Executive Moves: NEXT and WFS

Technology-driven logistics company names CFO; air cargo handler strengthens global network.
   NEXT, a technology-driven logistics company connecting shippers and truckers, has hired its first-ever chief financial officer.
   The hiring of Pete Janda comes on the heels of NEXT’s $97 million Series C funding and the expansion of the executive team as the company seeks to more than double in size this year.
   NEXT said Janda has years of experience in investment banking, consulting, corporate strategy and corporate development. He most recently served as CFO of Chef’d, a B2B and B2C logistics tech company acquired by True Food Innovations in 2018. He began his career in Ernst & Young’s consulting division. He later was part of the Ingram Micro leadership team and still later served integral roles in three startups. 
  “I think that most people, even after just scratching the surface of the global transportation/logistics industry, realize how inefficient it can be, and whenever such a large business ecosystem has so much room for improvement, the opportunities for disruptive companies like NEXT are tremendous,” Janda said.

   Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) announced new leadership roles for two of its most senior executives in the Americas to strengthen its global network.
   Mike Duffy has been named executive vice president of innovation and Mike Simpson has been promoted to executive vice president of the Americas.
   Duffy will use his cargo- and ground-handling expertise and industry network to establish new ways of working, identifying and sharing best practices from across the business as well as taking advantage of new technologies. When he takes up this new role in April, he will work across all WFS regions and functions with the single objective of using innovation to make the business better.
   Simpson will assume his new post March 1. He will use his financial track record across many different industries, including spending the last three years as CFO of the Americas for WFS. 
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Kim Link Wills

Senior Editor Kim Link-Wills has written about everything from agriculture as a reporter for Illinois Agri-News to zoology as editor of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine. Her work has garnered awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Magazine Association of the Southeast. Prior to serving as managing editor of American Shipper, Kim spent more than four years with XPO Logistics.