Pioneer Plastic Inc. | about : bios

Minou Hussain, Chief Executive Officer

Since founding the company in 1985, Minou has led Pioneer Plastics to become a leading manufacturer in the United States and a global supplier to over 100 Fortune 500 companies world-wide. With over thirty years of experience in the plastics industry, Minou brings a wealth of expertise from the initial tool design to the final product development phase. Prior to starting Pioneer Plastics, Minou held several senior engineering and leadership positions at Rubbermaid, Germany before he moved to Minnesota. After his arrival he strengthened his engineering experience in tooling and injection molding at legendary companies including Grand Engineering, Lakeland Tool & Engineering and Northland Aluminum. His dedication and commitment to his profession has won him recognition from several customers as well as from the local business community as The Business Journal Magazine's - 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Minou holds many management and engineering accreditations from renowned institutions such as Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University Executive Program, St. Thomas University – Center of Entrepreneurship and Executive Business Leadership Program. As well as certifications of achievement from state and national organizations, including Metropolitan Economic Development Association and Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council.

Matt Mahmood, Chief Operations Officer

Mr. Mahmood brings over fourteen years of operations and business management expertise. Since joining Pioneer Plastics, he has led the company in strengthening its manufacturing operations by expanding to offer new services and global sourcing programs. Mahmood has held several positions in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney focusing on communications, semiconductor and hardware based technology companies. At Bear Stearns & Co, technology companies such as, IBM, Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, 3COM, Alcatel, Harmonic Lightwave, Bay Networks and Brightpoint were covered by him. Most recently, as the founder and COO of Circata Corporation, a wireless and voice over IP technology company, he won recognition from Cisco Systems as well as from local business community publications such as The Business Journal Magazine's - 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr. Mahmood holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and Business Information Systems from the California Institute of Technology and completed advanced business development and management training at American Express University.

R. A. Severnak, Managing Director, Asia Operations

With over thirty years of experience in global manufacturing and sourcing, Mr. Severnak brings leadership that enables Pioneer to achieve its goal to become a global manufacturer with its recent expansion into Asia. His experience in aircraft component and military ordinance engineering, primarily with Honeywell included production, service engineering and technology planning positions. For the past fifteen years he has been directly involved with manufacturing, tooling, components, products and related services in China for select customers.

Mr. Severnak holds a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in Business Administration and has several awards and accreditations from previous employers as well as several institutions over his many years in business and manufacturing.

Byron Griffith, National Sales Manager

Over the past thirty years, Mr. Griffith has built a global network of suppliers and has supported customers worldwide. His engineering and sales experience extends beyond plastic component manufacturing, including casting and mechanical manufactured components. He had extensive sales and marketing experience at CMS Hartzell, recently acquired by Sanmina SCI. Prior to joining Pioneer, Mr. Griffith had worked with Puget Plastics, a native Alaskan owned company with its manufacturing operations in Guadalajara, Mexico. His work experience also includes Fortune 500 companies such as, Motorola, IBM, Kodak, General Electric, Caterpillar, John Deere, Square D, Eaton Corp., CNH, Navistar, Pentair, Warner Electric, Danaher Motion and others.

Mr. Griffith holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Iowa State University in Engineering and holds several certifications and accreditations in sales and marketing.

Gordon Anderson, Engineering Sales

With over forty years experience in tool design, machining and injection molding, Mr. Anderson brings a variety of solutions to support Pioneer’s customers worldwide. After serving in the U.S. Army, he began his career at General Mills in the early 1960s. Over the years, Mr. Anderson has worked with many of Minnesota’s recognizable organizations such as Grand Engineering, Lakeland Tool & Engineering, Blanda Inc., McKechnie Tool & Engineering, Americal Mold & Engineering, Ecowater Systems as well as others. Since joining Pioneer, Mr. Anderson has expanded Pioneer’s project management and process management services to include everything from tool and product design consultation to product packaging. Moreover, Mr. Anderson’s ability to engage with customers early during the product design stage has reduced time to market and has saved production costs for many Fortune 500 companies, including Delphi, 3M, IMI, Cornelius, Igloo, Lear and Ecowater Systems.

Jennifer Ripple, Client Services Manager

Over the past thirteen years, Ms. Ripple has managed and supported a variety of client services issues. Her experiences extend well beyond customer problem resolutions and account management. During her eleven year career at Puget Plastics, she managed most of Puget’s global clients which included many Fortune 500 companies, such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Motorola, IBM and Addeco. In most cases, her duties also included overseeing new project development as well as supply chain management. Since joining Pioneer, Ms. Ripple has spearheaded customer logistics, inventory management services and programs from her base of operations in Portland, Oregon. Her strong organizational capability and expertise to manage a wide variety of complex customer requirements have contributed to improved scheduling and customer fulfillment demands.

Richard ‘Dick’ Walerak, Senior Tooling Engineer

Since joining Pioneer in 1992, Mr. Walerak has lead the tooling department in innovating and developing its various engineering programs. With over thirty nine years of experience in engineering and mold design, he has pioneered many solutions using a combination of software and manufacturing technology to creatively solve many complex problems that arise during his accomplished career. His career began in the mid-1960s at Honeywell and a decade later at Grand Engineering, where became the Lead Tool & Design Engineer before joining Pioneer. Mr. Walerak stays current with the latest engineering technologies to offer our customers unique and state-of-the-art solutions during every stage of their manufacturing needs. His engineering experience, broad knowledge and strategic advice are invaluable to many of Pioneer’s global clients during their planning, R&D, prototyping and pre-production phases.

