I was born and raised under the Big Sky of Montana, where the mountains meet the plains. While growing up in Lewistown, Montana I enjoyed the wide-open spaces to live, love, learn and grow as an individual. I started my working career in 1973 at the Lewistown Livestock Yards, cleaning livestock pens and staging cattle on sale days. While this was not a glorious job, it taught me to look at things in a different way. I was often reminded that the smell of the livestock yards is the smell of money, made up of green grass and water. From there I joined the US Army from 1979-1983. After I was honorably discharged from the US Army, I moved back to Lewistown to start my family. I began working at Hi-Heat Industries in 1993.
I am a lifetime member of the Theory of Constraint International Certification Organization. Through this organization and the international conferences that I have attended, I have been kept abreast of the latest innovations in manufacturing worldwide. In 2019 I presented at the international conference with “Better Decisions Faster with Relevant Information.” In this I outlined the business growth that Hi-Heat has had since 2004 using the Theory of Constraints tools for process flow, inventory management, and process of ongoing improvements.
I served on Lewistown Job Service Employer Committee from 2010-2014. During that time, we created educational opportunities for the businesses in our rural community.
In my off-duty time, I enjoy my time with family, especially my granddaughters and grandson, and friends at our cabin in the Snowy Mountains, hiking, riding ATVs, and cutting firewood.
