<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Commerce, CA-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">2.26.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Unified Grocers has announced Bob Ling as the new President and Chief Executive Officer effective May 1, 2013. Ling, who has been President since June 2011, fills Al Plamann’s position, who announced his retirement earlier at the company’s Annual Shareholder’s Meeting.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/bobling0222613body.jpg" alt="images022613" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Bob Ling is an outstanding administrator and a thoughtful and creative leader," said Dick Goodspeed, Chairman of the Board. "Having spent 16 years as a top executive at our company, he understands our business, he knows our retail members and customers, he has built strong relationships with the vendor community and he works well with our associates. We believe that Bob Ling is an excellent choice to lead our company at this point in time."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"I have all the confidence in the world that Bob Ling will be an effective and dynamic leader for Unified," said Al Plamann, Chief Executive Officer, Unified Grocers. "The succession plan that the Board and Senior Management put in place more than a year ago is now setting the stage for future growth. I believe the future for Unified is in very good hands."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Ling held senior level positions at retail drugstore and supermarket companies before joining Unified in 1996. He served as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for MegaFoods. He also had a similar position with Reliable Drug Stores, Inc. in Indianapolis. Before that, he was a partner in the law firm Michael Best & friedrich in Milwaukee, WI where he practiced employment and labor law.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Ling currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Grocers Association and was Chairman of the Board of the California Grocers Association (CGA) in 2009 and recently served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the CGA Educational Foundation for four years. He holds a BA in Economics from Tufts as well as a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.unifiedgrocers.com/EN/Pages/default.aspx" target="_new">Unified Grocers </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
