Milwaukee-based
FaB Wisconsin, a food and beverage business network, has promoted
Gina Balke to executive director. Balke was previously the organization’s chief operating officer.
FaB’s previous executive director,
Shelley Jurewicz, retired in June after starting and leading FaB Wisconsin for the past decade.
In her new role, Balke will lead all aspects of the business network serving the state’s food and beverage industry, working with its members, executive board, and council on strategic initiatives and programming.
“Gina was the natural choice as FaB’s next executive director because of her industry expertise and experience,” said
Lynn Olberding, vice president of economic development for the
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the
Milwaukee 7 Partnership for Economic Development, FaB’s parent organizations. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to the position and we are excited about FaB’s future under her leadership.”
Balke joined the FaB team in 2019 as director of talent, providing industry outreach and educational programming in response to the talent attraction and development challenges facing the food and beverage industry. She was then promoted to vice president of industry engagement, where she worked closely with member companies to find solutions to operational challenges, including the creation and development of the FaBricator program.
Balke also served as a chair of FaB’s Talent Forum from 2013-19 in her previous role as senior human resources generalist at Ocean Spray. She has 13 years of food and beverage industry human resource experience.
