Hershey Co.’s Mark Dieffenbach Begins Term As National Automatic Merchandising Association Board Chairman

The National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA) announced that Mark Dieffenbach, director of specialty channels of The Hershey Co., begins his 1-year term as chairman of the board.

“Mark is an industry leader with a demonstrated passion and commitment to our business. We heartily welcome him to the role of chairman and look forward to the benefit of his vision and leadership,” said Carla Balakgie, president and CEO of NAMA in a prepared statement.

According to Dieffenbach, “As incoming chairman, I believe it’s important for us to continue to focus on our core strategic priorities:  advancing our government affairs agenda; enhancing the OneShow; increasing our focus for the coffee, tea and water sector; and promoting our image through the industry growth strategy. The Positioning for Growth campaign, under the leadership of Jim Terry, Marc Whitener and Howard Chapman, will create the opportunity for us to invest in research, advocacy and thought leadership, enabling NAMA to explode into the future.”

 “I would especially like to thank Jim Terry, Jim Brinton, Craig Hesch and Brad Ellis who have served as role models for me during my years on the board,” he continued.

“This is an incredible privilege and honor to be given this opportunity – as an association, we’ve made significant progress already and we plan to build on that.”

Dieffenbach, a 29-year veteran of The Hershey Co., began his career as a sales representative in Louisville, Ky.