Tennessee District: Engaging Women in Manufacturing and Metal
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Nashville, TN
EVENT DETAILS
Join the PMA Tennessee District and the Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) for an evening of cocktails, appetizers and networking, followed by an empowering discussion from women leaders in manufacturing from the Southern United States. Suzanne Morrison, director of marketing, Hatch Stamping, will lead the discussion, which includes the very special panel guests listed below.
Speakers/Panel Guests
Suzanne Morrison, Director of Marketing, Hatch Stamping
Suzanne is currently the director of marketing for Hatch Stamping Company. In addition to her marketing responsibilities, she also is responsible for training and contract administration. During her career, Suzanne has held positions not only in manufacturing but technology and education. She specializes in leading strategy, organizational development, merger and acquisition activity, sales operations, and growing and leading high-performance teams. Suzanne holds a Bachelor of Business Administration–Management degree. A global company headquartered in Chelsea, MI, Hatch Stamping Company is a manufacturer of highly engineered metal stampings and assemblies for the automotive industry.
Becky E. Hites, President, Steel-Insights, LLC
Becky is a global steel industry professional who has served as an equity analyst, project finance and mergers and acquisitions investment banker, cost modeling expert, industry trend macro and micro consultant, expert witness, and C-level strategic planning consultant. She started her company, Steel-Insights, LLC, in 2013.
Ashley Kotowski, Regional Sales Manager, Big River Steel
Ashley Kotowski is the regional sales manager for Big River Steel. She is responsible for sales in the Midwest and Northeastern regions.
In 2006, Ashley started her career at Severstal North America as a marketing intern. During her nine-year tenure at Severstal, she worked in various roles related to order processing, customer service, outside sales and continuous improvement. In 2014, Ashley joined Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), where she had commercial responsibility for Brazilian steel sales, along with domestic sales for the Terre Haute, IN mill.
Ashley earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing and received her Master of Business Administration in Management from Wayne State University.
Lisa Reed, Product and Marketing Manager, Nucor Corporation
Lisa is a sales and marketing professional within the steel industry. She earned her Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois and her Master of Business Administration from Purdue University. Her career in manufacturing began as a marketing representative at Caterpillar, Inc. Complementing her marketing accomplishments, Lisa joined the steel industry with Ispat Inland as a customer service representative. Building on her knowledge of the industry, she professionally progressed as an account manager working with many key manufacturing sectors to include service centers, and the appliance and automotive industries. In 2017, Lisa joined the Nucor Steel team as a product and marketing manager. She specializes in business development, financial analytics and building key partnerships with customers. She is active and passionate about mentoring others to grow both personally and professionally.
Blair Glenn, Chairwomen, Quality Industries
Manufacturing has played a significant role in Blair’s life, ever since her father started what was Quality Metal Products, back in 1972—now called Quality Industries (Qi). Her father worked for Wright Industries for 17 years before going out on his own. Blair was 12 years old when her father took her to the "plant." For a nickel a piece, she wrapped parts for shipping. The summer that she turned 16, she became Qi's first receptionist, using an IBM Selectric. She learned a lot through observation of management, processes and dealing with time cards. Her father didn't want his daughter getting her hands oily. In retrospect, she wished that she had been out on the shop floor, working with welding, press brakes, mills and tooling.
Today, Qi is the largest woman-owned manufacturing company in Nashville, TN. Blair has been chairwoman of the board of directors since 2008; her sisters and mother sit on the board of directors. Qi has two locations, in La Vergne, TN, and Denton, TX, and currently has 450 employees. Even though times and techniques have changed, some things haven't. Qi still operates with one mission in mind: customer satisfaction through best practices of safety, quality, delivery and cost. Qi is a one-stop shop, offering a full range of manufacturing, fabrication and painting.
Personally, Blair has been a stay-at-home mom, bookstore owner, librarian and computer programmer. But manufacturing pulled her in, and kept her interested and curious. Blair strives to promote women inhouse in Qi’s manufacturing facilities and to the community at large, when opportunities permit.
Blair has three grown children, has been married for 40 years and lives on a farm in Marshall County.
AGENDA
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Networking/appetizers/cash bar
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. AWMI - PMA panel discussions
8:00 – 8:30 p.m. Closing remarks and questions
LOCATION
Embassy Suites Nashville Airport
10 Century Court
Nashville, TN 37217
Special hotel rate of $169 per night. To reserve your room, e-mail Emily Isabell.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
$35 PMA/AWMI members and nonmembers
Event is limited to first 120 registrants.
For more information, please contact Dana Worrell. To register over the phone, please contact Cindy Minn at 216-901-8800 ext. 146.