Executive VP, Global Operations, Benchmark Electronics

Mike Buseman serves as Benchmark’s Executive Vice President of Global Operations with responsibility for all worldwide manufacturing operations. Mike is an accomplished executive with broad experience in operations, quality and customer relationship management. He has an extensive background in EMS and related industries.

Mike served as Chief Global Logistics and Operations Officer of Avnet, Inc., a global electronics components company,
and was Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing Operations at Plexus Corp., having served as their Vice President of Global Technology, Quality and Facilities previously. Additionally, Mike served as Vice President and General Manager of Operations of Celestica, Inc., as well as their Director of Operations, Engineering, and Technology. Mike began his career in 1983 with Unisys, Inc., holding positions of increasing responsibility, including Principal Process Engineer and Director of Advanced Design Manufacturing Services.

Mike holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from South Dakota State University and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.

Arizona Public Affairs Manager , Intel

Senior Manager, Government Operations, The Boeing Company

Mark Gaspers serves as Senior Manager, Government Operations at The Boeing Company in the southwest. Prior to this role, Mr. Gaspers was a Trade Control Specialist in support of Boeing’s Space Exploration division.

Before joining Boeing, Mr. Gaspers was a policy analyst for defense, homeland security, veterans, and NASA issues for the Senate Republican Policy Committee (RPC) under the chairmanship of Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ). Mr. Gaspers also served as a senior legislative assistant for Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart and as Senator Kyl’s health care legislative correspondent. He completed the Air Command and Staff College with the Air Force Fellows section while working for Representative Diaz-Balart.

Mr. Gaspers received his master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University in 2001. While at Georgetown, he served as an associate editor of National Security Studies Quarterly and worked as a research assistant for the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Mr. Gaspers currently serves as chair the board of directors for the Arizona Manufacturers Council. He resides in Tucson with his wife, Dr. Mary Gaspers, and their two children.

Partner, Snell & Wilmer

Lucas Narducci has more than 27 years of experience in environmental and natural resources law. Luke regularly guides clients through administrative hearings, litigation and other forms of dispute resolution, striving to protect their assets and keep their business goals in mind. He has extensive experience in acquisitions, divestments, expansions, mergers, ventures, operational compliance, employee work space safety, work place and third-party toxic exposures, audits, risk reductions and control methods. He also advises on policy and legislative developments that affect or could impact his clients and their businesses. He has been a lead counsel in the divestment, acquisition, operation, curtailment, reclamation and closure of several copper, gold, coal and uranium mines.

Luke’s practice has taken him across the United States, as well as to Canada, Mexico and several countries in South America. He participates in many significant business, industry and manufacturing associations in order to advance the interests of those associations and his clients, and to influence rule-making, regulatory, policy and legislative processes.

Luke has extensive experience under all significant and some less recognized federal and state permitting and environmental assessment processes working with the government agencies and regulators to achieve client goals.

Associate Vice Chancellor, Maricopa County Community Colleges District

Daniel Barajas serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Workforce Development for the Maricopa County Community Colleges District, Phoenix, Arizona.

Daniel has over twenty-three years of experience working in post-secondary education. He has held many positions within both the academic and student affairs areas, with years of service as Dean of Academics and Career and Technical Education, currently serving as Associate Vice Chancellor.

With a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University, Daniel has a passion for marrying educational opportunity and solutions to industry and community need. Daniel has served on many councils and boards during his career. This is exemplified in his past role as the President for the Arizona Occupational Administrators Council, and current role as Board member for the City of Phoenix Business & Workforce Board.

Beth serves as the Director of Global Sales & Operations Planning for Delivery Systems & Services business within EMD Electronics. She has demonstrated more than 30 years of experience in the supply chain, operations and business leadership.

Beth’s career began with AlliedSignal’s Commercial Vehicle business where she spent 10 years in progressively increasing roles within Finance, Material Planning, and Product Marketing. She then transferred to AlliedSignal/Honeywell’s Aerospace sector where she spent the next 20 years in leadership roles in Integrated Supply Chain and P&L leadership. Her last several years was spent running the $250M segment of Honeywell Aerospace’s United States Air Force business, which included a $100M per year contract managing the supply chain for the Secondary Power and Logistics Program for Hill Air Force Base.

In her current position at EMD Electronics, Beth has global responsibility for DS&S’ sales and operations planning, integrating customer demands with factory capacity to optimize revenue and margins across the business.

Beth holds a B.A in Business Management & Accounting from Ohio University and a M.B.A. from Arizona State University. She is APICS certified in Inventory and Production Management and has taught lean manufacturing at the University of Tennessee.  Beth  regularly volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, St. Mary’s Food Bank and Andre House.

Director – State Government Relations, TSMC AZ Corp.

