RCI debuts new board; awards Guittard’s Tom Houlihan with Bornhofft honor

Honors announced at June convention in Lombard, Ill.

RCI board 1 — Tom Houlihan, far left, recipient of the 2017 Henry J. Bornhofft Memorial Award, is pictured, from left, with his wife Mary Beth Houlihan, daughters Greta Houlihan and Melanie Wallack, and son Adam Houlihan. Not pictured: Tom's son, Peter Houlihan. Submitted photo.

RCI board 2 — The 2017-2018 board of directors recently posed for a group photo during RCI's 100th Anniversary Gala in Chicagoland. Pictured from left to right: Joe Sofia, Angie Burlison, Steve Vande Walle, Virginia Whetstone Maguire, John Asher III, Jacques De Waele, Judy Hilliard McCarthy, Barry Bomboy, Jim Crudden, Chuck Castle, Anna Dolle Bushnell, Erika Dietsch Brokamp, Kate McAleer, Brian Pelletier, Julia Birnn Fields, Paul Wockenfuss, Jeffery Smith, Joe Reiser, Pam Hartley, Joe Crevino. Submitted photo.

Retail Confectioners International (RCI) inducted four new members to its board of directors during RCI's Annual Convention & Industry Expo last month in Lombard, Ill.

The new board members for the 2017-2018 term are as follows:

Erika Dietsch Brokamp, Dietsch Brothers, Findlay, Ohio
Anna Dolle Bushnell, Dolle's Candyland, Inc., Ocean City, Md.
Pam Hartley, Joy Lyn's Candies, Paradise, Calif.
Kate McAleer, Bixby & Co., Rockland, Maine

Additionally, Steve Vande Walle of Vande Walle's Candies in Appleton, Wis. will serve as the board’s president while Joe Reiser of Winans Fine Chocolates + Coffees in Piaua, Ohio, takes on duties as third vice president.

Also, during the organization’s gala dinner at its centennial celebration, RCI awarded the 2017 Henry J. Bornhofft Memorial Award to Tom Houlihan, director of industrial sales for Guittard Chocolate Co. Since the start of his 27-year career at Guittard, Houlihan has been an active member of RCI.

“From the beginning, Tom has always loved RCI and [its members],” said Mark Spini, Guittard’s v. p. of sales. “[Tom is] always trying to bridge the relationship in an enduring way, cultivating the customer relationship into becoming long-lasting personal friends, not just business associates. Tom’s contribution to Guittard is valued and held with very high esteem.”

Tom’s dedication to the industry has been evident over his years of service to RCI and other industry organizations. In addition to his involvement with RCI, he is also an active member of the Professional Manufacturing Confectioners Association (PMCA), and currently serves on the Long-Range Planning Committee as well as the Membership and Marketing Committee for PMCA.

In accepting the award, Houlihan credited the enrichment of both his personal life and career to the generosity of RCI members, “RCI is all about people helping people, from sharing ideas, problem solving, to lifelong friendships,” he said. “Thank you for the privilege to be a part of this wonderful organization and to be acknowledged through this award. I look forward to a sweet future with the RCI.”

The Henry J. Bornhofft Memorial Award was established by the RCI board of directors in 1985. Each year a member of the confectionery industry is selected to receive the Henry J. Bornhofft Memorial Award at the annual convention in June. The recipient is a stand-out supplier member, who has exhibited many years of outstanding leadership, loyalty, friendship and has made significant contributions to the confectionery industry.

A complete list of RCI's board of directors may be found on its website under the About RCI tab. For additional information, including events and education courses hosted by the organization, please visit retailconfectioners.org.

With more than 30 years experience in B-to-B reporting, writing and editing — the bulk of which was dedicated to covering the bakery, confectionery and snack industries — Pacyniak has chronicled changes within the food industry since the early 1980s. A Boston University journalism degree graduate, he worked for a variety of publications before joining BNP Media in 1994 as editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. In 2001, he took over as editor-in-chief of Candy Industry until 2018.