Our Panel

Presenter: Maureen Steinwall, PhD, President & Owner of Steinwall, Inc. (MN)

I am the president/owner of Steinwall, Inc., a precision engineering and thermoplastic injection molding company located in a northern suburb of Minneapolis—Coon Rapids, MN. The company employs 150 people, generates $23 million in revenue, and provides design, manufacturing, and distribution services to over 100 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) such as John Deere, Itron, and Bosch. I have been with the company since 1983. Prior to joining Steinwall, I was employed by Honeywell in Freeport, IL for three years and prior to that practiced public accounting for six years.

Steinwall, Inc. won the 2011 Processor of the Year award. I was inducted into the Plastic Industry’s Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Women Business Owners Hall of Fame – both in 2015. See www.steinwall.com for more information if interested.

I earned a BS (1975) from the University of Minnesota in secondary education and accounting, a MBA (1981) from the Carlson School (U of MN) in operations management, a PhD (2006) from Capella University in business, and I maintain a Minnesota CPA license. My research interest is in learning methods for working adults using multimedia techniques—specifically behavioral topics. I also completed the OPM program (1998) at the Harvard Graduate School of Business and I am APICS certified.

Historically, I was an enrolled IRS agent, taught ninth grade algebra, flew airplanes, rode motorcycles, drove sport cars, snow and water skied, played racquetball, ran a veterinary clinic, and served on several corporate and governmental boards including the Monticello school board. Although all these activities are past tense (bad knees, political burn-out, and a healthy respect for safety), the listing tells a lot about my interests and character.

I taught MBA and online doctorate classes for the University of Phoenix and Walden University. On a personal note, I am married to Mike Lavelle, a college professor (no surprise there); we winter in Palm Springs, CA and summer in Minneapolis, MN. My son graduated from Wake Forest University and is on his way to Vanderbilt for his MBA. My daughter is working on her DBA.

 

Presenter: Allison Lin, Director of Closures at Coca-Cola (CA)

Strategic sourcing and solutions intrapraneur, driving change in value networks across developed and developing regions.

Working as a Director at The Coca-Cola Company in the Global Sustainable Procurement group for Closures, Labels, Shrink and Stretch Films, she leads the Global Polyolefins Program.

Since joining Coca-Cola, her job has been focused on connecting further with upstream suppliers on innovation, sustainability, cost savings, and risk management strategies.

Before joining Coca-Cola, Allison spent time at both the Starbucks Coffee Co. and Procter & Gamble, where she led Sustainable Packaging strategies across both fibers and plastics packaging.

She has been a part of industry organizations such as Association of Plastic Recyclers, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and Plastics Industry Association.  She was recently featured as part of Plastic News’ “Women Breaking the Mold” series.

Allison received her B.S in Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business and her MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, where she has been involved in the start-up community as a judge for the University’s Start-up Challenge, as well we a start-up called Safari Feet.

Presenter:Annette Lund, Vice President, Diversified Plastics, Inc.

Annette Lund started at Diversified Plastics, Inc. in the 1970’s when virtually no women existed in this industry. Undaunted by that fact, she learned the technology to the point where in a short time she was able to represent the company in sales situations and be recognized as knowledgeable. Through hard work, and over male skepticism, Annette earned the position of Vice President in mid-1990 and with the transition of the company to an ESOP, she became a trustee of the organization in addition to holding a position on the board of directors. Her accomplishments inspired other women to enter this field and today Diversified Plastics has three women in the sales department and two in upper management positions.

In our industry, Annette is well known as a knowledgeable authority. She is frequently asked to present in front of plastic and manufacturing organizations. To mention a few, she has spoken to the Manufacturer’s Alliance, the North Hennepin Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Forum, Society of Plastic Engineers ANTEC, the Women in Technology classes at St. Catherine’s University and the DEED Student Orientation Tours. Because Annette is well regarded she has been asked and serves on several boards and committees. Currently she donates her time to the Brooklyn Park Business Forward Committee, Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Committee, is on both the Scholarship Committee and the Foundation Board for the Hennepin Technical College and the North Hennepin Community College Advisory Board who awarded Annette the Distinguished Alumni Award.

In addition to the many volunteer organizations listed above, Annette is a driving force in the community services in which our company participates. These involve, the United Way, giving campaigns to CEAP (the regional food shelf), Avenues for Homeless Youth, Adopt-A-Family Christmas giving, and the annual blood drive, etc. She has given further time in mentoring high school students through the DEED program and always responds when community organizations need help.

Annette belongs to a Minnesota organization of women working in manufacturing. MN Women Leading Manufacturing holds programs designed especially for women manufacturing business owners and leaders to discuss challenges and trends that affect the industry. She is proud to be one of the founding members of this up and coming organization.

Annette loves the water and boating with her husband on the Mississippi River. They have been married for 40 years and have two grown children and four grandchildren.

Presenter: Tamsin Ettefagh, Vice President of Sales and Purchasing at Envision Plastics   Envision will present a picture of what is possible and how a variety of PCR plastic materials are being used safely in a variety of food contact applications with the support of robust regulatory frameworks and appropriate testing protocols.

Tamsin Ettefagh has over 29 years of experience in the areas of recycling and plastics recycling; from implementing a recycling collection program, to running the Recycling Operations for a MRF, to purchasing raw materials for plastic recycling companies, to selling recycled resins for plastic recycling companies, and consulting for agencies, banks, potential plastic manufacturers on market conditions, types of supply and how to evolve and diversify markets for recycled resins.

Ms. Ettefagh is currently working as Vice President for Envision Plastics the second largest HDPE Plastic Recycling Company in North America. Created a Blog called “Save The Plastics” to help educate the public on the misnomers of Plastics. Developed strategy around commercializing FDA grade recycled HDPE. Which she is here to talk about.

Our Moderator will be Donna Davis, Senior Market Research Associate and Past President of SPE.