Last updated on June 13th, 2024 at 06:40 pm
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro will be the keynote speaker at the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association‘s (PFMA) Annual Conference in May.
“As Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Shapiro has fought for protections for seniors, veterans and businesses as well as implemented measures to safeguard consumers from scams and fraud,” said PFMA President and CEO Alex Baloga. “We are delighted and honored to welcome him for our keynote address and believe his message will resonate with conference attendees.”
PFMA also will present an award to Board Chairman Jeff Brown, CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, during dinner on the first day of the conference scheduled for May 28-29 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The award honors Brown’s career-long service to the food industry and advocacy efforts on behalf of food retailers.
In his role, Brown oversees operations at 10 ShopRite stores and two Fresh Grocer stores.
“Jeff’s tireless advocacy has helped bring about legislative and policy change in Philadelphia and statewide,” Baloga said. “Among other efforts, he has led the charge against the city’s onerous sugar-sweetened beverage tax, enacted in 2017, that has crippled businesses in the city of Philadelphia and led to the closure of one of his own stores in West Philadelphia.”
In addition to his legislative work, Brown volunteers with the Philadelphia Youth Network, the State of Pennsylvania Workforce Development Board, the Governor’s Advisory Board of Workforce and Education Innovation and he serves as an officer on the Wakefern Corp.’s board of directors. He also helped found and serves on the board of directors for Uplift Sustainable Food Solutions, which is dedicated to developing innovative operational strategies and smart public incentive policies to make supermarkets the core of a complete sustainable food system in under-served communities.