Laura Franco French serves as Director, State Government Relations, for TSMC AZ Corp. French is the liaison between the leading semiconductor foundry and the state and local government as TSMC continues towards the opening of their new Arizona fab.

French brings over two decades of experience in community relations, government affairs, international relations and communications in the public and non-profit sectors. Most recently, she served as Senior Policy Advisor to Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. In this role she provided strategic counsel and built community partnerships on issues such as economic development, international affairs, Latino community affairs, water, refugee and asylee issues, as well as arts and culture.

French also previously served as legislative liaison at the Arizona Office of Tourism. Additional experience includes a variety of positions spanning Greater Phoenix Leadership, Unidos US and the International Republican Institute. Early in her career, French worked at CNN at both their Atlanta and New York bureaus.

Vice President, Corporate Services, CalPortland

Steve has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of UCLA’s Executive Management Program and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California. Steve is a Senior Member with the IEEE and has been a member for over 30 years. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee on the IEEE Cement Industry Committee (CIC) and was previously IEEE CIC Chair, Vice Chair, Nominating Chair and Automation Working Group Chair. Steve participates on several industry committees and holds the position of Energy Subcommittee Chair for the Portland Cement Association and Chair of the California Large Energy Consumer’s Association. Steve founded CalPortland’s energy management program in 2003 and since that time the company has received 12 national EPA ENERGY STAR Awards for Partner of the Year in a row.

President & CEO, Vitalant

David Green currently serves as President & CEO for Vitalant, headquartered in Scottsdale. Formerly known as Blood Systems and founded in 1943, Vitalant is one of the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit transfusion medicine organizations employing over 5500 employees. As a licensed manufacturer of biologics, Vitalant provides approximately two million finished blood products annually to over 1,000 hospital customers in forty states nationwide.

Vitalant’s BioCare for-profit subsidiary has wide-reaching distribution capabilities to quickly and efficiently deliver therapeutic biologicals such as albumin, coagulation factors and Rh immune globulin to hospitals, clinics and physician offices. CanyonCARE Rx, part of BioCare, is a full service pharmacy specializing in medications for hemophilia, von Willebrand disease and other bleeding disorders. Vitalant is also a partner in the operation of Creative Testing Solutions, the largest independent blood donor testing organization in the U.S. with six high volume laboratories testing 75 percent of the nation’s blood supply. Additionally Vitalant operates a Research Institute, which is engaged in scientific studies ranging from blood donor epidemiology to cellular therapy to virus discovery with locations in San Francisco, Denver and Pittsburgh. Finally, Vitalant is self- insured with our wholly-owned subsidiary Canyon State Insurance.

Dave is active in industry leadership roles and is past chair for Blood Centers of America (national Co-Op), past President for America’s Blood Centers (industry trade association) is a board director for the American Association of Blood Banks (national accrediting and standards organization), and current board chair for the Alliance of Blood Operators, an international alliance.
Prior to moving to Arizona, Dave was the President and CEO for Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) where he served in that capacity for nearly 15 years. While in the Midwest he was active in volunteer work serving as Board Chair for United Way, Friendly House, Quad Cities First (economic development company) and the Quad Cities Chamber. He also served as an active duty Army officer in a variety of command and staff assignments.

Vice President/Corporate Counsel, Karsten Manufacturing Corporation (PING)

Dawn Grove is VP/Corporate Counsel for Karsten Manufacturing Corporation, the parent company of PING and related subsidiaries, and has served on the board of directors of Karsten Manufacturing Corporation continuously since 1995.  KMC’s main subsidiary, PING, is one of the top golf equipment brands in the U.S. and exports about half of its products outside the U.S.  In 2015, she was appointed to the U.S. Manufacturing Council, which advised the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on issues related to strengthening U.S. manufacturers and achieving policy solutions that allow them to remain globally competitive.   In  2016, Governor Ducey appointed her to chair the Workforce Arizona Council, the state’s workforce development board pursuant to the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.  Ms. Grove also serves on the board of the National Association of Manufacturers and chaired the Arizona Manufacturers Council from 2016-2020.  In 2020, she became chair of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

She has received many awards including the Manufacturing Institute’s STEP Ahead award for women leaders in manufacturing nationally, Pepperdine Outstanding Alumni/Women in Leadership, the Arizona Manufacturers Council’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, and AZ Big Media selected her as its Private Company Counsel of the Year winner in 2021.

Prior to going in-house with Karsten Manufacturing Corporation, Ms. Grove practiced law in California and Arizona, primarily representing manufacturers. She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Pepperdine University School of Law.

Ms. Grove is married to Rawleigh Grove and they have three children.  She serves in non-profit organizations that provide community service, and enjoys songwriting and mentoring young adults.

