Heather Montgomery Email & Phone Number

Lititz, Pa, Us

York, Pa, Us

Palmer, Alaska, Us

Led operations and strategic direction of a 9-employee aviation manufacturing company to become an 80+ employee company with 3 locations throughout Alaska (2 primarily for manufacturing and 1 retail store). Championed new product development within the general aviation field and other related outdoor products for the bush-flying and backcountry adventure communities. Established the Airframes Alaska brand as a well-respected, globally recognized brand in the general aviation market, teetering on the edge of becoming a true lifestyle brand. Continued to serve as the COO and CFO until May of 2019. A few key successes in addition to the Recent Achievements listed above are:• Expanded customer base globally, from almost exclusively Alaska customers to roughly 30% Alaska, 60% the rest of the United States, and 10% international.• Analyzed, negotiated, and closed several acquisitions mergers and integrated the companies into current operations while accomplishing less than a 5-year ROI in all cases.• Earned status as one of the fastest growing companies in the country, landing Airframes Alaska on the Inc. 5000 list twice, with a high chance of being on the list a third time for 2019.• Orchestrated company culture shift to transition from a small “mom and pops” style operation to a goal-oriented, high-performing organization that attracts exceptional candidates to the employee pool that have a passion for the company mission and enjoy the open and collaborative work environment; thereby, promoting employee dedication.• Moved company from a paper heavy organization to an almost paperless business, spearheading the development of an ERP software custom designed for the industry that utilizes tablets on the manufacturing floor instead of traditional paper work orders (which is now part of an SaaS system being sold to other aviation manufacturing companies).

Palmer, Alaska, Us

Wore many hats for this fast-growing, but small company; including, COO, CFO, HR Manager, Production Manager, Inventory Manager, Sales Manager, QA Manager, and IT Tech. Managed 5 distinct manufacturing processes; welding, tire manufacturing, CNC machine shop, sewing, and parts assembly. Launched the company culture towards continuous improvement using lean manufacturing and kaizen principals. Some key achievements are:• Reduced inventory levels by 24%, creating a Just-In-Time inventory system and saving the company $100k+ annually in holding costs.• Reengineered manufacturing processes to significantly lessen lead times by up to 93% without adding any additional production staff, moving from a “one-off” manufacturing environment to an assembly line in most cases.• Overhauled the quality systems to accelerate the company from the FAA’s “watch” list due to the many non-compliance issues found during audits in the company’s infancy to accomplishing perfect audits since 2014, becoming the “poster child” for the FAA of exemplary manufacturing companies in Alaska.• Improved gross margin from 12% in 2012 to 41% in the manufacturing divisions.• Created operating metrics for all divisions that found inefficiencies and gave measurements for accountability.• Devised and implemented an employee equity ownership plan for retaining key personnel.• Managed portfolio of $50m+ in cash and mutual funds, $150m+ in equity assets, and $20m+ in real estate.

Palmer, Alaska, Us

Oversaw all accounting functions for the company, from A/P and A/R to budget preparation and forecasting. As the first accountant to work for the company, cleaned up the books to provide an accurate image of performance and costs. Performed cost analysis on all products and increased pricing on low margin items. A couple highlights during this short tenure include:• Incorporated GAAP principals and established budgets and monthly reporting to better track success, showing trend and variance analyses along with standard business KPIs.• Designed comprehensive reports to find inefficiencies, provide transparency, and help with strategic decision making.

Served many functions at this 150+ member senior center with a 20-unit independent living facility; including, Executive Director, CFO, grant writer, fundraiser, and HR manager. Coordinated a staff of 8 to create a safe and welcoming atmosphere for the seniors of the community to gather. Administered healthy meals and wellness programs to promote the well-being of seniors. Spearheaded many community outreach programs; like, Meals on Wheels, Angel Tree, Food Bank Outlet, and Holiday Food Boxes. Some key achievements are:• Generated 52% more donations and grants annually over the 4-year time period.• Won several grants that had never been obtained before, like a $30k grant from Walmart to expand the Meals on Wheels program and a $300k grant from the State of Alaska for building enhancements.• Cultivated community involvement in fundraisers by 113% and raised volunteer participation by over 20%.