Steve Morris
Steve Morris, President
Retail Management, Inc (RMI)
Steve Morris is the President & Owner of Retail Management Inc., a retail management & marketing services provider for retailers nationwide and is an elected member of the City Council for Woodbury, MN.
Steve has served in leadership roles for over 25 years within convenience and retail sectors. He served as Director of Marketing & Merchandising for SuperAmerica stores & Speedway, where he continued the work of brand development and management and as Director of Operations Strategy and Planning, where he held oversight and responsibility for the Twin Cities and Minnesota markets for retail operations.
Steve was elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 as Councilmember for the City of Woodbury having served previously on the Planning Commission, and currently serves on the Economic Development Authority and Housing & Redevelopment Authority for the city.
Steve supports numerous organizations and serves on the Board of Directors for several organizations including: "Majority in the Middle", a 501c3 dedicated to lowering the temperature of politics and finding common ground to serve the people of Minnesota, as well, "Metro Cities", a coalition of Twin Cities metropolitan area communities working and lobbying the state capital on behalf of individual cities, counties and townships; "The United Heroes League", a non-profit military family support organization; and the "Woodbury Police K-9 Foundation", supporting the K9 program development and support for the city of Woodbury Minnesota.
Steve and his husband Justin live in Woodbury with their two dogs and enjoy softball, concert-going and walking the miles of trails in their community.
Brad Miller
Brad Miller, Senior Director of IT
Coen Markets
With a career in technology spanning thirty years, Brad has worked in technology retail, as a Project Manager, .NET developer and Network Administrator for a software company in the field of Health Care, an Infrastructure Specialist in the state government sector, and has spent the last thirteen years working in the C-store space, first as Director of Technology for Par Mar Stores and since 2017 as the Senior Director of Technology for Coen Markets. Brad resides in Canonsburg, PA with his wife of thirty years (and their two cats) and can be reached at bmiller@coen1923.com.
Jhaddaka (JD) Leverette
Jhaddaka (JD) Leverette, I.T. Manager
PRINCE OIL
I am an IT Manager/Retail Analyst in the oil and gas industry, with over 25 years of retail operations knowledge and 15 years of experience driving digital transformation, business continuity, and operational efficiency through technology. I have strategic insight and leadership in data integration and system optimization.
Beyond my corporate role, I am the founder of Blu3tech Consulting, where I support businesses in adopting secure and scalable tech solutions. I am also a passionate advocate for youth development and STEM education, dedicating time to community mentorship and nonprofit initiatives.
Mark Hawthorne
Mark Hawthorne, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer
Upshop
Mark is a senior food retail executive with nearly 20 years of experience at Safeway and Albertsons Companies, where he helped build enterprise capabilities across pricing, promotions, merchandising, loyalty, and shopper analytics.
He later served as a Partner at Nsight, advising grocery retailers and food retail technology providers on market strategy, operating models, and technology investments that deliver measurable results.
Mark is now Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer at Upshop, leading market strategy, growth, and value realization. He works closely with retail executives to support long-term planning and ensure technology investments translate into real business outcomes.
Tyler Grubbs
Tyler Grubbs, VP of Retail and Digital Technologies
RaceTrac, Inc.
Tyler Grubbs is currently serving as the VP of Retail and Digital Technologies where he has accountability for all the technology across the convenience store locations for the RaceTrac, RaceWay & Gulf brands. Additionally, he his teams lead efforts around web, mobile and loyalty applications across these brands. Tyler is a process focused leader with a pension for finding creative solutions to complex problems across the business through building & developing high performing teams. He has spent most of his career at RaceTrac, Inc. serving in multiple roles over the last 14 years across departments like: Project Management, Finance, Analytics & Food Programs. He holds a degrees from Georgia Institute of Technology in Finance as well as an MBA from Emory University with a concentration in Management Consulting & Analytics. Tyler was recently recognized as a 40 Under 40 by CSDecisions, RIS Top Retail Mover & Shaker, and Emerging Leader by Atlanta Technology Professionals.
