Labor & Employment

BOSTON — Gordon Brothers Group, a global advisory, restructuring and investment firm specializing in the retail, consumer products, industrial and real estate sectors, has named Robert Paglia COO. Paglia will focus on the oversight of Gordon Brothers Group's operating, financial planning, human resource, administrative, corporate marketing, and information technology functions in support of the firm's global platform of integrated operating and capital solutions, the company reported.

Plano, Texas -- A Wednesday report by the Wall Street Journal said that J.C. Penney Co. has launched a voluntary early-retirement program for certain employees over 55 years old.

Plano, Texas -- In a notification to Connecticut’s labor department, J.C. Penney Co. said it will lay off 442 workers at J.C. Penney’s distribution center in Manchester, Conn.

According to the notice, J.C. Penney is closing the facility's dot-com unit, and that employees' last day will be Sept 30.
 

PLANO, Texas — Dr Pepper Snapple Group has announced that Carolyn Ross, VP investor relations, will assume leadership of the company’s investor relations function, reporting directly to CFO Marty Ellen.

New York City -- Apple has hired executive search firm Egon Zehnder International to help it find a replacement for its retail head Ron Johnson, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.

The reports suggest that in hiring Egon Zehnder, which has offices around the globe, Apple may be looking for an executive with international retail experience. Apple is set to open nearly 30 stores this year outside of the United States.

WASHINGTON — The Grocery Manufacturers Association has named George Dunaif, Ph.D., DABT, VP food safety and technical services.

Dunaif most recently served as VP global food safety at Campbell Soup. In that role, he was responsible for the company’s worldwide food safety function, including toxicology, microbiology, process safety and analytical chemistry. He also served as vice-chairman of the Campbell corporate crisis management team.

ACE Hardware CFO and EVP Dorvin Lively is leaving the Oak Brook, Ill.-based hardware co-op to  pursue other interests.

Lively joined Ace about three years ago and was promoted to EVP in January 2011. On an interim basis, Lori Bossmann will oversee the finance department, while the co-op searches for a new CFO.

Lively was a professional accounting fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the early 1990s. He later became a senior VP and corporate controller at Toys “R” Us before moving on to Maidenform Brands, and then to Ace Hardware in 2008.

Washington, D.C. -- A Tuesday report from the Commerce Department showed that consumer spending dropped 0.2% in June, to $21.9 billion.

Personal income was virtually flat for the month, increasing 0.1% to $18.7 billion, which was in line with estimates.