CASCADE ENGINEERING - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Lead Director of Briggs
- Partner, Strategic Leadership With Huron Capital
- President of Herman Miller North America
Brian Walker is a Partner, Strategic Leadership with Huron Capital. Huron Capital is an operationally-focused lower middle market private equity firm. Brian plays a critical role in helping generate superior operating and financial performance within Huron's portfolio companies. Brian is a hands-on resource providing the business insights and strategic direction to portfolio company management teams necessary to create value in the private equity environment.
Prior to joining Huron Capital in 2018, Brian was the President and CEO of Herman Miller, Inc., overseeing the global company's efforts to create solutions that inspire better places for people to work, learn, heal and live. Brian was named President and COO of the Company in 2003, and assumed the title of CEO in 2004. Herman Miller has annual revenue of $2.5 billion, 8,500 employees and serves customers in 109 countries.
Under Brian's leadership, Herman Miller implemented a transformative business strategy called "SHIFT," and has made purposeful strides toward positioning itself globally as a premium lifestyle brand. The strategic shift to an industry-plus-consumer brand has redefined Herman Miller as the only Company in the furnishings space to serve consumers and contract customers across a multi-channel platform. Under Brian's leadership, Herman Miller was recognized by Contract magazine as the most Inspiring Furniture Company, by Fast Company magazine as one of the most Innovative Companies, by Fortune magazine as one of the Best Places to Work and, several publications for leadership regarding Inclusion and Sustainability.
Brian was appointed President of Herman Miller North America in 2000, a role in which he oversaw the Company's core business operations for the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. During
this period, Brian transformed Herman Miller into a lean enterprise. He developed a long-term partnership with the Toyota Supplier Support Center that resulted in the creation of the Herman Miller Performance System (HMPS).
Beginning in 1995, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Herman Miller, Inc., where he developed a strong team and an internationally respected Finance organization. Under Brian's leadership, the Company adopted the Economic Value Added (EVA) methodology of measuring business performance and compensating employees. Prior to that, he held various financial management positions within Herman Miller's International operations. Before joining Herman Miller, Brian worked as a CPA for the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.
Brian is the Lead Director of Briggs and Stratton Corporation, chair's the Compensation Committee and serves on the Finance Committee. Brian is also a member of the Board of Directors for Universal Forest Products, Inc., Cooper Tire, Inc., Gentex Inc., And, Cascade Engineering a privately held company in Headquartered in Western Michigan.
Brian is a civic and philanthropic leader. Brian serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Iowa Institute for Vision Research, and founded Sam's Scramble for Sight. These organizations are focused on developing cures for inheritable eye disease that often lead to blindness. He is a member of the board of Trustees of Davenport University. Brian previously was served on the board of: The Right Place, Inc., West Michigan's regional economic development organization. Business Leaders for Michigan. The Federal Reserve Bank of Detroit. The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA). And, the Michigan State University Broad School of Business.
Brian's work at Herman Miller has been featured in several books and publications including Merchants of Virtue, EVA: The Real Key to Creating Wealth and a few others. In May of 2018, Brian also received the Peter C. Cook Excellence in Business Award, demonstrating professional success and commitment to community service and support.
Brian is a graduate of Michigan State University, and he enjoys biking, golfing, skiing, and martial arts. Brian and his wife, Colleen, have three children and reside in Naples, Florida and Holland, Michigan.
Job Titles:
- Director Supply Management
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Leadership Team
- CEO / Chair of Board of Directors
- CEO of Cascade Engineering Family of Companies
Christina Keller is CEO of Cascade Engineering Family of Companies and President of Noble Polymers. Cascade Engineering is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is a global manufacturing company with a diversity of strategic markets, including transportation, environmental services, material handling, and polymer compounding. Noble Polymers is a custom compounder of plastic pellets and a valued partner within the circular economy. Core operations are in West Michigan, with additional operations in Budapest, Hungary. The Institute of Scrap Recycling named Cascade Engineering as its 2021 Design for Recycling Award Winner for the EcoCart, which contains up to 50 percent recycled content.
