Humble, hardworking and the new head of CSP in Huntington

Auburn Hills, Mich. — Karen Williams is about as humble as they come.

She hesitates to talk about herself and her many accomplishments throughout her career as well as in her personal life. When the spotlight — or, rather, a reporter's pen, notebook and audio recorder — is turned on her, she is quick to express some uneasiness.

"I really don't like talking about myself like this, just so you know; I really don't," the 39-year-old said during a recent visit to Continental Structural Plastics Inc.'s headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.

Williams, who currently resides in the Fort Wayne, Ind., area, joined CSP in 2010. The company, owned by Japanese materials firm Teijin Ltd., manufactures lightweight composites and other materials for the automotive, heavy truck, HVAC and construction industries.

At CSP, Williams has held positions such as quality manager, quality engineer and, more recently, corporate quality manager, where she was the first point of contact for product quality related to launches across multiple facilities.

On April 23, the company announced Williams had been promoted to plant manager of its 340,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Huntington, Ind. The announcement marked the first time a woman had been appointed to a plant management position in CSP's nearly 50-year history.

The Huntington facility was previously owned by Meridian Automotive Systems Inc., an auto parts maker that closed in 2009 after filing for Chapter 7 liquidation amid declining auto sales during the recession.

"I worked at [Meridian] from 2006 to 2009, so I've actually been in the [Huntington] building since 2006," Williams said.

The site got a $33.5 million face-lift in 2016, including the construction of a new 130,000-square-foot facility on 6 acres that sits adjacent to the original 210,000-square-foot plant. Work on the new building was completed last year.

In 2017, the manufacturing sector employed about 15.4 million workers; 29.5 percent (4.5 million) of which were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The percentage of women doesn't budge much when you look at motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment manufacturing (26.7 percent of roughly 1.4 million workers) or even plastics product manufacturing (26 percent of 393,000 workers).

While the gender aspect at a Tier 1 automotive supplier like CSP does mark an important distinction of news coming from a male-dominated industry, it shouldn't outshine Williams' accomplishments.

"I don't want to make it because I'm female," she stated firmly. "I didn't want it to be about that, but because I'm qualified and capable. I mean, I really hope that's not the first thing everybody thinks of."

CEO Steve Rooney squelched any doubts in the reasoning behind her appointment.

"Karen earned the job through her own skills and the value she's provided to CSP. … We really looked at a lot of candidates and who we thought really would bring the most value to CSP, and she's shown tremendous growth in the last four or five years, professionally and personally," he said during a May 23 visit to CSP's headquarters.

"You know, it's exciting to have a woman [as plant manager], but we're just excited to have Karen as a really skilled professional who can bring the value that we're looking for in the organization," Rooney added.

At the Huntington facility, about 40 percent of the total 292 hourly or salaried workers are female. In addition, 15 of the facility's 42 temporary hourly workers are female, the company said.

When Williams heads into a meeting, however, most of the time she is the only woman at the table. But as a graduate of Kettering University — still called General Motors Institute when she first attended — where she earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, she said she is used to oftentimes being the only woman.

"[When] I grew up, most of my friends were male. I went to school that was 90 percent male," said Williams, the oldest of four siblings, all of whom are female. "I've always worked in an industry that is male-dominated. It's never occurred to me to be worried that I'm the only girl in the room."

One time, Williams was even told she was intimidating, she recalled.

"You hear you are intimidating, you don't really worry about being the only girl in the room," she quipped.

Her supervisor, CSP's Regional Operations Director Jerry Reid — and Williams' biggest mentor throughout her career — was previously the plant manager for the Huntington facility and asked her to take over the position.

"Karen brings extensive experience to this position, having been in the automotive industry for 20 years and the composites business for the past 12 years," Reid said in a statement. "Her overall business acumen, leadership ability and internal drive to continuously improve solidified my decision to promote Karen to plant manager of the Huntington operations."

Williams, who said she couldn't recall ever having a female boss, also confessed that she has never told Reid she views him as a mentor.

"He's never going to let me live that down," she joked.

The Huntington facility manufactures Class A body panels for the Chevrolet Corvette, Ford F-150 Raptor and the Lincoln Navigator.

Williams attributed "getting through the C7 [seventh generation Corvette] launch with [her] sanity intact" back in 2013 as one of her biggest career achievements.

"The C7 launch for our facility was very big. There was a lot going on," she said. "That was probably one of the biggest things I had to do overall."

The use of CSP's TCA Ultra Lite advanced composite on the 2016 Chevrolet Corvette, for example, resulted in a 20-pound weight savings for the Stingray Coupe model. In addition, a total of 21 body panel assemblies — doors, decklids, quarter panels and fenders — are molded from the composite material, the company said.

The Huntington facility is also prepping for the launch of CarbonPro, the carbon fiber truck bed that will debut on the 2019 GMC Sierra Denali. Since 2011, General Motors Co. has worked with CSP parent company Teijin as a supplier of the chopped thermoplastic carbon fiber used on the truck.

"There's a lot of opportunity for volume increase across that platform," Rooney said. "That material technology we bring to market, we also hope to use in other applications and underbody structure. It provides a lot of strength. It's not just for a pickup box material, and it has exciting applications in the future across a lot of customers."

Outside of preparing for new launches at the Huntington site, Williams is tackling some ongoing hobbies and personal goals now that she has officially graduated from Indiana University with an MBA.

In her spare time, Williams is aiming to break two hours on her half-marathon runs, finish a cross-stitch, help her oldest daughter get a driver's license, and take care of the household's pets — a blue-fronted Amazon parrot, a 9-year-old cocker spaniel and a 2-year-old pit bull — all while settling in to her new job title and responsibilities.

"I want to go in every day and see what I can make better today. There's a lot going on right now, and I want to try to make things better," she said.

"But, for what gets me out of bed? You know, the kids have gotta get on the bus."