Hy-Vee Reveals Leadership Changes

Hy-Vee, Inc.’s Vice Chairman, EVP and Chief Administrative Officer Andy McCann will retire following 41 years of service, and top executive Sheila Laing will step up to a new leadership role, company officials revealed.

With McCann’s retirement, Laing will assume the role of EVP, chief administrative officer. She currently serves as Hy-Vee’s executive VP of health, wellness and chief human resources officer.

“I could not be more thankful to Andy for the contribution he has made to our great company. He has been a strong leader in virtually every aspect of our organization because of his hard work and dedication,” Randy Edeker, chairman of the board, CEO and president of Hy-Vee said in a statement.

McCann started with Hy-Vee in 1976 at the Park Avenue Hy-Vee in Des Moines as a part-time clerk. He worked through the ranks and was promoted to second assistant manager at the Marshalltown, Iowa, Hy-Vee in 1983. In 1985, he was promoted to assistant manager at the Williamsburg Hy-Vee in Lincoln, Nebraska, opening what was at the time the largest store in the company. McCann received his first store director assignment in 1989 at the Fort Street Hy-Vee in Omaha, Nebraska, followed by the North Dodge Hy-Vee in Iowa City, Iowa, and finally at the Hy-Vee on Agency in Burlington, Iowa.

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In 1996, McCann was once again promoted, this time to director of operations, and then to assistant VP of operations over the northeast region. In 1997 and 2010, McCann served one-year terms on Hy-Vee’s Board of Directors. He was inducted into the Hy-Vee Hall of Fame when he was honored in 1999 as the company’s Director of the Year.

In 2001, McCann was promoted to assistant VP of Hy-Vee, Inc. and president of Perishable Distributors of Iowa (PDI). In 2009, he was promoted to VP of Hy-Vee, Inc. and president of PDI. He then was promoted to SVP of retail health in 2011 – a position he held through 2012 at which time he was selected as SVP of store development. In 2013, he was promoted to EVP and chief health officer. He also was elected to the executive committee and became a permanent member of the board of directors. In 2014, McCann’s role was expanded to executive vice president, chief administrative officer and chief health officer. He had the distinction of being named Hy-Vee’s first-ever vice chairman in June 2015.

Laing began her Hy-Vee career in 1987 as a part-time checker/stocker at the Dodge Street Hy-Vee in Dubuque, Iowa. In 1988, she moved to the West Kimberly Road Hy-Vee in Davenport, Iowa, as a full-time cheese island clerk and later that year moved to the 95th St. Hy-Vee in Overland Park, Kansas, as a meat clerk. In 1989, she was promoted to meat and cheese manager at the Raytown, Missouri, Hy-Vee and later that year was promoted to shift manager at the Brookings, South Dakota, Hy-Vee. Laing’s next move took her to the Chariton Distribution Center where she served as human resources manager of distribution in 1996. She was promoted to director of human resources in 1997 and named assistant vice president of human resources for the Chariton facility in 1999. In 2005, Laing was named assistant vice president of employee benefits.

Laing’s career was accented by her election to the Hy-Vee Hall of Fame when she received the company’s Community Involvement Award in 2003. In 2009, Laing was elected vice president of human resources for Hy-Vee which included overseeing the company’s benefit plan and recruiting as well as all human resource functions. She was promoted to senior vice president of retail health in 2013, then in 2014 her role was expanded to senior vice president, chief customer officer, followed by a promotion to executive vice president in 2015.

Laing is a graduate of Cascade High School and has a bachelor of arts degree in history and math from Loras College. She has her HR law accreditation from Drake University and is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).