Vestis Announces a Pair of C-Suite Additions

Vestis Corp., Roswell, GA, announced the appointments of Rod Wedemeier as executive vice president, chief human resources officer (CHRO), effective Oct. 27, and Wendy Zacchio as senior vice president, chief information officer (CIO) and chief digital officer, effective Oct. 8.

Wedemeier has more than 25 years of experience leading HR strategy, organizational transformation and talent development at Fortune 500 companies. As CHRO, Wedemeier will oversee talent management and acquisition, organizational development and culture, learning and development, HR strategy and operations, total rewards, labor relations and communication.

He joins Vestis from Mohawk Industries, a global flooring leader with 45,000 employees and revenue of approximately $11 billion, where he most recently served as senior vice president, human resources, and CHRO. In this role, he drove executive succession planning, implemented enterprisewide leadership-development programs, oversaw compensation strategy, and built new training programs to support large-scale hiring and productivity initiatives. He also successfully led efforts to streamline global people systems and guided the organization through major structural and cultural transformation. Wedemeier holds a bachelor’s of business administration in human resources and industrial relations from the University of Iowa.

Zacchio is a strategic technology executive with more than 25 years of experience. She has led global IT strategy, digital transformation and large-scale modernization across companies in the financial services, healthcare and insurance industries. In her new role as CIO and chief digital officer, Zacchio will oversee AI capabilities and digital enablement, enterprise platforms and infrastructure, data and analytics, cybersecurity and field technology.

Zacchio most recently served as enterprise CIO at Zelis, where she was accountable for enterprise platforms, cybersecurity and global technology needs. Prior, she was CIO of international markets at Cigna, overseeing technology across more than 30 countries. She also has held senior leadership roles at AIG and The Hartford. Zacchio holds a master’s of science in engineering management and a bachelor’s of science from Southern Methodist University.

“I’m pleased to welcome Rod and Wendy to Vestis as we continue to take steps to strengthen our foundation and optimize the enterprise,” said Vestis’ President and CEO Jim Barber. “Rod is an accomplished HR leader with the experience and insight to help Vestis become an employer of choice through best-in-class recruiting and training. Wendy brings deep technological expertise and vision as we accelerate our digital and IT strategy, and modernize our platforms. I look forward to partnering with both Rod and Wendy to strengthen our business, empower our teammates and deliver the level of service our customers expect from Vestis.”

Additionally, Vestis announced that Grant Shih, executive vice president and chief technology officer, has departed the company to pursue other opportunities.

“I want to thank Grant for his leadership over the last few years and his efforts to establish our technology function,” Barber said. “We wish him the best in his next chapter.”