Pamela Stegeman has signed up as vice president of business planning and development at the Food Marketing Institute.

She previously worked as president of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which included work as vice president of supply chain and technology. Stegeman has also been vice president of marketing at the U.S. Office Products Company, and she's held positions with Sprint, Procter & Gamble, and Colgate-Palmolive. She earned her undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and an MBA from Cornell University.

An Arlington, Va.-based organization, FMI conducts food safety, research, and industry relations programs for food retailers and wholesalers. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, FMI's Political Action Committee has spent more than $122,000 this election cycle, with 52 percent going to Republicans and 48 percent going to Democrats. That's a change from the 2008 cycle, when of the roughly $406,000 the FMI PAC spent, 78 percent went to Republicans and 22 percent was directed to Democrats.