Our Team
- Phil Werdal
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Phil leads the Trace Register team and develops the company’s strategy. He brings decades of experience in the seafood industry. Phil co-founded and served as president of Jubilee Fisheries, a fully integrated fishing company that caught and froze bottom fish in Alaska. His previous roles included serving as a United States Government fisheries observer on board Japanese surimi-producing vessels in the Bering Sea and a Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean. For 20 years, he served as the representative agent in Japan for the United States Surimi Commission. Born and raised in Japan, he deeply understands and respects Asia’s social, cultural, and business traditions. Phil received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Washington. His diverse background and unique perspective on global seafood supply chains inspire Trace Register.
- Chris Bradford
Chief Customer Officer
Chris is a high-performing leader recognized for driving actionable change through collaborative teamwork. At Trace Register, she will lead the sales, marketing, and customer success teams to support strategic goals, bringing a proven business and revenue growth track record. Chris has an extensive retail and seafood background, both domestic and international. Her experience with major food and variety retailers includes numerous roles at Walmart and Sam’s Club. Her creative approach enables out-of-the-box solutions for customer success. Chris received a Bachelor of Science in Administrative Management and an MBA in Business Management from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
- Sayo Morita Kijima
Vice President, Customer Service
Sayo leads the Trace Register Customer Service team, ensuring clients around the globe receive support. Sayo is based in her home country of Japan but spent several years in Seattle, Washington. She comes from a tradition of food industry involvement as her father was a fishing boat captain and seafood company manager, instilling in Sayo a passion for exceptional quality food. She brings years of customer service experience and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Kanagawa University, Japan.
- Peter Larkins
Vice President, Integrations
As data integration becomes increasingly essential to full-chain event-based traceability, Peter is proud to lead the integrations team and work with clients to ensure they can integrate their supply chain into TR5. He has extensive experience implementing event-based traceability, leading Trace Register’s customer service operations since 2008. Before joining Trace Register, Peter gained expertise in more than ten countries in fish farming and fishing industries. This practical experience, combined with his educational background, including a Master of Science in Aquaculture and an MBA, equips him to develop and drive customer success.
- Bill Franceschine
Vice President, Technology
Bill has been a dedicated member of Trace Register’s development team since 2007. In addition to leading the development team, he focuses on efforts around strategy formation and development projects. He has the unique ability to integrate strategic goals, practical business processes, and good code. Bill brings over 30 years of software development experience and has worked on various projects, including medical office software management, large retail grocery management, and lumber products software management. He holds an Associate of Arts degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Design, and Programming from ITT Technical Institute, Spokane, Washington.
- Havah Kinne
Director, Customer Service, The Americas
Havah joined Trace Register in 2022 with a passion for development and consumer relationships. In her role with our Customer Service team, Havah focuses on serving our customers while introducing new initiatives to keep them engaged and excited about Trace Register. With an extensive business background rooted in retail and seafood, she has a relentless drive for excellence and a passion for people. Havah comes from a leading seafood importer, bringing considerable and comprehensive knowledge of seafood, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP), NOAA requirements, and experience as a customer/user of Trace Register. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Employment Relations from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville and an MBA from John Brown University.
- Zak Cobb
Director, IT
Zak brings a breadth of experience from many years working in the IT world with expertise that encompasses design, implementation, plus management of small to large IT systems. He has been with Trace Register since 2012, with roles of Systems Administrator and Database Administrator. As Director of IT, he is responsible for all aspects of Trace Register’s IT infrastructure. Zak holds a Bachelor’s degree from Western Washington University.
- Meet our frontline heroes
Trace Register Customer Service Team
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