A Team of Committed Leaders

Leadership

Donnan R. “Donnie” Burris

President/CEO/Board Member

Donnie Burris became the CEO of Burris Logistics in 2010. He is a 5th generation Burris family member and has worked in the business for over 25 years. Prior to serving as CEO, Donnie held various management roles within the company and spent several years working in operations.

Donnie is passionate about providing high-quality supply chain solutions, “WOW Service” to customers, and a culture where team members feel like they’re with family!

In addition to working in the family business, Donnie is a board member of Delmarva Christian High School and a former member of the Finance Committee of Bayhealth Medical Center. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University and has completed additional study in strategy and finance through Wharton’s Executive Education Center and industrial refrigeration courses through RETA. He is also a graduate of the WFLO Institute, the educational arm of the Global Cold Chain Alliance.

Donnie and his wife reside in Lewes, DE, with their four children and yellow lab. In his free time, Donnie enjoys spending time with his family and is an avid kitesurfer and duck hunter.

Walt Tullis

President, Honor Foods

Walt Tullis is President of Honor Foods, a foodservice redistribution company (and subsidiary of Burris Logistics) in Philadelphia, PA. As a redistributor, Honor Foods buys food & beverages from manufacturers and sells to foodservice distributors throughout the East Coast. In addition, Walt oversees leadership at R.W. Zant and Sunny Morning Foods, both Honor Foods Companies.

Prior to joining Honor in 2012, Walt spent nearly 25 years at the Campbell Soup Company in a number of retail marketing assignments on the Mrs. Paul’s and Swanson brands before moving into the Foodservice Division as Director of Marketing the Soups, Entrees, Beverages, and Sauces product categories. He eventually transitioned to Foodservice Sales leading the Chain Restaurant Team before eventually becoming VP of Sales the division.

Prior to Campbell’s, Walt spent two years at the American Chicle division of Warner Lambert in New Products Marketing. This followed a five year retail marketing assignment Ore-Ida/HJ Heinz. Walt graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 1979 with a BS in Food Marketing.

Walt and his wife, Lori – a registered nurse, reside in Newtown Square, PA and have two adult children – Zach, a Team Leader NetSuite and Emily, a Registered Dietician and Foodservice Director at Aramark.

Sarah Ruffcorn

President, Trinity Logistics

Sarah Ruffcorn is the President of Trinity Logistics, a Burris Logistics Company. Trinity is a people-centric freight solutions company that arranges freight for businesses of all sizes utilizing truckload, less-than-truckload, drayage, intermodal, expedited, and technology solutions. Trinity has seven Regional Service Center logistics offices and over 130 agent offices nationwide. In this role, Sarah leads all aspects of the Trinity Logistics company to include strategy, engagement, customer experience, execution, growth, and overall profitability.

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Communication from Western Illinois University. She is a continuous learner with extensive executive training in Coaching and Leadership including Wharton Executive courses in Strategy and Finance. She has spent 20 years with Trinity Logistics in several roles throughout the company. In these roles she has led strategic initiatives such as compensation design and implementation, internal and external technology implementations, multiple department/company restructures, enterprise strategy sessions, and executive re-alignment. A big believer in servant leadership, Sarah coaches and mentors new leaders assisting in their growth and success.

Sarah currently serves on the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Board of Directors, is chair of the TIAs Women in Logistics Committee, and serves on the Tidal Health Medical Partners Board of Directors. Sarah was awarded the 2015 Delaware Business Times Best 40 under 40 award for being one of the region’s “best & brightest young professionals” and nominated as a top 5 finalist for the 2019 “Distinguished Woman in Logistics” award.


Don McEntaffer

Chief Financial Officer/Chief Admin Officer

Don McEntaffer joined Burris Logistics in 2018 and serves in the role of CFO and Chief Admin Officer. Don is a graduate of Iowa State University, where he majored in Accounting and has successfully passed both the CPA and CMA exams.

Don has many years of experience serving family-owned companies in the Food and CPG space. Prior to Burris, Don served as VP of Financial Planning & Analysis for Perdue Farms and, prior to that, as Corporate Controller for Well Enterprises (Blue Bunny ice cream).