Manager of Strategic Engagement, Salt River Project (SRP)

John Hetrick is currently the Manager of Strategic Engagement with the Salt River Project (SRP). The group is responsible for managing SRP’s Political Action Committee and Chamber/Business Relationships. John has worked for SRP for over 21 years in numerous roles including leading the Sustainability Group, developing renewable energy projects, and in water strategy. John currently sits on the Board of the East Valley Chamber of Commerce Alliance and the Phoenix Parks Foundation. Hehas a M.A. in Geography from Arizona State University and a B.A. from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Heis a graduateof Project CENTRL, and the Western Energy Institutes’ Business Acumen for Emerging Leaders program. In his free time he enjoys running, mountain biking, traveling, and hiking in South Mountain Park with his partner Trish Murphy and their two vizslas.

Corporate Director for Environmental, Health and Safety, SUMCO Phoenix

Jeff Homer is Corporate Director for Environmental, Health and Safety for SUMCO Phoenix.  He has worked for more than 30 years in various aspects of industrial environmental and safety compliance and in hazardous materials management. He is the immediate past chairman of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Environment Committee.  Jeff also serves on the TRUWEST Credit Union Board of Directors.

General Manager and head of Manufacturing, Dexcom

James Kasselmann began working for Dexcom in September 2016 and is the site General Manager and head of Manufacturing at the Dexcom facility located in Mesa, AZ.  Prior to beginning at Dexcom, James served in a series of leadership positions in the biopharmaceutical industry from 2003 – 2016.  He was the site head at Gilead Sciences’ biologics campus located in Oceanside, CA.  He also worked for Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, where he oversaw the clinical production of biologic therapies for various cancer and anti-inflammatory diseases.  Prior to running the clinical production plant, he supported the Genentech campus in Oceanside, CA in several key leadership positions as the head of commercial Quality Control, Supply-chain, and Operational Excellence.  Prior to Genentech, James worked for IDEC Pharmaceuticals and Biogen in Supply-chain and Quality Control leadership positions.  James Kasselmann served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1982-2002 and completed his twenty-years of active duty service as a Lieutenant Colonel.  He and his wife Maureen moved to Arizona in 2017.

Chief Client Officer/Principal Consultant, Haley & Aldrich

Phil Lagas earned his reputation for delivering what clients value by adhering to a simple tenet: “When we listen, we understand. When we understand, we find the best path to solve our clients’ needs. And only then can we deliver the value our clients seek.” Phil is expanding that philosophy to Haley & Aldrich, ensuring staff use active listening and creative thinking to develop and deliver approaches that address clients’ unique needs.

Phil leads Haley & Aldrich’s consulting and construction operations with that client focus. He is responsible for meeting strategic and business objectives and works with client and technical leaders to develop and implement market and project delivery strategies.

He has nearly 40 years of experience working with private and government clients. He also works with industry associations and regulatory agencies to develop and improve environmental laws and regulations. He is a registered professional geologist in Arizona.

“I can truly say I love what I do. I have a career that combines my deep appreciation for the outdoors with my desire to connect with others. I like to promote a team environment internally and with our clients where we have fun while working hard to solve environmental challenges to preserve our world for future generations.”

President & CEO, Pivot Manufacturing

Steve Macias is a co-owner of Pivot Manufacturing and has been the President and CEO since the company’s inception in 2000. Pivot has grown from a small job shop to a company that does machining, assembly, and contract management, which has resulted in a five-fold increase in sales since 2002.

In addition to sales and financial duties at Pivot, Steve is also involved in promoting the small business community and the manufacturing industry. He currently serves on the Governor’s Council on Small Business and helps to explore and examine ways government can help promote and aid Arizona businesses.

Steve has worked with various congressmen and participated in small business roundtables in order to find ways to encourage small business utilization. He has also worked with staff from the Senate Committee on Small Business and the Minority Business Development Agency in Washington DC on issues ranging from cost of healthcare to contract bundling.

A native Arizonan, Steve and his wife Carrie make their home in Central Phoenix with their three boys. He has been involved with his sons as a coach in both Pop Warner football and Little League baseball. Steve earned both his B.S. and his M.B.A. from Arizona State University.

Michael McCormack MBA

Mike is President & CEO of CP North America. CPNA is a design and manufacturer of rugged and custom computer hardware, data communications and UAV system solutions for both the defense and industrial markets.

Mike has extensive experience both domestically and internationally of managing multi-site manufacturing operations. His experience has been with Emerson, Invensys, Channell Commercial Corporation and Jonathan Engineered Solutions.

Before his commercial experience, Mike served in the USAF as an Airborne Command Post Communications Systems Engineer.

