ANDOVER, MASS. – Northeast dairy cooperative Agri-Mark announced David Lynn, its senior vice president top operations officer, was named interim chief executive officer.

Lynn took on the role once Bill Beaton, its CEO for more than 12 years, stepped down.

Agri-Mark’s board of directors, which thanked Beaton for his service, shared it is in the process of initiating a national search for the cooperative’s next CEO.

An executive with Agri-Mark since joining the cooperative five years ago, Lynn became its SVP top operations officer in 2020. Lynn’s career in consumer packaged goods and food manufacturing spans more than 25 years. Before joining Agri-Mark, he worked for the Kroger Company, spending three years as vice president of operations for Turkey Hill Dairy, a subsidiary of Kroger. He also previously worked for L’Oréal USA and Hillshire Farm.

“Having worked with David for the last five years, the board is confident that he has the knowledge and experience to lead our business and make this transition as seamless as possible,” said James “Cricket” Jacquier, chairman of the board for Agri-Mark. “David has tremendous respect for our members, employees and brands. He has been problem solving, building teams and driving change for decades. We look forward to David’s leadership and vision in his new role as interim CEO.”

Established in 1916, Agri-Mark markets more than 370 million gallons of milk each year for 600-plus dairy farms in New England and New York. The cooperative owns the Cabot and McCadam dairy brands, and it manufactures whey proteins.