Event Photographs Below

More than 700 friends, family and industry peers celebrated the induction of three grocery industry executives into the California Grocers Association Educational Foundation Hall of Achievement on March 26, 2015 in Sacramento, CA.

Jim and Joyce Raley Teel, Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, and Joseph E. Gallo, E. & J. Gallo Winery, join a prestigious group of Hall of Achievement recipients who have been recognized for their many contributions to not only the grocery industry, but the communities they serve.

“This year’s inductees are true icons of our industry. It is with great pleasure that we recognize Jim, Joyce, and Joe, for their lifelong commitment to the grocery industry,” said CGAEF President Ron Fong. “Their stories personify hundreds of similar families, including my own, who experienced the American dream of creating successful businesses through hard work, dedicated service and reliance on the strength of family.”

Led by this year’s event chairs Mike Teel, Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, and Gary Ippolito, E. & J. Gallo Winery, the event raised more than $500,000 – funds that support the Foundation’s college scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs.

“It is very gratifying to celebrate the spirit of family business by honoring two California families with deep roots in the Golden State’s grocery industry,” Fong said.

The evening featured an inspiring speech by Raley’s employee Albert Enemuoh, a CGAEF scholarship recipient. After his presentation, guests bid on live auction items and participated in a Fund-A-Need supporting CGAEF’s college scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs.

The CGA Educational Foundation was created under the direction of the California Grocers Association Board of Directors in 1992. Its mission is to provide financial assistance to advance the educational goals of CGA member company employees and their dependents and offer educational programs to advance the grocery industry. For more information regarding CGAEF programs and for a complete listing of past Hall of Achievement honorees, visit www.cgaef.org.

 

 

About our honorees:

James E. Teel, Co-chair Emeritus, Board of Directors
Joyce Raley Teel, Owner and Co-chair Emeritus, Board of Directors

James E. Teel celebrates 65 years of service with Raley’s in 2014. Jim began working for Thomas P. Raley as a bottle sorter while attending McClatchy High School in Sacramento. He continued to work for Raley’s while he earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Sacramento State College in 1952.

Jim learned the grocery business from the ground up – loading, unloading and driving delivery trucks, as well as working as a Grocery Clerk and Produce Clerk. After college graduation, he worked as an Apprentice Butcher at store level for two years. He was then promoted to Meat Buyer and began working at Raley’s corporate office.  While there, he helped set up the company’s central control operation for merchandising and buying, and became the company’s first Personnel Director in 1958. Over the years, Jim became a trusted adviser to owner, Tom Raley, serving as Vice President of Operations and later Chairman of the Board.  He now serves as Co-chair Emeritus with his wife, Joyce, whom he married in 1950. He served on the board of the Northern California Grocers Association for 15 years and is a former president of that organization.

Joyce Raley Teel, daughter of Raley’s founder Thomas P. Raley, is the owner of the company and serves as Co-chair Emeritus with her husband. Joyce grew up working in her father’s stores and officially joined the company in 1985. A strong believer in supporting her community, Joyce co-founded Raley’s Food For Families program, providing food assistance in partnership with food banks. This effort has since raised $31 million and 21 million pounds of food in the communities served by Raley’s stores.

Joyce started the Thomas P. Raley Foundation for family philanthropic endeavors in 1995. In 1998, she established the Joyce Raley Teel Scholarship to assist employees and their family members in their educational pursuits. Joyce also strongly supports the local arts community.

Jim and Joyce have five children. Their son, Mike Teel, serves as President and CEO of Raley’s. Two of their daughters (Laurie Struck and Lisa Davidson) and two sons-in-law sit on Raley’s Board of Directors.

Raley’s Family of Fine Stores operates 128 stores in California and Nevada. The company includes Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source stores.

 

Joseph Gallo, E. & J. Gallo Winery

Joseph E. Gallo, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the E. & J. Gallo Winery, the world’s largest family-owned winery. The company has a significant presence in the California wine, brandy and distilled spirits industries with eight wineries and more than 60 brands including table and sparkling wines, dessert wines and distilled spirits.

As President and CEO, Mr. Gallo has focused much of his energy on growing the company and has overseen a number of acquisitions including Barefoot, Louis M. Martini, Mirassou Vineyards, William Hill Estate, Columbia Winery and, most recently, Edna Valley Vineyards. He has also directed the expansion of the company’s import portfolio with entries from nine different countries as well as the introduction of New Amsterdam Gin, New Amsterdam Vodka and Familia Camarena Tequila.

Mr. Gallo joined the winery’s sales department in 1965, and was instrumental in the company gaining national distribution by 1970, applying lessons learned from working alongside his father, Ernest Gallo, and his uncle, Julio Gallo. Prior to becoming CEO in 2001, he focused most of his efforts on the company’s expansion into international markets, overseeing sales, distribution, marketing and operations. Today, Gallo International has various regional headquarters around the world. In the United States, Mr. Gallo has served on the Board of Directors for the Wine Institute of California since 1972, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association since 2001. Mr. Gallo has served on the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Advisory Council. Stanford University recognized Mr. Gallo with the Stanford Associates Achievement Award.

Born in Modesto, California, March 12, 1941, to Ernest and Amelia Gallo, Mr. Gallo spent his youth working in the family business. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1962, and earned his M.B.A. from the Stanford Business School in 1964. He and his wife, Ofelia, are the parents of three children, Stephanie, Ernest and Joseph and have six grandchildren.

Mr. Gallo and the Gallo family are committed to helping grow wine consumption throughout the world and contributing to the long-term success of the global wine industry. The Gallo family considers family ownership its greatest asset and believes that the benefits of private ownership enable long-term business sustainability through investment back into physical assets, brand building, vineyard research and continued long-term relationships with winery employees, growers, distributors, retailers and customers.

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