Article Courtesy of Minneapolis/St.Paul Business Journal
Emerging Leader in Manufacturing
Janel Wittmayer, president of CPC, is MSPBJ's 2020 Emerging Leader in Manufacturing honoree. Photo credit: NANCY KUEHN, MSPBJ.
By Carrigan Miller – Staff writer, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Janel Wittmayer’s first test as president of CPC came almost immediately after taking the job.
In May 2017, she was named the first female president of the manufacturer, which designs and makes couplings and fittings for plastic tubing. At the same time, CPC was switching its enterprise resource planning software to Oracle. That transition temporarily crippled the company: In June, it had a 27% on-time delivery rate to its customers.
"It was a rough year," Wittmayer said. "It was incredibly challenging, but it was also incredibly rewarding. Really, it was a matter of pulling everyone together."
Pulling people together turned out to be a key strength for Wittmayer. By November, CPC (which stands for Colder Products Co.) was delivering products at the rates it was hitting before the software switch.
So what was Wittmayer's approach? She describes herself less as a fearless leader shepherding a team of 700 engineers and builders into battle and more as a clearer of obstacles.
"I'm a very collaborative service leader. I often say that I'm not necessarily the leader – I work for my employees. My job is to make sure they have the resources and the support to [be] successful," she said.
During her tenure, she's led CPC to new heights. Some highlights of her leadership include consolidating CPC's Twin Cities operations in a new 132,000-square-foot, $30 million headquarters in Roseville; growing CPC's Twin Cities employee base by 50% (it has more than 600 now, according to its website); and guiding the company to an 18% growth rate over the past three years.
Now, the company once again relies on Wittmayer's leadership as it faces an even bigger crisis: Covid-19. The crisis hasn't hurt CPC's bottom line because it makes key parts for ventilators and pharmaceuticals, to name a few, but keeping employees safe and motivated is hard.
“It’s been a really interesting challenge to be able to do that efficiently and effectively," she said.
The way Wittmayer discusses CPC's 2020 betrays her mindset: She sees challenges to be conquered, not setbacks.
Wittmayer also has been a proponent of women in executive leadership and engineering roles. In addition to recruiting and supporting female engineering staff, CPC participates in educational programs to stimulate girls' interests in STEM.
Wittmayer, herself, attended the University of Minnesota, where she majored in chemistry and was a Division I swimmer. After a career in chemical sales, she returned to the university's Carlson School of Management, where she received her master's degree. She spent 10 years with Tactile Medical before it went public and three years at Nordson Medical before joining CPC as its vice president of sales and marketing in 2016.
Janel Wittmayer
President, CPC
Tenure with company: More than four years
Tenure at current title: Three years
Activities: Involved with STEM education programs, marathon runner
Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Minnesota; master's degree, University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management
Carrigan Miller
Staff writer, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal