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Middleby Food Processing Group Names Tom Betley President of Alkar

Feb. 4, 2022
Middleby Food Processing today announced the appointment of Tom Betley to President of Alkar, Inc. Mr. Betley will be responsible for day-to-day operations, engineering, sales, and marketing. He succeeds Tim Moskal who will be retiring.

“We thank Tim for his dedication and commitment and are pleased he will continue in an advisory role, assisting us in the upcoming facility expansion and special projects,” said Mark Salman, President of Middleby Food Processing. “In just three generations, Tim’s family built Alkar from a small manufacturer of smoke houses into an internationally recognized brand whose legacy continues as a part of Middleby Food Processing.”

Tim’s grandfather, Harvey Rasmussen, and his son, Bud, acquired the Alkar Engineering Corporation in Chicago in the late 1950s. While on vacation near Lodi, Wisconsin, Bud decided that an unused manufacturing facility would be a perfect location for the rapidly expanding Alkar Corporation. In 1962, along with his daughter Lorraine and her husband Le Roy Moskal, Harvey and Bud moved Alkar from Chicago to Lodi. Harvey’s grandson, Tim Moskal, would go on to successfully lead Alkar as a family business for many years and as a part of Middleby since 2005.

As President, Tom Betley will be continuing his more than twenty years of service to Alkar.

“Tom Betley has the skill set and knowledge of our customer needs to continue Alkar’s progressive momentum,” Salman continued. “During his time with Alkar, he has demonstrated strong leadership and been an integral part of the team developing industry changing technologies from initial product /process conception to full production integration.”

Tom joined Alkar as a food scientist in 1998 and has held several key positions such as Director of Sales and R&D Team Leader. In these roles, he worked closely with national food manufacturers on large scale processing projects. Tom holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in Food Sciences and Technologies and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Alkar is an industry respected brand with a long history of thermal processing innovation. Recent innovations include the TurboChef by Alkar, the only industrial oven with the flexibility of proven microwave and convection heating technologies