Keller joined Cascade Engineering in 2009, and during that time has also served as President of the Cascade Business Team and President of CK Technologies, which is a former business unit of Cascade, which specialized in thermoplastic solutions for the North American commercial truck market.
In 2016, Keller was recognized as a rising star by Plastics News Magazine, and in 2017 was ranked as one of West Michigan's 40 under 40. She received the Equity Champion Award in 2022 for her effort in bringing greater health equity to all Grand Rapid's residents, and has delivered multiple TEDx talks on entrepreneurship and sustainable business.
Keller holds an MBA from Cornell University, with a BA from Boston College. She also has a certification in economics from American University and a certificate of achievement as a Lean Six Sigma Black belt from Villanova University.
Community involvement is a mainstay of Keller's leadership. She is the Chair of the Diversity and Talent Summit for the Grand Rapids Chamber, serves on the board of the Grand Rapids Economics Club, served as the chair and on the board of the GR Community Foundation, is a board member of Independent Bank, a member of Talent 2025, and is an annual guest lecturer with the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Keller lives in West Michigan with her husband and two children.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Financial Executive
- Member of the Leadership Team
Eric Van Namen will play a critical role in developing and implementing the financial strategy for Cascade Engineering. As a member of the Office of the President (OTP), Eric will be an advisor and partner to the CEO/President and other key business leaders by providing assistance in evaluating strategic moves, mergers and acquisitions; growth strategies; and, developing financial plans, economic modeling, and risk analysis. Eric will be responsible for the Finance/Accounting Departments including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, cost accounting, taxes, insurance, fixed assets, budgets, forecasting, month-end and year-end accounting and the reporting of the financial performance of Cascade Engineering, including international operations. In this role, he will also be a key partner to our financial institutions and support meetings with the Board of Directors. Eric will be instrumental in the future success of Cascade Engineering.
Eric is a senior level financial executive with a demonstrated passion for delivering enhanced bottom-line performance, innovative process improvements, and a hands-on leader who collaborates with other business leaders in the development and implementation of strategic plans to facilitate business growth. He joins our team bringing over 26 years of increasing leadership responsibility in Finance. Eric is joint Cascade with a variety of excellent experience. Eric has more than 25 years of experience in accounting and finance serving within both the public and private sectors. He most recently was CFO at Lambert & Co., prior to that he spent 10 years as CFO of ODL, Inc. in Zeeland, rounding off his experience with 10 years at Deloitte (one of the Big 4 accounting firms in the world). Eric brings a wide range of experience from startups to multi-billion-dollar organizations. He possesses skills in leadership, financial analysis and planning, M&A, auditing and all aspects of accounting and finance. Greg Bylsma shared, "Eric's experience in leading the financial arms of organizations of our size is very impressive, and I look forward to the leadership he will provide as we navigate the next chapter of Cascade."
Eric received his bachelor's degree from Hope College and his master's degree from Western Michigan University. He belongs to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Michigan Association of CPA's (MACPA). Eric currently serves on the board of Starlite Shores Family Camp and is a past board member for Spartan Nash YMCA, American Heart Association of West Michigan, and Grandville Calvin Christian Schools.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member of the Board of Directors
- History
Fred believes that business has the unique opportunity to complement its efforts on financial performance with important work in the social and environmental arenas. He has emphasized the key role business can play in building financial, social and ecological capital, often through partnerships with government and community agencies. Business and industry publications regularly feature his innovative management approach and work in advancing sustainability.
Fred recently completed 17 years as a Senior Visiting Lecturer at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He served as an Executive-in-Residence at the University of Michigan - Ross School of Business. He was a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council with two years as chair under Presidents Bush and Obama. Keller also served on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Board for 14 years with two years as chair. Fred is a trustee for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.
Fred serves on the boards of Paragon Die & Engineering of Grand Rapids, Michigan and Balcones Resources of Austin, Texas. He has previously served on the boards of the Meijer Corporation and Fifth Third Bank, West Michigan. He is currently an advisor to several startup companies around the country. He has been active with many community organizations and change initiatives. He is co-founder and chair of Talent 2025, a catalyst for the development of an integrated talent system to meet employer needs throughout 13 West Michigan counties. He served as co-chair of K-Connect, a Kent County Collective Impact Systems Change Collaborative.
