Meet Our Speakers

Jim Collins

Keynote Presentation: From Good to Great Leaders
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors. Having invested more than a quarter century in rigorous research, he has authored or co-authored a series of books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide. They include Good to Great, the No. 1 bestseller, which examines why some companies make the leap and others don't; the enduring classic Built to Last, which discovers why some companies remain visionary for generations; How the Mighty Fall, which delves into how once-great companies can self-destruct; and Great by Choice, which uncovers the leadership behaviors for thriving in chaos and uncertainty. Jim has also published two monographs that extend the ideas in his primary books: Good to Great and the Social Sectors and Turning the Flywheel.

His most recent publication is BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0), an ambitious upgrade of his very first book; it returns Collins to his original focus on small, entrepreneurial companies and honors his co-author and mentor Bill Lazier.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Collins began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior leadership teams.

In addition to his work in the business sector, Collins has a passion for learning and teaching in the social sectors, including education, healthcare, government, faith-based organizations, social ventures, and cause-driven nonprofits. In 2012 and 2013, he had the honor to serve a two-year appointment as the Class of 1951 chair for the study of leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Collins holds a bachelor's degree in mathematical sciences and an MBA from Stanford University, as well as honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. In 2017, Forbes selected Collins as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds.

Erik Brynjolfsson

Special Guest Presentation: The Digital Economy, AI and the Future of the Workforce
Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

Erik Brynjolfsson is the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki professor and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. He also is the Ralph Landau senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, a professor by courtesy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Department of Economics, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

One of the most cited authors on the economics of information, Brynjolfsson was among the first researchers to measure the productivity contributions of information technology and the complementary role of organizational capital and other intangibles. He has conducted pioneering research on digital commerce, the Long Tail, bundling and pricing models, intangible assets, and the effects of information technology on business strategy, productivity and performance.

Brynjolfsson speaks globally and is the author of nine books, including, with co-author Andrew McAfee, the best-seller The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies and Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future. He has also written more than 100 academic articles and holds five patents.

He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard University in applied mathematics and decision sciences and a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in managerial economics. His papers can be found at brynjolfsson.com/research.

Chad Autry

Dealer Focus: Supply Chains of the Future
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

Chad Autry is the Daniel and Karen Myers distinguished professor at the University of Tennessee. He holds a doctorate in business administration with a focus in supply chain management from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA with focus on international business from Oklahoma City University and a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Oklahoma.

Autry's business background includes experience in retail and restaurant operations management and information technology consulting. During his academic career, he has worked with and for numerous professional and civic organizations related to supply chain process improvement, including American Airlines, IBM, Goodwill Industries and multiple U.S. Department of Defense agencies. He has assumed active leadership roles at local and national levels for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Warehousing Education and Research Council, the Production and Operations Management Society, the Institute for Supply Management, the National Association of Purchasing Managers and the Supply Chain Management and Industrial Distribution Symposium.

Autry's current research focuses on supply chain network design and strategy, with specific attention to relationship integration and technological connectivity across multiple firms simultaneously. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed studies in academic outlets and is a past editor-in-chief of the Journal of Supply Chain Management. A frequent speaker, he is a regular source for media on emerging supply chain issues and has been characterized as a "supply chain futurist" in professional publications and conferences.

J Schneider

Dealer Focus: Supply Chains of the Future
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

J Schneider is a global strategist, author and keynote speaker who helps industrial manufacturers and distributors unlock growth, accelerate transformation and reimagine what’s possible. With more than 25 years of experience leading initiatives worldwide, he has guided market leaders in industrial, automotive, aerospace, construction, and high-tech industries through complex business transformations.

Known for aligning leadership teams and driving change, Schneider blends deep operational expertise with data-driven insights to help companies reduce inefficiencies, strengthen go-to-market execution and capture market share faster. His approach is rooted in real-world field experience and a customer-back perspective — ensuring strategies deliver measurable impact.

As a trusted advisor, Schneider focuses on building scalable strategies, enabling cross-functional alignment and improving the end-to-end customer experience — empowering industrial firms to innovate with confidence and lead in competitive markets.

Mark Rossi

State of the Industry Reports
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

As Avanti Restaurant Solution's founder and leader, Mark Rossi has worked closely with CEO's, restaurant owners and operators for most of his career. He started Avanti in 2003 specifically to help clients grow their businesses with commercial kitchens through design and equipment solutions. Today, under his leadership, Avanti is a forward-thinking partner to national chains, regional restaurant brands and commercial kitchen facilities across the United States and Canada.

Erik Lampe

State of the Industry Reports
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

Erik Lampe joined the Vollrath Company in March 2023 and became president and CEO in July 2023. He came to Vollrath with a background in general management, strategic growth, innovation, and operational performance for industrial companies. Lampe's professional journey is largely characterized by significant tenures at Oshkosh Corporation and McKinsey & Company, where he assumed numerous pivotal leadership positions. In 2022 as principal for Comvest Partners' Operating Advisory Group, he served as a leader for the firm's privately held companies, guiding them through business challenges.

Lampe is a committed advocate for people development, harboring an unwavering belief in a values-oriented approach. His alignment with Vollrath's culture and deep-seated commitment to its people and stakeholders made the company a natural fit for him. Based on Vollrath's long-standing, family-oriented history and future-centric vision, Lampe feels privileged to contribute to next exciting chapter of Vollrath's story as it crosses the milestone of its 150th anniversary and beyond.

Lampe received dual bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and management science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Joe Carbonara

Media Insights on the FE&S Industry
Friday, Sept. 12, 2025

Joe Carbonara is editorial director for Foodservice Equipment & Supplies and restaurant development + design magazines. Prior to becoming editor in chief for FE&S in 2004, Carbonara was a marketing manager for SmithBucklin Corp., where he spent six years working with the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers. A diehard Cubs fan, he is also a fan of the finer things in life, such as an ice cold can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. You can follow Carbonara on X @FES_Editor.

ROBIN ASHTON

Facilitator for the Industry Roundtable Discussions
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025

Robin Ashton is principal at Ashton Foodservice Consulting and the publisher/editor of The Ashton Report and The Ashton Report Insider. As the co-founder and former publisher of Foodservice Equipment Reports and the former chief editor and publisher of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, Ashton has more than 40 years of experience researching the foodservice equipment and supplies markets in the United States and worldwide. He has forecasted the growth of the foodservice equipment and supplies market since the early 1980s and helped create many of the essential data used by manufacturers, distributors, consultants and others in the industry. You can find him at theashtonreport.com.

ALEX HENDRIE

Alex Hendrie is the vice president of government relations at NAW and deputy director of NAW’s political action committee. In this role, he leads NAW’s efforts on anti-trust and healthcare issues and works on tax policy. Prior to joining NAW, Hendrie was director of tax policy at Americans for Tax Reform where he led the organization’s outreach, policy and lobbying on federal tax, healthcare and economic issues.

STEVE CHUCRI

Steve Chucri has served as the president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association (ARA) since 2002 and is a past president of the Council of State Restaurant Associations. Prior to joining ARA, he spent six years on Capitol Hill working for an Arizona Congressman. The insight Chucri has gathered through his experience with the restaurant association was a contributing factor in his decision to run for public office as Maricopa County supervisor in 2012, a position he was elected to three times. Chucri draws inspiration from his grandfather who couldn’t read or write, but whose hard work and success as the first licensed automobile dealer in Arizona provided firsthand knowledge into the complexities of running a business.