Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits just appointed Mike McLaughlin as Chief Transformation Officer, effective February 2024.
In this role, McLaughlin will report to Southern Glazer’s Chief Executive Officer, Wayne E. Chaplin, and will be responsible for leading North Star – a business-led process transformation focused on modernizing and standardizing ways of working and enabling technology to meet the changing needs of Southern Glazer’s customers, supplier partners, and employees.
“To build on our previous successes and continue to differentiate ourselves in the market, we must constantly anticipate the changing customer and supplier needs and evolve our processes and capabilities to ensure we remain at the forefront of the beverage alcohol distribution industry,” said Wayne E. Chaplin in a news release. “Mike is a trusted and respected leader with a clear vision for the future, a track record of strong operational results, and a proven ability to drive enterprise-wide change, which makes him the ideal leader for this transformative role.”
Streamlining Southern Glazer’s Processes
Throughout 2023, a team of Southern Glazer’s cross-functional experts worked together to complete a thorough assessment that lays the groundwork for a 2024 kickoff of North Star. The transformation strategy is a proactive decision to modernize, standardize, and streamline the company’s core processes to continue to maximize value for suppliers and customers while offering modern capabilities that allow Southern Glazer’s to attract and retain top talent.
Prior to his most recent position as Regional President, Central Region, which consists of Southern Glazer’s Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas markets, McLaughlin served as Executive Vice President of Sales at Glazer’s Distributors since 2013. Before joining Glazer’s in 2011, McLaughlin served with Southern Wine and Spirits of America in a number of senior executive roles. McLaughlin has more than 30 years of experience in the beverage alcohol industry, including management positions with Alaska Distributors, Skyy Spirits, and Frank-Lin Distillers. An announcement for McLaughlin’s successor in the Central Region will be forthcoming.
