Stater Bros. Markets president and COO to receive USC executive award

The University of Southern California Marshall Food Industry Management program will honor Stater Bros. Markets President and Chief Operating Officer Greg McNiff as its 2024 Executive of the Year. 

The annual award is presented to a food industry executive who has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and a commitment to education, according to a news release. McNiff, both a FIM supporter and a Marshall alumni parent, will accept the award and serve as keynote speaker at the April graduation banquet honoring students graduating in the FIM Class of 2024.

McNiff leads the one of the largest privately owned supermarket chains in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the release said. The San Bernardino, Calif.-based company currently operates 169 supermarkets, all located in Southern California.

McNiff's food industry experience began as a courtesy clerk, then advancing 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 advises the executive team for the Western Association of Food Chains, 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,” Geoff Garrett, dean of the Marshall School of Business, said in the release. “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 four-day Food Industry Executive Program and the master’s program in food industry leadership, the release said.

“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,” Cynthia McCloud, director of USC Marshall’s Food Industry Programs, said in the release.

“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,” she added

McNiff says he is honored to received the award.

“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," he said in the release. 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," McNiff continued. "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.”