The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association (PFMA), the statewide association representing the retail food industry, announces the appointment of Gary Lauer to director of membership development. Gary has nearly 45 years experience in the food industry, which will be a great asset to the association as it works to grow its membership and increase contact with its current members.
“We are so pleased to have Gary Lauer on the PFMA team,” said David McCorkle, PFMA president and CEO. “His industry experience and contacts will help us grow the PFMA membership and provide more outreach to our current members.”
He most recently worked for Associated Wholesalers Inc. (AWI), now C&S Wholesale Grocers, for 15 years where he served as director of retail development. At AWI, Lauer worked closely with independent retailers to help plan their business growth and succession.
Before joining AWI, he worked at wholesaler Fleming Foods (formerly Scrivner and P.A. & S Small Company) for 29 years. During his tenure he worked his way through positions such as retail management trainee, head buyer, director of merchandising, director of sales and division president.
He has also served on the PFMA board and Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council executive committee.
He is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University Academy of Food Marketing and he earned his MBA from York College of Pennsylvania. Lauer and his wife Kathy live in the York area, where he is active in the community.
