After graduating from Augustana College with a degree in Accounting, I was hired as an accounts payable and accounts receivable manager for Dayton Hudson Properties in Minneapolis, MN.

I left Dayton Hudson Properties to work in the accounting department for Winnebago Industries, setting up their property accounting management that tracked all of their assets and did financial analysis of all capital purchases.  I transferred to Asheville, NC, to open a van conversion plant as the controller and later became the plant manager.

I was hired by Boyles Galvanizing, a subsidiary of Kinark Corporation, to perform a turnaround for a galvanizing plant in St. Louis, MO.  As the general manager, I developed new markets for the plant and put in place good management practices to improve efficiencies and profits.  

One week after a cyanide spill in Sioux Falls, SD, I became the general manager of Tri State Mint, assisting in the defense against the EPA and State Department of Natural Resources.  We obtained a contract from the U.S. Mint to produce silver blanks for the silver dollar programs.  

At Component Manufacturing Co. in Sioux Falls, I joined a company that was coming out of a construction recession and developed many management systems to assist the company to grow and become a leader in truss manufacturing.  I was instrumental in setting up or developing human resources, purchasing, estimating and accounting departments.

•    Improved margins monthly by purchasing lumber at price levels below quoted price, by implementing a neural network program that predicted lumber price levels and timing.  Developed and implemented timely and accurate reporting of lumber requirements and price levels.

•    Obtained FSC certification which enabled the company to be more competitive by allowing customers to use the material supplied to qualify as a green building.  

•    Completed the original safety manual that addressed all OSHA regulation and implementation of policy and procedures to improve safety and reduce injuries. As a result, workers’ compensation insurance mod was reduced to 0.6 and the company received excellent reports and no fines from OSHA inspections.

•    Maximized daily gross profits by creating a reporting system that allowed supervisors to respond to changes in scheduling, staffing and available material in a timely manner.   

•    Implemented a quoting system that increased sales that allowed estimators and salesmen to price complicated projects quickly and accurately.

•    Improved cash flow and minimized short-term borrowing.   Implemented an accounting system to maximize accounts payable terms and reduce the days outstanding of accounts receivable.  

•    Assisted the defense attorneys at 80 depositions relating to a cyanide spill and EPA clean up that cost $1.5 million.  

•    Wrote and implemented the clean-up procedures that saved the company over $1 million in the clean up of a different site.

•    Contributed to the effort to have the company operations up and running 3 months after a major fire damaged most of the manufacturing area.

•    Managed all requirements of a contract with the U.S. Mint to supply, under strict tolerances and security, the silver blanks for their silver dollar minting program.  

•    Wrote the original safety manual that addressed all OSHA regulations and implemented the policy and procedures to improve safety and reduce injuries.  The company had positive reports and no fines were issued following OSHA inspections.

•    Increased sales and margins to levels never before attained at a troubled operation. 

•    Replaced low margin customers with more profitable customers, resulting in increased sales and profits each year.

•    Dramatically reduced the turnover of personnel to the lowest of 5 regional galvanizing plants owned by Boyles Galvanizing.

•    Reduced workers’ compensation premiums with no reportable injuries over a 3-year period.

•    Managed two staff members who were promoted to become General Managers at other plants.

•    Realized van conversion profits in the first 3 months of operation to repay an initial investment.  

•    Managed a division that attained record high profit levels, above all other divisions in the company.

•    Sold all inventory at profit after Arab oil embargo drastically reduced demand for van conversions and motor homes.  The embargo forced the closing of the conversion plant and a motor home plant in California.