Scott Whitley named president of Tenth and Blake Beer Co.

MillerCoors Brewing Co. has announced that Scott Whitley will become president and chief beer merchant at Tenth and Blake Beer Co., the craft and import division of Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC.

Tenth and Blake brews some of its beer at Milwaukee’s Tenth Street Brewery.

Whitley, who will assume his new role Oct. 1, succeeds Tom Cardella, who in July announced he will retire at the end of 2014.

Whitley has 33 years of beer industry experience. He has served as president of Coors Distributing Co. in Denver since 2008, where he grew a diverse portfolio of craft and import brands, including leading brands from Blue Moon Brewing Co. and Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co.

He previously held a number of senior roles, including vice president of integration planning at MillerCoors, vice president of global strategy at Molson Coors and chief market development officer at Molson Coors Canada. He holds an MBA from the University of Colorado and a bachelor’s from the University of California-Davis.

Other changes to the MillerCoors senior leadership team are as follows:

• Chris Kozina, who has served as chairman of the Coors Distributing Co. board since 2011 and chief human resources officer of MillerCoors since 2010, will succeed Whitley as president of Coors Distributing Co., effective Oct. 1. He previously served as vice president of insights and chief of staff at MillerCoors, as well as chief information officer at Miller Brewing Company.
• Michelle Nettles, who has served as senior director of diversity and integrated talent management since 2011, will succeed Kozina as chief human resources officer, also effective Oct. 1. She previously served as senior director of business diversity partnership, and also led a learning initiative at Marquette University. Nettles has also held several senior roles at Miller Brewing Co., including director of strategic human resources projects and assistant general counsel.
• Pete Marino will become chief public affairs and communications officer, effective Sept. 1, succeeding Nehl Horton, who is leaving MillerCoors to accept a senior role at a publicly listed company. Marino has served as vice president of communications at MillerCoors since 2012.