<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;line-height:130%"> Lakeland, FL</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By Eric Anderson<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">3.18.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Publix is expanding its board of directors to 10 members, with the nomination of Stephen Knopik, CEO of Beall’s Inc.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/knopik02.jpg" alt="Body Images 031713" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Of the current nominees, Knopik is the only one who doesn’t currently serve on the board. He previously was President, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance at Beall's, a Bradenton-based retailer. He was recommended for the board by a management director, according to a proxy filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Although Beall's subsidiaries lease space in several shopping centers owned by Publix, which received lease payment from those subsidiaries of $1.2 million, the leases were signed before Knopik was nominated for the board, and their terms are not more favorable than would have been provided to any other company, the proxy said. The board determined that Knopik’s position at Beall's would not interfere with the exercise of his independent judgment in serving as a Publix director, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/hl_publix_mar_2013_BANNER.jpg" alt="Body Images 031713" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Publix shareholders, employees, and board members will vote on directors at the company’s annual meeting, which will be April 6 at the grocer’s headquarters in Lakeland.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Separately, Publix’s top executives each received 4.5 percent salary increases in 2012, the proxy said. CEO William Crenshaw’s total compensation for 2012 was $1.046 million, compared to $1.005 million in 2011.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2013/03/15/bealls-ceo-poised-to-join-publix-board.html" target="_new">Publix </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
