Ziyad Brothers appoints Jim D. Wagner Chief Executive Officer
Leadership team is well-equipped to pursue transformational growth initiatives for the benefit of all stakeholders
Ziyad Brothers (“Ziyad” or the “Company”), a leading omni-channel provider of branded Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods, announced Tuesday Sept. 20, 2022 that Jim Wagner has been appointed Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Wagner succeeds Nassem Ziyad, a member of the founding family, who will continue to actively serve the Company as Executive Chairman focused on corporate partnerships and brand development, and as a member of the Company’s board.
Mr. Wagner joins Ziyad with more than 20 years of professional experience in the food distribution industry, most recently serving as CEO of Roland Foods. Prior to that he served in numerous positions with Chef’s Warehouse, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Ziyad said, “This is an exciting time for Ziyad, and I believe that Jim is the right person to lead this great company into the future. I look forward to working with Jim to leverage Ziyad’s strong reputation for providing the highest levels of food quality and service, combined with our compelling new product innovations. We have tremendous team in place and will continue to pursue transformational growth initiatives for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Mr. Wagner added, “I am humbled by the opportunity to join this well-respected company that is fully committed to the success of its customers, suppliers, and retail partners. I look forward to working with Nassem, the Board and our dedicated employees to build on the strong foundation formed by the Ziyad family. Collectively, we will accelerate the company’s growth trajectory and capitalize on the many attractive opportunities before us.”
Michael Graham, a board member of Ziyad, said, “We are delighted to welcome Jim to the Ziyad team. Jim is a highly talented executive who has an impressive history of leadership roles within both public and private companies. His demonstrated track record of driving significant value creation across supply chain, sales and operations is a great fit for the Company, and we look forward to leveraging his expertise across numerous growth initiatives.”
Mr. Graham continued, “On behalf of the board, we would like to thank Nassem for his past, present, and future leadership. Nassem’s contributions and leadership have been instrumental in building unparalleled reputation and relationships with our suppliers, customers, employees, and community. We are excited for the growth of our corporate & brand partnerships under Nassem and his continued board membership.”
ABOUT ZIYAD
Ziyad is a leading omni-channel provider of branded Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food and beverage products. Founded as a small bakery in 1966 in Chicago, Ziyad now owns numerous brands and partners with dozens of world-class companies on an exclusive basis to deliver their brands to the North American market. For more information on Ziyad, visit us online at http://www.Ziyad.com.
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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