Mark Vaupel
CIO
Hormel Foods

Mark D. Vaupel is currently the Director of IT Services for Hormel Foods Corporation, a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded meat and food products located in Austin, MN. In this position he is responsible for managing the assets and leading the resources of the Hormel Foods’ Information Technology Services department including technology & infrastructure, application development & deployment, IT operations support, business process & analysis, and IT project management. Under Mark’s direction, IT Services focuses on innovating, developing and delivering effective services and solutions that satisfy business requirements and yield the highest return on investment. This involves ensuring that the technology and application direction, as well as the human resources to capitalize on them, is in alignment with current and future strategic business initiatives.

Mark has been with Hormel Foods for more than 12 years where he has held a number IT-related management positions, including the assignment of designing and deploying the company’s IT Governance Model and the IT Project Management Office. Prior to joining Hormel Foods, Mark had experience in the financial sector working for Cargill’s Financial Markets Division. He also had experience in the consulting arena as a staff consultant for Anderson Consulting as well as operating his own consulting firm for a short time.

Mark earned his B.S. degree in Finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management in 1991.