Mike also serves on the board for the Center for the Future, Prescott Regional Opportunity Foundation.

General Manager , Raytheon Technologies

Sondra Radcliffe is General Manager for the Oxygen & Passenger Service business, part of Raytheon Technologies, where she leads a team of roughly 700 engineering, manufacturing, project management, and product assembly employees located across 5 global sites. She has had a successful career as an attorney at an Am Law 100 firm, as in-house counsel for United Technologies Corp., and as a business executive at Raytheon Technologies.

Sondra’s result-oriented approach and willingness to take on challenging assignments led to her selection by the Collins Aerospace senior leadership team as 1 of 60 women for the WILL RISE program, hand-picked for advancement in P&L roles to meet Raytheon Technologies’ commitment to gender parity in senior leadership roles by 2030.

Prior to her role as General Manager, Sondra was Senior Director of the Program Management Office where she was responsible for program management governance as well as spearheading a business transformation project across 35 global sites following the acquisition of Rockwell Collins. Before the acquisition of Rockwell Collins, Sondra served as Associate General Counsel supporting the Interiors, Actuation and Propeller Systems businesses. Prior to joining Collins Aerospace, Sondra was an attorney with two national law firms where she worked with companies in healthcare, financial services, and other highly regulated industries. She also served as a Business Development Analyst for alcoholic beverage distributor Mesa Distributing Co.

Sondra holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Diego, Calif., as well a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law. In addition, she earned executive education certifications for the Emerging Leaders Executive Education Program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in Singapore, the Global Leadership Development Program at INSEAD, and the Women on Boards Executive Education Program at Harvard Business School.

Sondra has received the following awards and recognitions: 2021 Women’s Advocate Award (Collins Aerospace), 2020 Technology Leader of the Year Award (Arizona Capitol Times); 2018 Finalist: Arizona Corporate Counsel Awards; 2013 Top Young Attorney Award (San Diego Daily Transcript); 2012 Finalist: Women Who Rock (San Diego Metro Magazine); and 2011 Top Young Attorney Award (San Diego Daily Transcript).

Nathan serves as the general manager of the Bristol Myers Squibb manufacturing facility in Phoenix. In his role, Nathan is responsible for leading all operations, functions and performance of the 280,000 square foot facility to deliver therapies for pancreatic, non-small cell lung and breast cancers.

Nathan is overseeing the expansion of the existing facility in Phoenix that will transform the site to play a key role in delivering sterile biologic drug product to patients globally. Nathan previously served as the general manager at the Bristol Myers Squibb manufacturing facility in Syracuse.

As a leader with over 20 years of experience in global pharmaceutical and medical device laboratory, quality and operations, Nathan’s diverse expertise includes non-sterile, aseptic and terminal sterilization; vaccine and biologics and device manufacturing. He has led complex manufacturing operational turnarounds and operations excellence deployment. Nathan brings outside-of-the-thinking, technical acumen and high-accountability execution to develop a highly skilled and engaged workforce committed to safety and quality.

Prior to joining Bristol Myers Squibb, Nathan oversaw best practices architecture for Quality, Manufacturing and Technical Operations at Merck where he led the adoption of industry 4.0 mindsets for strategic manufacturing facilities expansions in a $7B capital portfolio. His career spans leadership roles for Smith & Nephew, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline in the U.S., Italy and Australia.

Nathan grew up in Australia and received bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and chemistry from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

About Bristol Myers Squibb

Bristol Myers Squibb is a leading global biopharma company focused on discovering, developing and delivering innovative medicines for patients with serious diseases. Our people are focused on helping millions of patients around the world in disease areas such as oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular, fibrosis and neuroscience. Through the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) charitable organization, we support community-based programs that promote cancer awareness, screening, care and support among high-risk populations in the United States, as well as China, Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa. Our employees around the world work every day to transform patients’ lives through science.

Joe was asked to join Southwest Gas Corporation as a pipeline engineer in 1995 after a successful five-year internship.  In 1998, Joe became an Industrial Gas Engineer in Key Account Management.  There he supported the continued use of natural gas and promoted new natural gas uses with SWG’s commercial/industrial customers.  Joe has negotiated service agreements, and bypass rate agreements.  In his current role as Director of Energy Solutions, Joe focuses on maintaining SWG relevance through the promotion of emerging natural gas technologies such as compressed natural gas, renewable natural gas, combined heat and power and Hydrogen.  Joe also oversees SWG’s new Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) program that is moving the company into new areas of service that could result in significant increased margin for the company.   Joe was part of a team that pursued and received approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission for a compression tariff and a renewable natural gas tariff.

Joe holds both a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and MBA from the University of Arizona.  His industry experiences combine operations, economic development, regulatory, public affairs and customer management.