Food City recently named Sara Baldwin to the newly created position of director of finance and planning.    

“Sara has a comprehensive understanding of the grocery industry and Food City in particular, having worked in a number of store departments while in college.  She is instrumental in streamlining our budgeting processes and is a key part of our financial modeling and decision- making.  She is also a key member of our leadership team and mentors a young team of talented financial professionals.  We are certainly proud of Sara and all that she’s accomplished thus far in her relatively young career,” says Steven C. Smith, Food City president and chief executive officer. 

Born and raised in Newport, TN, Baldwin joined the Food City team in 2008, working as a cashier, while attending East Tennessee State University.  She left the company in 2013 to pursue a teaching career and returned in 2016, accepting a position as a financial analyst.  In 2017, Baldwin was promoted to financial planning & analysis supervisor and advanced to her most recent role of finance senior manager in 2019.  Baldwin is responsible for oversight of the company’s finance, treasury, and budgeting functions.  In her new role, she will become a member of the company’s Senior Staff executive leadership team.  

Baldwin graduated from East Tennessee State University, with a BBA in Economics in 2011 and received her MBA in 2014.  She also received her Graduate Accounting Certificate and completed the National Grocers Association Cornell Executive Leadership Development Program in 2021.  She is certified by Food Marketing Institute as a Food Retail Leader, was named a 2020 Top Women in Grocery Rising Star by Progressive Grocer and is a member of the Tri-City Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty class of 2020.  Baldwin currently resides in Johnson City, TN with her husband, Jerred.  They are the proud parents of one son, Bryce. 

Headquartered in Abingdon, Virginia, K-VA-T Food Stores (Food City’s parent company) operates 138 retail outlets throughout southeast Kentucky, southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, north Georgia, and Alabama.