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GCCA Global NextGen Award for 2016 goes to Australian

May 2, 2016

The Global NextGen Award, developed by the Global Cold Chain Alliance, recognizes outstanding young professionals in the world’s cold chain industry.

The Global NextGen Award, developed by the Global Cold Chain Alliance, recognizes outstanding young professionals in the world’s cold chain industry. Melissa Hunt, director of S & D Logistics in Australia, was named the winner of the second annual award during a general session of the 125th International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) and World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO) Convention, held April 16-19, 2016 in Las Vegas NV.

Hunt represented Australia as the recipient of the Refrigerated Warehouse and Transportation Association of Australia’s (RWTA) 2015 Frank Vale Award.

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IARW Chairman Angelo Antoci (left) and WFLO Chairman Greg Brandt (right) pictured with GCCA Global NextGen Award winner Melissa Hunt.

Now in its second year, the Global NextGen Award recognizes talented young professionals who have the potential to become future leaders and make a positive contribution to the development of the global cold chain industry. Finalists for the award are recipients of industry awards that recognize exceptional achievement by young professionals in the cold chain in a specific region or nation. Among other eligibility requirements, nominees had to demonstrate excellence in their work, the potential to excel further in the many facets within the industry, and possess insight into their organization’s strategic values and direction, policies, and ways of working.

Candidates for the 2016 NextGen Award were nominated by national refrigerated warehousing organizations to compete for the global award at the IARW-WFLO Convention & Expo. Other nominees besides Hunt included:

•Colin Longmuir, warehouse manager, Henningsen Cold Storage Co, represented North America as recipient of the 2016 WFLO Don Schlimme Future Leader Award.

•Kane Thomason, logistics solutions–operations manager, United Kingdom and Ireland for XPO Logistics, represented the UK as 2016 recipient of the UK Young Manager of the Year Award.

As part of the selection process, each nominee was interviewed and judged by a panel of industry leaders from around the world. Candidates were evaluated on their knowledge level of the industry, track record of excellence, communication skills, and leadership skills. In addition, each candidate delivered a five-minute presentation to the panel of judges and the IARW-WFLO Convention attendees.

“It is a great honor to have been nominated for the industry’s Global NextGen Award,” said Hunt. “To win the award after being up against two extremely talented individuals and become the first female recipient is very rewarding.”

Hunt will receive a travel stipend to attend a GCCA or GCCA partner event anywhere in the world in 2016 and was presented with an engraved 2016 GCCA Global NextGen award.