Clayton "Clay" Cooper Email & Phone Number

Caldwell, Idaho, United States

I cultivate, analyze and articulate strategic vision, plans, and goals for this industry-leading provider of high-quality food processing solutions. By formalizing the structure and direction of this business, I provide clear targets and expectations. My coaching-focused, servant leadership style unites, motivates, and challenges our incredible team to reach new levels of excellence. It is through the development of our people that we have become a world-class Food Technology company.Specifically, I have:• Nurtured a culture of empathy, integrity, innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning. I’ve empowered team members to grow and to leverage their unique strengths while making REYCO the preferred choice for more than 80% of the fresh-cut fruit and vegetable plants in North America.• Initiated a Process Improvement department that reviews and streamlines each step in our workflows, continually elevating efficiency, fortifying our financial strength, and enabling REYCO to provide greater value to customers and partners.• Judiciously managed company finances, ensuring prudent spending decisions and smart investments that deliver competitive advantage.• Engaged the business and our employees in community enrichment activities, including the Caldwell Chamber of Commerce, the Caldwell Night Rodeo, and the Boise Touch-a-Truck Events.

Caldwell, Idaho, United States

As GM, I steered REYCO’s strategic planning, financial management, and operational performance in a manner that advanced our customer experience and market leadership. I attracted top talent to the business and nurtured an environment that promoted retention. Additionally, I stayed abreast of emerging industry trends and technologies to strengthen our company’s value proposition.Most notably, I:• Fostered a positive and productive workplace culture that values teamwork, integrity, and employee wellbeing.• Fueled R&D efforts that have leveraged customer feedback and strategic partnerships to develop cutting-edge solutions that meet complex and unique industry needs.• Navigated the novel challenges of the global pandemic, rallying the team to restructure our sales approaches, adapt quoting cycles, and innovate new supply chain strategies that minimized disruptions and stabilized the business.• Tripled sales throughout my tenure, while maintaining world-class OEM status in the food processing industry.

Burley, Idaho | Waco, Texas

I developed key leadership capabilities, internal bench strength, and built new management teams for this privately held Packaging & Containers company. Through strategic planning, I enabled key business shifts that had noteworthy impacts on the business.When the organization needed turnaround leadership at their Texas plant, I relocated and led the effort. With restructuring and program creation, we significantly improved the plant’s safety, product quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction. While leading this plant, I managed 150+ hourly and 10+ salaried employees.During this tenure, I:• Implemented new Quality, Safety, and Preventive Maintenance programs. I also introduced Lean Manufacturing principles that reduced labor and maintenance costs.• Reduced the Texas plant’s 12-month RIR (safety incidents) by 2.37 points.• Decreased plant waste by 2.29%, achieving a best-in-class metric.• Increased average lineal feet production by 48MM (taking the production rate to 7.78 MSF per hour).• Improved the plant’s on-time delivery rate by 3% (taking it to 97%).

Columbus, Nebraska, United States

This role provided hands-on experience in designing and managing the installation of food processing equipment. I leveraged my leadership skills to motivate 45 hourly and 2 salaried employees of this $100 billion, Fortune 500, and publicly traded company. By practicing pragmatic fiscal management and driving cost saving initiatives, I was able to cultivate solvency and make impactful capital improvements. Additionally, I:• Led multiple process improvement efforts that increased efficiency. I also initiated dedicated teams to ensure continuous improvement. • Created preventative and predictive equipment and facility maintenance programs.• Developed and introduced safety programs that reduced incidents and mitigated company risk.• Guided the team through coordination of major plant outages, avoiding unnecessary downtime.

Business Management

Electrical Instrumentation