Niagara University students and professionals from the retail food and service sectors came together on Sept. 30, 2025, at the university's 2025 Food Industry Center of Excellence Summit for a day of cutting-edge insights, networking, and industry breakthroughs.

This year's theme, "Built to Thrive: Next-Gen Innovation," provided the platform for thought leaders and industry visionaries to offer fresh perspectives and discuss the latest developments poised to redefine the market.

The day began with a welcome from Dr. Mark Frascatore, dean of the Holzschuh College of Business Administration, and Bill Chiodo, president of retail for the Affinity Group and chairman of the center.

Author and training and development expert Jim Knight followed with his presentation, "Culture that Rocks: Set List on How to Amp Up Your Company's Culture and Deliver Sustainable Results." Knight is owner and CEO of Knight Speaker, and led global training for Hard Rock International for two decades, consistently developing award-winning, cutting-edge training concepts.

Mary Purk, co-founder and former executive director of AI at the Wharton School, led the next session, "The AI Shift: How Agility, Adaptability, and Agents Are Redefining Food and Retail." Purk, a visiting scholar at The University of Illinois Chicago, is the co-author of the 2024 Wharton AI Adoption Report and has been part of numerous collaborative industry research projects focused on AI adoption in the C-Suite and AI workforce readiness.

Afternoon sessions included "Attracting and Inspiring a Changing Workforce," presented by Nick Nickitas, general manager of local independent grocery at Instacart. Prior to Instacart, he was the founder and CEO of Rosie, a leading e-commerce platform for local grocers. Rosie was acquired by Instacart in September 2022.

John Clevenger, founder of Trundy Point Consulting, discussed "A Brand Reboot-Thriving Amid the Private Label Surge." Clevenger's diverse career includes 38 years in the consumer packaged goods industry in leadership positions on both the client and service sides with companies including Pepsi, Meridian Consulting Group, and IRI (now Circana).

A panel of food industry executives moderated by Jeff Metzger, publisher emeritus of Best -Met Publishing Company and featuring Fergus Byrne, vice president of procurement and culinary at MBI Brands; Ken Malecki, vice president of sales-East at Musco Family Olive Co.; Mary Kiener, senior vice president of global supply chain at Rich Products; and Kristen Hanson, vice president of center store, our brand, and pharmacy at Tops Market, concluded the program.

The annual summit is presented by the Holzschuh College of Business Administration, which recently announced the launch of a dynamic new Bachelor of Science in Food Industry Management. The program's unique multidisciplinary approach, created through collaboration with industry partners, covers a wide variety of food-specific areas, including global supply chains, nutrition, and food chemistry, coupled with experiential learning opportunities and a strong foundation in business to prepare students for leadership roles in this essential and fast-changing sector.