Ozarks Food Harvest hires former Willow Brook exec

Ozarks Food Harvest has hired a former executive of Willow Brook Foods for a newly created position.

Gordon Day, a former vice president with the now-closed Springfield operations of Willow Brook, started May 29 as Ozarks Food Harvest's food resource manager, according to a June 28 news release.

“As manufacturers and retailers are becoming more efficient in today’s economy, donations of food have declined, creating the need for a food resource manager at Ozarks Food Harvest,” Ozarks Food Harvest Development Director Denise Gibson said in the release.

During Day's nearly 20-year history with Willow Brook, he was responsible for accounts including Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, Target and Safeway. After Wichita-based Cargill Meat Solutions acquired Willow Brook in March 2008, Day served as a marketing consultant in the protein supplier industry, the release said.

After acquiring Willow Brook, Cargill closed both of its locations at 501 N. Main Ave. and 405 N. Jefferson Ave., eliminating 780 local jobs. In 2009, Missouri State University purchased the North Jefferson Avenue facility, which is currently being transformed into the the Robert W. Plaster Center for Free Enterprise and Business Development, part of the IDEA Commons, bringing together innovation, design, entrepreneurship and the arts. The center is expected to be completed in the fall, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.[[In-content Ad]]