Our leadership team has over 150 years of collective experience in the food industry and is dedicated to continuous innovation and technical expertise to provide our customers with the highest level of confidence.
Jeff Williams,
Chief Executive Officer
Jeff has 30+ years of domestic and international experience in the food and beverage industry. Recently, Jeff served as the CEO of Avure Technologies – a world leader in the manufacture and support of HPP machinery as well as HPP Food Science and Technology. He was also the inaugural Chairman of the Cold Pressure Council. Jeff has over 25 years of experience in machinery manufacturing working in a variety of industries including food, beverage, pharmaceutical and other consumer products. During this time he has held a variety of positions responsible for Sales, Marketing, Product Development, Engineering and Operations. Jeff earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.
John (JT) Tomaszewski
Chief Operations Officer
John Tomaszewski (JT) serves as our Chief Operating Officer, leading operations at all locations. His primary objective is to provide best in class operational performance while also providing exceptional customer service. He has over 30 years of experience holding executive roles in both operations and business development. JT is a certified six-sigma black belt and has expertise in operational excellence, supply chain optimization, organizational design and marketing strategy development across multiple industries including food & beverage, bio-pharmaceutical, retail, automotive, high-tech, capital markets, consumer products, durable goods, testing laboratories (genetic, food and environmental) and alternative energy. JT earned his B.S. from the University of Illinois, and a MBA from Northwestern Kellogg.
Jeff Barnard,
President
Jeff serves as President at Universal Pure and is the company’s longest tenured employee. With 35 years of experience in the food industry, mainly in the protein segment, Jeff is very passionate about food safety and the role Universal Pure plays in the market. Jeff’s experience has spanned sales and leadership positions at Cook Family Foods, ConAgra Brands, and Omaha Steaks.
Bill Cook,
Vice President Sales
Bill joined Universal Pure in January 2014 with 20 years of refrigerated logistics experience and 10 years in the HPP industry. Bill supports our sales efforts in continuing to grow Universal Pure as the leader in the HPP industry. His experience includes positions with Hostess, Wonder Bread, Millard Refrigeration, and Americold.
Pat Ballard,
Chief Commercial Officer
Pat serves as our Chief Commercial Officer, leading our sales and marketing efforts. He has extensive experience in the food industry, protein segments and working in cold storage. He spent the past 10 years leading commercial efforts at Americold. Prior to that he held various positions with Sysco, Starbucks and C&S Wholesale Grocers.
