CircuiTree - March 2009 - (Page 32) Two Women Executives and Their Impact on the PCB Industry Darryl Seland ith the 2009 IPC APEX EXPO™ on the horizon, in particular the association’s Women in Electronics meeting, CircuiTree sat down with two woman executives in the PCB industry to discuss their rise to prominence, some of the obstacles they have overcome, and what they and their companies are doing to navigate through the current economic landscape. W Two Stories of Rising to Leadership Brigitte Lawrence, president and owner of BrigitFlex, Inc., started her career in the PCB industry working with military contracts as a cost estimator at Microwave Cavity Labs. “I had some very nice people that took me under their wing and taught me the ropes about military work,” said Lawrence. “I took a great interest in the military specs and the how to [of it all].” As Lawrence described, in the 1970s, they used artists to lay out PCBs on Mylar with black crepe from schematics. As a woman in a predominantly male field, Lawrence considered herself a bit of a novelty and had to prove herself and stay ahead of trends on a daily basis. “With an eye for art and a background with military specs, I learned to lay out printed circuit boards and kept up with my studies and reading on the ever-changing electronics industry,” she said. “The Midwest was a great place to learn.” Melanie Bera is president and owner of TRC Circuits in Minneapolis. Her PCB odyssey actually began in college. In 1997, she was preparing to transfer from Northern Michigan University to the University of Minnesota. Her sister worked for TRC Circuits in shipping and inspection and Bera knew she would soon be leaving her position. “I didn’t know anything about circuit boards, but they needed a receptionist and a shipper and I knew I could do the job,” Bera said. After about a month 32 March 2009 • circuitree.com in Minneapolis, Bera was hired by TRC. The amazing part of the story is that after just five years, she took ownership of the company. It happened like this: TRC Circuits was established in 1985 by seven owners, all who worked together at companies like ACI and Honeywell. In 1987, the entity was down to two owners, one of the original seven, and one new owner. By 1997, the company employed 52 workers and was doing USD 3 to 4 million a year in sales. Then the tech bubble burst. “[Not just the tech bubble] but also free trade with China and NAFTA—things that were taking away from manufacturers in the U.S.,” said Bera. “The result of which was more competition globally.” Minneapolis was particularly hard hit and saw a number of shops close at that time. “Big shops, like Honeywell,” said Bera. “They employed probably about 12,000 people. They closed in 2002.” In 2001, TRC had about USD 1 to 1.5 million in sales with 50 employees, one of whom was Bera, who had been moved up from receptionist and was keeping the company’s books. According to Bera, however, the business wasn’t bankable and was far in debt. “The two owners were not that into the business anymore and wanted to retire. The business was failing. It was a really bad time for manufacturing,” said Bera. “One [owner] was bought out by the other and he offered to sell to me if I wanted to buy him out. I did, after about a year. He had already moved me up to take care of the books, so I had seen the good side of the company and what it could do. It just didn’t have the right people making decisions.” Since taking over in 2002 and through 2005, the company experienced periods of growth and periods of stability. “In 2006, we started to see a bit of a decline,” said Bera. “Then in 2007, a larger decline, but in the middle of 2008 we were seeing some growth again.” This may seem a little backward considering the information we have all http://www.circuitree.com
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