West Hutchison has been named president and chief executive officer of Vertical Cold Storage (VCS), the Kansas City, Missouri, USA-headquartered developer and operator of temperature-controlled distribution centers sponsored by real estate private equity firm Platform Ventures. Bringing 25 years of experience in the warehousing business internationally and at both of the world’s largest cold storage companies, he assumed the helm at VCS on September 12.
“West has a comprehensive set of experiences in warehousing and transportation operations culminating in senior leadership positions that are reflected by the success he’s had at a series of rapidly growing and innovative companies. With our efforts to grow Vertical Cold both organically with greenfield sites and through acquisitions, he is the perfect addition to our strong and growing group of experts,” said Ryan Anderson, co-resident and co-founder of Platform Ventures.
Vertical Cold has made several acquisitions during the past 18 months and expects additional announcements of both purchases and ground-up facilities in the coming year. Hutchison will lead the company’s journey to build a global network of facilities utilizing standardized processes and automation to deliver customer-focused solutions for frozen, refrigerated and dry storage, blast freezing, exports, case picking and rail transloading.
Hutchison most recently was senior vice president of network optimization/merger and acquisitions for Lineage Logistics, where he supported dozens of transactions around the globe. Prior to that, he was partner and global chief operating officer for Emergent Cold, which was sold to Lineage after purchasing seven companies in Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the United States, and building a state-of-the-art warehouse and IQF processing facility supporting produce exports in Peru.
Hutchison also spent 20 years at Americold Logistics, serving in senior leadership roles for transportation, warehouse operations, business development, customer service and IT. He started his supply chain career at United Parcel Service while earning his BBA from Georgia State University.
