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Kellie Johnson
President
ACE Clearwater Enterprises
Kellie Johnson graduated from USC in 1982 with a B.A. in International Relations. She joined the family business ACE Clearwater Enterprisesin 1984 working in all areas from purchasing to production control. At that time the company had annual revenues of approximately 10 Million dollars, primarily in aerospace sheet metal forming and fabrication.
Kellie took over operations in 1985 and was promoted to President in 1989 concentrating on building an infrastructure to what at the time was a very loose organization. Changes in the industry and increasing demands from the customer base required new thinking. No longer a simple build to print job shop, ACE was evolving into an extension of its customers manufacturing operations. Large investments were made in Human Resource policies and procedures, IT and capital equipment. Kellie brought on several key personnel and created a new position, Director of Change. This position has evolved into Director of Progress to help lead the continuous improvement process. Recognizing people are our biggest asset, ongoing training is a hallmark of Kellies’ leadership. By 1995 Kellie had doubled annual sales to over 20 Million dollars, with current (2006) projections at 28 Million. Focusing on speed and quality, ACE Clearwater Enterprises has become a preferred supplier for several prime OEMs. Under her leadership the company received the highly coveted Boeing Supplier of the Year award in 1993. Specializing in complex formed and welded assemblies, Industry Week recognized ACE Clearwater Enterprises as “One of Americas Top 25 Small Manufacturers” in 1999. In 2002 Kellie completed her companies acquisition of the Honeywell metal forming business, which has led to a nearly 20% increase in revenues. She has also positioned ACE Clearwater Enterprises and its 175 employees as the full service manufacturing facility of choice for Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Honeywell, Textron/Bell/Cessna and a host of primes. ACE Clearwater was recently awarded the largest single contract in its 54 year history for exhaust nozzles on the Apache AH64 Helicopter. Under Kellies’ leadership, ACE Clearwater Enterprises has been certified to the new ISO 9001:2000 and AS 9100B international quality standards, as well as Nadcap approvals in NDT and Welding, making ACE Clearwaterone of a handful of aerospace companies of its size working under this new quality standard.
Kellie Johnson was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the CMTC (California Manufacturing Technology Consulting) in 1995 and served as a Board Member for 12 years. Kellie also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Manufacturers, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Manufacturing Institute. In 2005 Kellie accepted the position of Chairman of the South Bay Economic Development Partnership for a two year term. Additionally Kellie is a member of the Technical Advisory Board for City National Bank. Kellie was nominated to the Presidents Manufacturing Council by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Al Frink in 2005, and was accepted by Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez in March of 2006. In the civic arena Kellie is actively involved the local school system promoting careers in manufacturing, and through ongoing facility tours, she encourages educators to promote manufacturing as a great career opportunity. ACE sponsors several local high schools in the First Robotics national competition, and promotes internship programs to expose young people to engineering and other manufacturing related careers. Kellie is a proud supporter of Move America Forward, and Spirit of America.
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