	Executive Bios
	Minou Hussain, Chief Executive Officer Since founding the company in 1985, Minou has led Pioneer Plastics to become a leading manufacturer in the United States and a global supplier to over 100 Fortune 500 companies world-wide. With over thirty years of experience in the plastics industry, Minou brings a wealth of expertise from the initial tool design to the final product development phase. Prior to starting Pioneer Plastics, Minou held several senior engineering and leadership positions at Rubbermaid, Germany before he moved to Minnesota. After his arrival he strengthened his engineering experience in tooling and injection molding at legendary companies including Grand Engineering, Lakeland Tool & Engineering and Northland Aluminum. His dedication and commitment to his profession has won him recognition from several customers as well as from the local business community as The Business Journal Magazine's - 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year. Minou holds many management and engineering accreditations from renowned institutions such as Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University Executive Program, St. Thomas University – Center of Entrepreneurship and Executive Business Leadership Program. As well as certifications of achievement from state and national organizations, including Metropolitan Economic Development Association and Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council. Matt Mahmood, Chief Operations Officer Mr. Mahmood brings over fourteen years of operations and business management expertise. Since joining Pioneer Plastics, he has led the company in strengthening its manufacturing operations by expanding to offer new services and global sourcing programs. Mahmood has held several positions in investment banking at Salomon Smith Barney focusing on communications, semiconductor and hardware based technology companies. At Bear Stearns & Co, technology companies such as, IBM, Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, 3COM, Alcatel, Harmonic Lightwave, Bay Networks and Brightpoint were covered by him. Most recently, as the founder and COO of Circata Corporation, a wireless and voice over IP technology company, he won recognition from Cisco Systems as well as from local business community publications such as The Business Journal Magazine's - 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year. Mr. Mahmood holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science and Business Information Systems from the California Institute of Technology and completed advanced business development and management training at American Express University. R. A. Severnak, Managing Director, Asia Operations With over thirty years of experience in global manufacturing and sourcing, Mr. Severnak brings leadership that enables Pioneer to achieve its goal to become a global manufacturer with its recent expansion into Asia. His experience in aircraft component and military ordinance engineering, primarily with Honeywell included production, service engineering and technology planning positions. For the past fifteen years he has been directly involved with manufacturing, tooling, components, products and related services in China for select customers. Mr. Severnak holds a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in Business Administration and has several awards and accreditations from previous employers as well as several institutions over his many years in business and manufacturing. Byron Griffith, National Sales Manager Over the past thirty years, Mr. Griffith has built a global network of suppliers and has supported customers worldwide. His engineering and sales experience extends beyond plastic component manufacturing, including casting and mechanical manufactured components. He had extensive sales and marketing experience at CMS Hartzell, recently acquired by Sanmina SCI. Prior to joining Pioneer, Mr. Griffith had worked with Puget Plastics, a native Alaskan owned company with its manufacturing operations in Guadalajara, Mexico. His work experience also includes Fortune 500 companies such as, Motorola, IBM, Kodak, General Electric, Caterpillar, John Deere, Square D, Eaton Corp., CNH, Navistar, Pentair, Warner Electric, Danaher Motion and others. Mr. Griffith holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Iowa State University in Engineering and holds several certifications and accreditations in sales and marketing. Gordon Anderson, Engineering Sales With over forty years experience in tool design, machining and injection molding, Mr. Anderson brings a variety of solutions to support Pioneer’s customers worldwide. After serving in the U.S. Army, he began his career at General Mills in the early 1960s. Over the years, Mr. Anderson has worked with many of Minnesota’s recognizable organizations such as Grand Engineering, Lakeland Tool & Engineering, Blanda Inc., McKechnie Tool & Engineering, Americal Mold & Engineering, Ecowater Systems as well as others. Since joining Pioneer, Mr. Anderson has expanded Pioneer’s project management and process management services to include everything from tool and product design consultation to product packaging. Moreover, Mr. Anderson’s ability to engage with customers early during the product design stage has reduced time to market and has saved production costs for many Fortune 500 companies, including Delphi, 3M, IMI, Cornelius, Igloo, Lear and Ecowater Systems. Jennifer Ripple, Client Services Manager Over the past thirteen years, Ms. Ripple has managed and supported a variety of client services issues. Her experiences extend well beyond customer problem resolutions and account management. During her eleven year career at Puget Plastics, she managed most of Puget’s global clients which included many Fortune 500 companies, such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Motorola, IBM and Addeco. In most cases, her duties also included overseeing new project development as well as supply chain management. Since joining Pioneer, Ms. Ripple has spearheaded customer logistics, inventory management services and programs from her base of operations in Portland, Oregon. Her strong organizational capability and expertise to manage a wide variety of complex customer requirements have contributed to improved scheduling and customer fulfillment demands. Richard ‘Dick’ Walerak, Senior Tooling Engineer Since joining Pioneer in 1992, Mr. Walerak has lead the tooling department in innovating and developing its various engineering programs. With over thirty nine years of experience in engineering and mold design, he has pioneered many solutions using a combination of software and manufacturing technology to creatively solve many complex problems that arise during his accomplished career. His career began in the mid-1960s at Honeywell and a decade later at Grand Engineering, where became the Lead Tool & Design Engineer before joining Pioneer. Mr. Walerak stays current with the latest engineering technologies to offer our customers unique and state-of-the-art solutions during every stage of their manufacturing needs. His engineering experience, broad knowledge and strategic advice are invaluable to many of Pioneer’s global clients during their planning, R&D, prototyping and pre-production phases. <top>