President of Stater Bros. Receives Food Industry Executive of Year Award

The USC Marshall Food Industry Management (FIM) program will honor Greg McNiff, president and COO of Stater Bros. Markets, as its 2024 Executive of the Year.

Every year, the USC Executive of the Year award is presented to an individual food industry executive who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and commitment to education. McNiff is both a FIM supporter and a Marshall alumni parent. He will accept the award and serve as the keynote speaker at the FIM Class of 2024 graduation banquet.

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McNiff leads the largest privately owned supermarket chain in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. The company is headquartered in San Bernardino, Calif., and currently operates 169 supermarkets, all located in Southern California.

He has extensive experience in the food industry. Beginning as a courtesy clerk, he worked his way up to leadership roles in retail operations, marketing, and merchandising as well as integration. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from California Coast University and is a graduate of the USC Food Industry Executive Program. In 2019, McNiff received the Illuminators Educational Foundation Torch Award for his dedication and support to advancing education in the food industry. He currently serves as an advisor to the executive team of the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC), an organization that raises funds and provides scholarships for Marshall’s food industry programs.

“Greg McNiff has served his industry for more than 40 years. He is passionate about educating the food industry’s future leaders and demonstrates this passion by encouraging his employees to take advantage of multiple education paths,” said Dean Geoff Garrett. “We are grateful for the partnership and honored that he and Stater Bros. Markets continue to send high-potential leaders to the USC Marshall Food Industry Programs every year.”

From early in his career, McNiff has entrusted USC Marshall with a number of his company’s successful leaders, sending them to the four-month FIM program, the 4-day Food Industry Executive Program (FIEP), and the Master’s program in Food Industry Leadership. While each selected participant arrives with their own unique set of talents, experiences, and backgrounds, all share a passion for the food industry.

“Greg joins a long list of highly respected servant leaders honored as Executive of the Year. He works closely with our team to continue updating and modifying the Food Industry Management program which offers five classes that cover leadership, finance, marketing, strategy, and communication, each one providing a broad-based ‘balcony view’ of essential senior management and leadership capabilities,” said Dr. Cynthia McCloud, director of Marshall’s Food Industry Programs. “Greg is determined to help those who have a goal to get a college degree. He recognizes that they have choices in their careers and looks forward to having them ultimately choose to stay and help their companies compete in this rapidly changing market.”

“It is my distinct honor to be recognized as this year’s USC Marshall Food Industry Management Program Executive of the Year,” said McNiff. “The food industry’s future leaders will require real-world skills and visionary thinking to see challenges in new ways and to find innovative solutions. The teammates that Stater Bros. Markets sends to the FIM program are fortunate to tap into the knowledge provided by the program’s world-class team of educators. Teammates return to us as proud new members of the Trojan family with the discipline to question, think, and re-think about decisions to be made in our industry. We are proud to support the FIM program, in conjunction with the WAFC, as they deliver on their mission to ‘Advance the Food Industry through Education and Leadership.’” 

Each year, 30-35 students are chosen from a wide range of companies in the food industry to participate in the FIM Program at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Each student accepted into the program receives a full tuition scholarship through WAFC. Individuals selected must have proven records of management accomplishments with significant potential for future advancement.

Stater Bros. operates nearly 170 supermarkets in Southern California and employs about 18,000 associates. The company is No. 54 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company among its Top Regional Grocers in 2024.