Chris Cool

Chief Human Resource Officer

Chris Cool is Burris Logistic’s Chief Human Resource Officer responsible for the leadership of our Human Resources, Safety, Recruiting, and Talent Development team members. Chris brings extensive HR knowledge and experience, most recently serving as Vice President, North America for Eramet in Baltimore, MD.

Having grown up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chris is, of course, a Steelers fan. He now resides in Chester, Maryland, with his wife, teenage daughters, and son. Chris is located at our Milford Office. Though he spends most of his time outside work focusing on home and family, Chris shared that at one time, he was quite an avid golfer.

Ed Krupka

Chief Technical Officer

Ed Krupka is CIO and President of Information Technology at Burris Logistics. Burris Logistics found Ed in 1977 by contacting the Computer Science department at Delaware Tech, where he graduated with a technical degree in Computer Science in May 1977. Ed came in for an interview on a very snowy January day in 1977 and started work the following Saturday in Milford, Delaware.

Ed grew with Burris and Burris grew with Ed. Since then, he has furthered his education in business and technology through numerous courses, conferences, and seminars at a variety of institutions and venues (e.g., Wilmington University, Wesley College, Wharton Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania, among others), in addition to his 40+ years of industry experience.

Ed has served as an industry panelist and has been recognized by numerous organizations to include; ProMat 2009, named as a Rainmaker for DC Velocity magazine, featured in CIO magazine (Japan), and served on multiple boards and committees including Aberdeen Group’s Supply Chain Execution Research Advisory Council, the Technology Advisory Board at Cedarville University, the State of Delaware’s Health Sciences Industry Cluster. Ed was an early advocate and sought-after speaker about voice technology when the technology was in its infancy.

Ed is married and the father of three grown sons, two of whom work with him in the IT Department at Burris Logistics.

Bobby Bailey

Vice President of Marketing

Bobby joined the team in August of 2019 as the Vice President of Marketing tasked with supporting all Burris Logistics with branding and marketing execution. Bobby comes to us from the world of automotive marketing, specializing in providing managed digital services to dealerships in need of SEO and social media. He was part of a newly formed team that grew from 40 employees to over 300 in 4 short years. Bobby’s experience includes event marketing for both consumer brands and in an agency setting.

Bobby’s vision is for a unified experience at Burris Logistics while still fostering brand individuality. His team of professionals offers creative and marketing strategies and business support to the Burris enterprise, brands, and support functions in the field.

BLU Team

The combination of leadership from our brands and enterprise functional groups comes together to form the BLU Team, Burris Logistics United. Together, the BLU Team works to drive business strategy and support our Team Members who run the day-to-day operations. With a sharp lens focused on culture, the BLU Team works to define a clear path for our business with shared Purpose and Values.

From Left to Right: Bobby Bailey (VP of Marketing), Donnie Burris (CEO), Don McEntaffer (CFO and CAO), Walt Tullis (President – Honor Foods), Sarah Ruffcorn (President – Trinity Logistics), Ed Krupka (CTO), and Chris Cool (CHRO).
Back Row (left to right): Brad Hoopman, Donnan R. “Donnie” Burris, Eleuthère I. du Pont, Scott Burris, and Steven Spinner
Front Row (left to right): Cathy Pulos
, Jeffrey M. Swain (Chairman), Allison Burris Castellanos, and Zach Buckner.

Our Board of Directors

Burris Logistics takes pride in being a family-owned, family-run business. To help us ensure the highest possible value to our clients, we have assembled a Board of Directors to provide balanced, objective, professional advice.

Our Directors represent the highest level of achievement in their respective fields and are amply qualified to guide Burris Logistics in both strategic and day-to-day planning.

Jeffrey M. Swain, Chairman

Jeffrey Swain, the CEO and Chairman of Natural Foods Holdings, was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. Jeffrey graduated from Penn State in 1974 and received his MBA from California State University in 1977.

