Across North Texas, companies are promoting and hiring people to take on leadership positions within their organizations. Dallas Innovates covers prominent personnel moves in Dallas-Fort Worth businesses and nonprofits—from the newest startups to well-established companies. Here are people moves tied to innovation and technology in the region.
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Toyota promotes Ericksen to group vice president
Cooper Ericksen
Cooper Ericksen has been promoted to group vice president of product planning and strategy at Plano-based Toyota Motor North America, effective Aug. 5.
Ericksen will be responsible for product planning, pricing, cross carline technology, and advanced product strategy, Toyota said. He’s been with the corporation since 1991, most recently serving as head of product planning for Lexus as well as alternative-fuel vehicles and other cars. He replaces Andrew Coetzee, who plans to retire on Aug. 2.
Toyota North America also announced other changes that will take effect on July 1.
Mike Bafan will take on a new assignment as chairman of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Baja California (TMMBC) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Guanajuato (TMMGT) in addition to his responsibility as president of Toyota de Mexico. Currently, he is president of TMMBC and TMMGT.
Oscar Quijada will be promoted to president of TMMBC, from his current position of vice president of manufacturing.
Francisco Garcia will be promoted to president of TMMGT, from his current position of vice president of manufacturing.
Miller elected to lead Meadows Foundation
Peter M. Miller
Peter M. Miller will succeed Linda Perryman Evans as president and chief executive officer of the Meadows Foundation, effective Jan. 1.
Miller is the great nephew of Foundation founders Algur H. and Virginia Meadows. In his new role, he will be responsible for all of the Foundation’s operations.
“Having served the Foundation previously as a director and trustee for 10 years, I understand how important this work is to the Meadows family and to Texas. I look forward to continuing the great work that Linda has done for the Foundation,” Miller said in a statement.
Wallace joins True North Advisors as vice president
Dusty Wallace
Dusty Wallace has joined Dallas-based True North Advisors as vice president of financial planning.
A wealth-management firm, True North Advisors provides clients with comprehensive offerings in wealth planning and investment management.
Previously, Wallace was director of financial planning and chief compliance officer at Lee Financial. She brings 15 years of experience to her new role at True North.
Kitchen Brains names two leadership moves in Dallas
David Jendal
Anna Brechoteau
David Jendal has been appointed vice president of global business solutions and Anna Brechoteau has been named director of IoT enterprise solutions at Kitchen Brains, a provider of IoT connectivity and control systems for commercial kitchens.
Although Kitchen Brains is headquartered in Connecticut, both Jendal and Brechoteau will be based in Dallas.
Jendal will lead Kitchen Brains’ worldwide expansion of its technology and cloud-based solutions, while Brechoteau will support its growing customer base.
Aligned Energy names Haggard VP of operations
Billie Haggard
Billie Haggard has been appointed as senior vice president of operations by Plano-headquartered Aligned Energy, a data center provider offering innovative, sustainable, and adaptable colocation and build-to-scale solutions for cloud, enterprise, and managed service providers.
Haggard is responsible for leading Aligned’s data center performance organization.
Before joining Aligned, Haggard was operations director for a global provider of facility and asset management.
Forterra names Watson as its new chief executive officer
Karl H. Watson Jr.
Forterra Inc. has announced that Karl H. Watson Jr. has been appointed chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors.
Irving-based Forterra is a manufacturer of water and drainage infrastructure pipe and products in the United States and eastern Canada.
Watson Jr. succeeds Jeff Bradley, who has stepped down as CEO and a director to pursue other opportunities, the company said. Watson brings over three decades of global experience in the construction materials industry to his new role. Most recently, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Summit Materials Inc.
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