Having joined the Hershey Co. in 1992, Brent Cotton has held a range of leadership positions with the company.

Brent Cotten has been promoted to director, customer and industry affairs, at The Hershey Co.

In this role, he will represent The Hershey Co. at U.S. trade associations, trade events, and customer events to help establish and build strong working relationships with Hershey’s U.S. customers and industry leaders. Cotten is also responsible for U.S. sales meetings.

Cotten began his career with Hershey Foods in February 1992, as a sales representative in the Nashville District. He was promoted to district account supervisor in Knoxville, Tenn., and Knoxville district manager. He held several leadership positions within The Hershey Co., including Atlanta convenience district manager, southeast customer sales executive—convenience, and southeast area sales manager. He accepted the role of director, strategic convenience retailers in June 2007 where he was responsible for the sales of U.S. strategic c-store customers.

Cotten attended Middle Tennessee State University where he earned a Bachelors of Business Administration Degree in Marketing. Brent was elected as the 2008 Southern Association of Wholesale Distributors’ “Candy Representative of the Year.” He currently serves on the NACS Supplier Board Membership Committee. Cotton and his wife Angie and their two daughters currently reside in Hendersonville, Tenn.