NACS retail members elected to serve on the Board of Directors are:
• Tim Chalk, CEO, 7-Eleven Hong Kong & Macau;
• Steve DeSutter, president and CEO, Stripes, LLC;
• Chris Gheysens, president and CEO, Wawa Inc; and
• Leo Vercollone, president and CEO, Verc Enterprises Inc.
A member-driven organization, NACS is led by a 30-member Board of Directors. Thirty industry retailers are elected to the Board, including three retailers from non-North American countries. In addition, the chairman and chairman-elect of the NACS Supplier Board also serve on the Board of Directors.
Following are brief biographies of the new Board members:
Tim Chalk has been the CEO of 7-Eleven in Hong Kong since May 2010. Chalk came to Asia more than 13 years ago as the trading and marketing director at ParknShop in Hong Kong. In 2003, he joined Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited as the merchandising and marketing director until 2005 when he became CEO of Hero Supermarkets Division in Indonesia. Early in his career, Chalk worked at Sainsbury’s and Tesco. Chalk is an executive committee member of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association.
Steve DeSutter joined Susser Holdings in June 2008 and is responsible for Stripes LLC, Susser Holdings' retail convenience stores. Prior to joining the company, he served as executive vice president of TurnWorks Inc. Before that, DeSutter was with Burger King Corporation as executive vice president and president of Europe and Middle East Operations; executive vice president and president of Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific; and senior vice president of corporate communications.
DeSutter began his career at British Petroleum, where he worked in operations, marketing and finance roles during his 18 years there. DeSutter serves on the Board of Directors for United Way of the Coastal Bend, Board of Trustees for the Coastal Bend Blood Center and the Board of Directors for the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation.
Chris Gheysens is president and CEO of Wawa and previously held the position of chief financial and administrative officer from January 2007 to December 2011. Prior to joining Wawa, Gheysens worked in the audit practice at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Philadelphia. He is an active board member for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross. Gheysens also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Villanova School of Business.
Leo Vercollone joined the industry in 1977 when he partnered with his father, Eugene and his brother Paul to launch Verc Enterprises Inc. Vercollone had previous experience with the family business: the car wash that his father started in 1975. Vercollone’s community activities include: the Boston College Alumni Association Board of Directors, Trinity Catholic Academy Board of Directors, chairman of the Gulf Oil Leadership Council, Global (Mobil) Alliance Dealer Council member and New England Convenience Store Association vice chairman and chairman.
The NACS Show, which runs through Oct. 15 at the Georgia World Congress Center, is ranked as the 47th largest trade show in the United States and is ranked fourth in the country for attracting attendees responsible for buying plans. More than 23,000 attendees from 60-plus countries are at the NACS Show, which features three days of general sessions, more than 50 educational sessions and 1,050 exhibiting companies in a 392,000 net-square-foot exposition. For the most up-to-date news and information on the event go to www.nacsshow.com.
NOTE: Photos of these Board members are available upon request.