#811: Attracting and Retaining Talent in Manufacturing

Mike Aitken has worked at SHRM since 2003 and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs. Prior to joining SHRM, he served for 14 years as associate director for Governmental and External Relations at the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). Previously, Aitken worked on state public policy issues at Bonner & Associates, a public affairs firm in Washington, DC. Currently, he is based in Alexandria, VA.

Kenneth Matos, Ph.D., is Senior Director of Research at Families and Work Institute and serves as a member of the senior leadership team. He conducts research on a wide range of workforce and workplace issues, including diversity, mentoring, work-life fit, and workplace effectiveness. His responsibilities include identifying emerging employment issues and trends, conducting analyses, writing reports and speaking on the findings from the Families and Work Institute’s ongoing nationally representative studies—the National Study of Employers and the National Study of the Changing Workforce. He also co-directs When Work Works, a project on workplace flexibility and effectiveness, in collaboration with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). When Work Works sponsors the Sloan Awards for Effective and Flexible Workplaces, which recognizes employers for providing workplaces that are beneficial to both employers and employees.

Nooshin Nathan is the Chief Human Resources Officer at JM Eagle, where she manages a global HR staff for a $2.2 billion dollar manufacturer of plastic pipes. She is responsible for all aspects of human resources including talent acquisition and development, organization development, employee relations as well as compensation and benefits. Ms. Nathan chairs the retirement committee, co-manages twenty-two indirect reports at plants throughout the United States, Mexico and China. In 2011 Ms. Nathan was recognized and awarded as an employee that demonstrates exemplary leadership.  Ms. Nathan received her undergraduate Psychology degree from California State University Northridge and her Masters in Psychology degree from Pepperdine University.  She spent three years working as a Psychotherapist before joining Assessment Solutions in New York City where she delivered a broad array of assessment services used for performance improvement and talent acquisition processes in the telecommunication, financial, information technology and healthcare sectors. 

Ms. Nathan volunteered over fifteen hundred hours of community service through the Help Group and Jewish Vocational Services. As a board member of the Personnel Practices Committee of this organization she provides guidance and direction on HR best practices.  She has received commendations from the State of California and City of Los Angeles for her volunteer work in mentoring other human resource professionals and now served as the keynote speaker for this organization.   Ms. Nathan holds the Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designation and is a member of HARRT at UCLA, a network of senior executives responsible for the design and execution of human resources strategy and policy in their organizations. 

In 2014 Ms. Nathan received the Day One Retirement Innovator Award from Prudential Financial for the improvements implemented on their company retirement plans.

Dave Lagerstrom has been President and CEO of TURCK Inc. for over 7 years, and has spearheaded the company’s strategy to create a culture that values the well-being of its employees. Under his leadership, these efforts have succeeded in flat-lining health care costs, reducing turnover to <2%, compared to the industry average of 11% to 14%, and very high engagement, with 93% of employees saying they make their best effort every day. Dave has spent his entire career in high tech manufacturing, including five years as a division manager at SICK AG and seven years in various roles at Rockwell Automation. He is a graduate of Iowa State University.

Craig Porter is the President/Owner of PlastiCert, Inc. Lewiston, MN. PlastiCert is full service provider of mold design, plastic injection molding, decoration, and assembly services.

Craig has a BSEET (Electronic Engineering Technology) from Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN and Certificate in Finance from Concordia University in St. Paul, MN.

Craig’s experiences include senior management/plant operations, business unit management, sales management and quality management. He has past engineering responsibilities in quality, manufacturing and reliability engineering on both existing products and product development teams. He has held positions in sales management and account management within the Electronic Manufacturing Services industry. Craig has been associated with a diverse array of company structures ranging in size from start-up and early stage medical device/high technology companies to multi-facility international corporations. He also has done consulting for early stage companies on design for manufacturability, early prototype development and manufacturing preparation for medical devices and electronic equipment. Product markets/industries that Craig has experienced include a concentration in medical devices, including electronic, mechanical and biological; additional experiences include computer equipment & peripherals, industrial controls, aerospace, automotive, telecommunications, test equipment, consumer, construction and agricultural electronics.

Craig is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the Winona State University Composites Engineering Program. Craig also sits on the Executive Board for the Winona Area Composites Consortium, an industry group associated with the plastics and composites companies throughout SE MN and SW WI. In 2010 Craig was named to the Winona Workforce Investment Board, a statewide program out of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development initiated by the Governor and coordinated regionally out of the SE Minnesota Workforce Center. He was the meeting moderator and a Steering Committee member for the Winona Inventors & Entrepreneurs Club. Craig was named to the Winona City Planning Commission in 2002 and is still actively serving as its Past-Chairman. He is a past Board Director and Executive Board Member for the Winona Area Chamber of Commerce, is still active on a number of their Committees and events, including the Business and Education Committee. He has presented the Chamber of Commerce “CEO in the Classroom” program to numerous local 8^th through 12th grade classes. He is the past President and still a board member for the Lewiston Area Chamber of Commerce. Craig is on the Advisory Board for the Project Lead the Way STEM Program at Lewiston Area High School and a frequent judge at the Winona Regional Science Fair as well as the MN State Science Fair. He is on the Winona Swim Club Executive board as their Past-President and a member of the Winona YMCA Aquatic Steering Committee. Craig volunteers as a swimming official/referee for the Winona YMCA Winfins and the USA/MN Swimming Winona Water Wizards swim clubs. He holds a National Certification level for officiating USA Swimming regional and national events over National and Olympic Team swimmers. He is certified to officiate swimming and diving for the Minnesota State High School League and the NCAA. The Minnesota State High School League selected him as Head Deck Referee for the 2012 and Starter for the 2014 Minnesota High School Boys Class AA Swimming & Diving Championships. He was selected to officiate at the 2013 & 2014 NCAA Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Swimming & Diving Championships and been on deck for the 2012 Big 10 Conference Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships as well as the 2012 NCAA Div I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships. Craig works for the Winona City Park & Rec Dept. on summer evenings teaching Springboard Diving. He also enjoys riding his road bicycle logging numerous 20 to 50 mile rides each season. A PADI certified scuba diver since college; he enjoys swimming and has participated in two Trinona Triathlons in Winona.

Craig is originally from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. After visiting SE MN repeatedly for business, Craig was recruited and relocated in Winona 20 years ago. He has four children ranging from 33 to 18 (the two oldest also have Electrical Engineering degrees) and has a grandson and a granddaughter.

Stephen Tucker is the Director of Industry Partnerships with Partners for a Competitive Workforce in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Tucker leads Industry Partnerships in Construction and Advanced Manufacturing engaging key stakeholders including employers, educators, community based organizations and the workforce investment system to address the skills gap of the local labor pool and to provide businesses with a qualified workforce. His main objectives are aligning education with industry, developing industry career pathways and utilizing industry intelligence to develop talent supply chains. 

Mr. Tucker is leading a multi generation design project to uncover ways to increase the number of women participating in advanced manufacturing careers while simultaneously engaging their children in STEM activities. He is also a member of the national Dream It Do It manufacturing marketing campaign and serves on numerous regional and local boards and committees.  

Mr. Tucker has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Wilberforce University. He is a 2008 graduate of the Urban League’s African American Leadership Development Program, the 2009 recipient of the State of Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Economic Opportunity, a 2010 YMCA Black & Latino Achiever, and a graduate of National Urban League’s Emerging Leaders Program. Mr. Tucker is a Certified Global Career Development Facilitator Instructor and a Murano Fellow as graduate of Aspen Institute’s Sector Skills Academy.