James Sheehan will succeed Jody Feragen as c.f.o. of Hormel at the end of October.
 
AUSTIN, Minn. — The board of directors of Hormel Foods Corp. has elected James N. Sheehan as the company’s next senior vice president and CFO, effective Oct. 31. He will succeed Jody H. Feragen, who will retire as executive vice president and CFO on Oct. 30.

 

Sheehan has held finance and accounting leadership roles at Hormel Foods for more than 20 years, most recently as vice-president and chief accounting officer. He also oversees the information technology organization.

An employee of Hormel Foods for more than 30 years, Sheehan began his career as an accountant, advancing to other management positions within the company. In 1998, he became president of Hormel Financial Services where he was instrumental in developing and implementing Hormel Financial Services functions and several financial systems. Prior to being named to his current position, Sheehan was treasurer at Hormel Foods and vice-president and controller for 16 years. He is involved in industry organizations, including the Financial Executive Institute and the Institute of Management Accountants.

“Jim is a true professional with deep knowledge of the Hormel Foods business and culture built over a 30-plus year career in finance and accounting,” said Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman and CEO, Hormel Foods. “I am highly confident in Jim’s leadership and capabilities in this new role.”

For the last decade, Feragen led all financial areas of Hormel Foods, including accounting, information technology, internal audit, investor relations and treasury. She joined Hormel Foods in 2000 as treasurer, assuming the title of vice-president and treasurer in 2001. She was promoted to vice-president of finance and treasurer in 2005 and was named senior vice-president and CFO in 2007. She was promoted to executive vice-president and CFO in 2010. Feragen has served on the company’s board of directors since 2007 and is currently on the boards of Patterson Companies Inc., Graco, Inc. and the University of North Dakota Alumni Association and Foundation.

“When Jody’s outstanding 10-year tenure as CFO concludes at the end of this fiscal year, she will have played an integral role in helping Hormel Foods to deliver exceptional returns to our shareholders,” Ettinger said. “She has provided rigorous and strategic focus to a broad array of decisions and initiatives, and has built a strong team of finance, tax, I.T., investor relations and accounting personnel for our company.”