Today, women continue to be underrepresented in the manufacturing industry according to a benchmark survey that Thomas conducted in partnership with the Women in Manufacturing Association. They examined workplace trends in regards to women in manufacturing industry leadership positions. Their findings are meant to better inform diversity and inclusion practices within industry, helping companies to bridge the gender gap and address the “glass ceiling.”
The survey found that 1 in 3 manufacturing professionals and 1 in 4 manufacturing leaders are women. At French, we are proud to be an outlier to that statistic, with females accounting for 50% of our leadership team. The female leaders at French provide important perspectives for our company, offering unique expertise and insight that we greatly value. Learn more about their background and the important work that they do.
Tayte French Lutz, Materials Manager and Director of Marketing
Tayte French Lutz is the fourth generation of French family leadership, having joined the Company in 2010. She has been the secretary of our Board of Directors since 2013 and has been our Director of Marketing and Treasurer since 2014. She graduated from the A. B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Management (BSM) in Marketing. She also studied Marketing in the European Union at the MBA Institute in Paris, France. Additionally, she is currently finishing an executive education management program through Harvard Business School.
In her current role, Tayte manages the procurement and planning of manufacturing material requirements and workflow. She coordinates scheduling, planning and purchasing activities to support our machining and assembly departments. She plans, executes and analyzes all of our marketing activities, and handles the responsibilities for the treasury of the company and the Board of Directors Corporate Secretary duties.
Tanya Shell, Vice President, Finance
Tanya Shell has been a member of our team since 2012. She started with French as our Assistant Vice President of Finance, then took over as Vice President of Finance in 2014. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Miami (OH) University and her MBA from the University of Dayton. Tanya is a registered Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Notary Public in the state of Ohio. She earned her Certified Management Accountant (CMA) and Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis (CSCA) certifications. She was also honored with the Exemplary Leadership Award from the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
Tanya focuses on the overall accounting functions of our company. Along with other top management, her main objective is to achieve the company’s desired financial results through creating and analyzing financial forecasts and reporting. She ensures that her team properly executes finance and accounting data processing functions in a cost-effective way.
Connect With the Women in Manufacturing Industry Leadership Positions at French
Visit our Contact page to get in touch with Tayte, Tanya, or other members of our team. We would be happy to answer any questions you may have, or help to solve any of your needs.