Offering renewable, recyclable packaging for the Food and Beverage Industry

Placon, headquartered in Madison, WI, designs and manufactures unique thermoformed and injection molded plastic packaging products that are built with the end-user in mind. Founded in 1966, Placon operates with the same Midwestern values and engineering spirit that the company was built on. Within the medical device, food and retail markets, Placon offers true custom-designed packaging and creative, off-the-shelf solutions with capabilities from design, prototyping, tool design and build, thermoforming, injection molding, pre-print, labeling and other decorating services. Known as one of the top 20 thermoformers in the US according to Plastics News, Placon provides inspired packaging designs that are attractive, protective, functional and intuitive. Sustainably-minded, the company built a recycling and extrusion facility that takes discarded PET (#1 resin ID code) bottles and thermoforms and transforms them into new packaging.

Oversaw P&L for $500,000,000 consumer products division. Managed P&L for multiple product lines and eight manufacturing facilities. Led integration of five BUs into one consumer products group. Developed three-year strategic plan. Revitalized marketing and R&D within division. Implemented daily management KPIs into all operations. Implemented key account management. Served as senior member of M&A team. Led sales, marketing, and manufacturing, with indirect management of finance, HR, and supply chain for BU. Set annual targets, budgets, and strategy. Directed structure and staffing of sales, marketing, and manufacturing.

Oversaw $450,000,000 of packaging sales for US. Managed all go-to-market activities, including pricing. Developed current growth strategy for organization. Led commercial team of 25 professionals, including turnaround of several underperforming team members. Chaired sales and operational planning forum tasked with alignment of commercial, supply chain, and technical functions. Drove professional, disciplined key account management, customer satisfaction, and value-based selling methodologies. Directed compliance with global commercial policy.

Oversaw $115,000,000 chilled packaging division while maintaining responsibility for dairy category within aseptic packaging division. Developed and implemented new strategy and structure for commodity-driven chilled business, resulting in $10,000,000 operating result improvement in 2004. Grew aseptic dairy packaging business in excess of 20% for third straight year. Invited to advise European colleagues on "best practices in highly competitive environment.'' Awarded company "MVP" for 2004 performance.

Oversaw national category-based business unit with $37,000,000 in sales. Managed all aspects of sales, marketing, technical, finance, and administration. Grew sales every year. Developed and implemented strategy and marketing plan. Implemented key account management processes and tools, including CRM pilot.

Held sales and marketing responsibility for 20-state territory in Northeastern U.S., with direct management of eight sales and technical professionals. Selected by management in 1997 to participate in multi-million dollar turnaround of under-performing business unit. Implemented strategy to stabilize current customer base while bringing costs under control. Increased division profits $50,000,000, margins 17%, and market share 4% in 1997. Restructured technical service responsibilities to positively impact customer satisfaction while reducing costs.

Oversaw P&L responsibility for University dairy foods production and sales operation, as well as management responsibility of industry focused state-of-the-art food processing research laboratory. Developed self-supporting, industry-oriented applied research and contract services program within first year. Instructed course entitled, "Contemporary Trends in Food Science."