He began his career in the finance area with Borg Warner Corporation. Jeffrey’s experience in meat protein began at Foster Farms, Inc., on the West Coast in 1980. He has held executive positions at Con Agra and Townsends Inc. From 2000 to 2006, Jeffrey served as CEO of BC Natural, a holding company that included Petaluma Poultry, Coleman Natural Meats, Han’s Sausage as well as five other companies in the natural products arena.

Since September 2006, Jeffrey has partnered with Hilco Private Equity to create Natural Foods Holdings with the goal of building a financially sustainable fresh meat and processed meat products business. This platform emphasizes and promotes five brand tenets: the traditional family farmer, sustainable farming techniques, unparalleled animal welfare, complete livestock traceability, and “never/ever” use of antibiotics, added hormones or animal byproducts. Natural Foods Holdings comprises three companies: Niman Ranch, Sioux Preme Packing, and Prairie Grove Farms.

Jeffrey also serves on the board of directors of Sioux Preme Packing LLC, Palisades Partners and Odessa Chicken (Ukraine), and has testified before the U.S. Senate regarding livestock agriculture.

Zach Buckner, Director

Zach Buckner and one of his companies, Relay Foods, have been featured in national publications including The Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine, “as a leader in the legendarily alluring and notoriously difficult online grocery space.”

His areas of expertise and interest include freight, operations research, machine learning, text analytics, simulation, optimization, and computer architecture. As a Board Member, Buckner will share his expertise in information technology, e-commerce, and strategy to build on Burris’ good health and help to extend our longevity well past the century mark.

Allison Burris Castellanos, Director

Allison Burris Castellanos replaced her father, Howard Burris on Board. This appointment is significant as it represents the final transition of fourth-generation Burris family members overseeing the business to the fifth-generation.

Castellanos, an educator and longtime advocate for the Hispanic community, will join the three sitting Burris family members on the board, Brad Hoopman, Scott Burris, and Donnie Burris, our Chief Executive Officer since 2010.

For 17 years, Castellanos has taught English as a Second Language at Delaware Technical Community College. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of Delaware, and for many years has held leadership positions on the boards of La Esperanza Community Center, La Red Health Center and El Centro Cultural.

Brad Hoopman, Director

Brad Hoopman is an equity research analyst for Glenmede Investment Management LP, an affiliate of The Glenmede Trust Company, focusing on the energy and technology sectors.

Prior to joining GTC in 2003, he was a senior analyst and portfolio manager at Gardner Lewis Asset Management. And before that, he was with PNC Bank in a variety of positions, including managing the technology sector of the BlackRock Small Cap Growth Equity Fund.

Cathy Pulos, Director

Cathy Pulos brings her financial acumen and human resources management experience to the Burris board table from Wawa, Inc., where she serves as Vice President and Chief People Officer for the privately held company that operates more than 750 convenience store/gas stations along the Eastern Seaboard.

At Wawa, Pulos has developed “an HR center of excellence,” making the workplace better for its employees. At Wawa she has been saluted for advances in the design and delivery of workforce services, including everything from recruiting and hiring to compensation, benefits administration, and risk management & quality assurance.

Scott Burris, Director

Scott Burris is a Senior Director at Capital One in Wilmington, heading up human resources for Capital One Investing and leading all aspects of talent and culture strategy for the subsidiary.

Outside of the workplace, Scott Burris serves on the Board of Directors of Kind to Kids, a nonprofit organization focusing on serving at-risk children and children in foster care.

Eleuthere I. du Pont, Director

A DuPont Director since 2006, Mr. du Pont is the President, of Longwood Foundation. He formerly served as Senior Vice President, Operations and Chief Financial Officer of drugstore.com, a leading online provider of health, beauty, vision and pharmacy products, and President and Chief Financial Officer of Wawa, Inc., a chain of food markets in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In April 2013, Mr. du Pont was elected to serve on the Board of WSFS. Mr. du Pont serves on the Audit and Science & Technology Committees for the Board.

Steven Spinner, Director

Steven Spinner joined the Burris Logistics Board of Directors in 2023. Steven brings Burris over 15 years of Logistics and Foodservice experience with Performance Food Group and UNFI.