A Grand Rapids, Michigan native, Fred earned his B.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University and an M.S. in business management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Leadership
Board of Directors
History
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- President
Greg brings extensive global manufacturing and operations experience to Cascade. He has served as president of North America and Head of Global Manufacturing of Herman Miller and previous to that as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of North America and the Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer.
Job Titles:
- Accounts and Sales Manager
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Executive Vice President for the Cascade Engineering Family of Companies
Insightful, dedicated, and genuinely caring, Kenyatta Brame embodies the principles and values Cascade Engineering was built on. Kenyatta joined Cascade Engineering in 2006 and has been crucial in leading several of our Employer of Choice initiatives, including B Corp certification and a Full Partner designation from the Partners for a Racism-Free Community.
Kenyatta is Executive Vice President for the Cascade Engineering Family of Companies. Kenyatta is responsible for directing Cascade's cross-organizational services, which include legal/risk management, human resources, benefits, talent management, marketing, IT, ESS (environmental, safety and sustainability) and Lean/CES (Cascade Enterprise System).
Prior to joining Cascade, Kenyatta served as Senior Vice President of Operations and Merchandising, Employee Relations & Legal Services at Sysco Food Services the largest distributor of food service products in North America. He also served as legal counsel for the Company.
Earlier in his career, Brame was an attorney with Miller Johnson, a leading Grand Rapids, Michigan employment and labor law firm. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University and Thomas M. Cooley law school where he taught employment law.
Kenyatta's extensive community affiliations include co-founding the Tipping Point Initiative, a non-profit focusing on reducing barriers for education and employment for inner-city youth and other disenfranchised people. Kenyatta is the Scoutmaster for Troops 238 and Pack 3206 located in the inner-city of Grand Rapids. In 2017, he was elected to the Board of Trustees for Grand Rapids Community. He also serves on the Boards for West Michigan Works; Spectrum Healthier Communities; Grand Rapids Jury Commission; Civil Service Board of the City; and, Alternative Directions (a probation residence service that offers an alternative direction to non-violent felony offenders).
Kenyatta holds a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School, an MBA from Michigan State University and a bachelor's degree from Wabash College.
He resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his wife Tracey - Assistant Dean at the Western Michigan, Thomas M. Cooley Law School and their two children Kamau and Kimani.
Job Titles:
- Senior Accounts and Sales Manager
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Commercial Vice President of Cascade Cart Solutions ( CCS )
Job Titles:
- Member of the Leadership Team
- Vice President of Operations
- Vice President of Operations for the Cascade Engineering Family of Companies
Steve Bushong is the Vice President of Operations for the Cascade Engineering Family of Companies. He joined Cascade in 2018. He is responsible for all Cascade Engineering's manufacturing facilities located in Grand Rapids. Steve provides strategic leadership for our North American manufacturing operations. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business and Manufacturing Engineering from Ferry State University.
Prior to joining Cascade, Steve was the Vice President of North American Operations at Yanfeng Automotive Interiors in Holland, Michigan. Steve began his career with Prince Corporation as a Manufacturing Ergonomics Engineer and became the Lead Engineer for Advanced Manufacturing in the automotive overhead products group. Johnson Controls, JCI, purchased Prince Corporation in 1996, shortly after the acquisition, Steve became Group Manager for Injection Molding Process Development. In 2011, Steve was named Operations Director responsible for seven JCI facilities in North America. He was promoted to Vice President of North American Operations for Johnson Controls Automotive Interiors in 2013. In 2015, Yanfeng Automotive Trim Systems Co. of Shanghai purchased a controlling interest (70%) of JCI's $3-billion automotive interiors business and Steve was named Vice President of North American Operations for Yanfeng Automotive Interiors.
Steve is a member of the National Association of Manufacturer's Manufacturing Leadership Council.
Job Titles:
- Senior Accounts and Sales Manager