Jilliane Flint

DIRECTOR AFTER-MARKET CUSTOMER SERVICE, Corporate Headquarters

Jilliane Flint started with us in 2008 as a Production Supervisor in our Simi Valley, California manufacturing and sales facility. Later that year, she moved into a new role as Service & Quality Manager. With a background in engineering, she had always leaned towards problem-solving, so in June, 2014, she transitioned to a Continuous Improvement Manager position. With years of experience in customer service, quality, and continuous improvement she was able to continue to grow and was subsequently promoted to Director of After Market Service in January, 2016. When she isn’t working she enjoys spending time with her family of five. She also has a penchant for event planning on special occasions.

Jilliane says, “After several years in the plastic packaging industry, I wanted to work for an industry that would provide challenge as well as continued growth.  Milgard provided a unique opportunity to grow my career while enabling me to grow others under a positive and supportive value system.

“I love being able to look for new ways to enhance our customers' experience. Whether it is through new technology, systems, or team development, I get to focus on what is the most important part of our company: The customer.”

 

Erin Burwell

INSIDE SALES SUPERVISOR, Dallas, Texas

Erin Burwell started with us as an Inside Sales Representative in our Tacoma, Washington manufacturing and sales operation in 2012.  She was trained from the ground up about windows, doors and the manufacturing process by a team of 20-year industry veterans. After working in the Tacoma operation for five months, she moved to our Dallas, Texas start-up operation, where she was able to gain sales and service skills. In this new role she assisted our Outside Sales teams, warehouse, inventory, and drivers, on top of answering phones and managing incoming orders. Her experience grew as she began attending production meetings, budget meetings, and working closely across functional teams to get our expansion operation up and running. She was promoted to Inside Sales Supervisor after three years and now hires and trains Inside Sales Representatives.  She additionally acts as the point of contact in sales for new product and software launches. Erin’s words:  “I had just graduated from college and wanted a full time position with a company that would allow me to grow --  and Milgard certainly has fulfilled these opportunities for me.  My favorite thing about working at Milgard is the people. I work with an extraordinary team here in Texas and across the entire company. Transferring to Texas and managing the Inside Sales Department on my own forced me out of my comfort zone and I’ve grown tremendously as a result.  I firmly believe in the value of people and so does Milgard!”

 

 

Kevin Vilhauer

ENGINEERING MANAGER, DOORS GROUP – Corporate Headquarters

Kevin joined us in 2000 as a Design Engineer, where his responsibilities involved several high-profile design and research and development projects. Kevin is the thought leader behind the design of three vinyl window styles and several fiberglass products, including our premiere Essence Series® wood window model. He currently manages our product thermal certification and R&D team. During his time at Milgard, Kevin has obtained 7 patents and is one of the inventors of our award-winning SmartTouch® Lock. Kevin has also been involved in the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) for over 10 years and is the current chair for the Condensation Resistance Task Group and Subcommittee. In 2014, Kevin was elected into the 2015 NFRC Board of Directors. Outside work, Kevin enjoys running, bicycling, skiing and attending his kids’ sports events.

Kevin says: “Milgard has allowed me to grow in the direction of my passions which has enabled me to get training and experience to be even better at what I do on a daily basis. I was interested in being a leader early on in my career and Milgard had several training programs for pre-managers. I was also interested in leadership with an emphasis on innovation and Masco, our parent company, had a program that trained me in innovation and how to apply certain principles to projects.

“What I enjoy most are the people who work here. We have a fairly lean corporate staff and as engineers, we get involved with every aspect of a project. We assist with marketing, manufacturing, research, testing and several other areas. We produce a great product and really market it and sell it well. We want to be the best and we want our products to be the best. In addition, customer service is so important and it is not just a cliché here but it is actually shown daily. I swell up with pride when I meet someone who has had a great experience purchasing our products. They always have good things to say about Milgard.”

 

Loretta Goodloe

DIRECTOR, CORPORATE SUPPLY CHAIN – Corporate Headquarters

Loretta leads the Corporate Supply Chain department in all aspects of material procurement and supply management. As a service organization, Supply Chain strives for the best possible customer service. Loretta's goal is to establish a solid track record of success in supporting various internal customers and collaborating to deliver high quality windows and doors to our external consumers. Outside of work, Loretta loves to read, cook, exercise and spend time with her husband and Doberman Pinscher. She also leads a weekly bible study at a local Senior Citizen Assisted Living Community.

When asked what brought Loretta to Milgard she is quick to say that she wanted to work for a leading manufacturer with a stellar reputation. “I had Milgard windows installed in my home in California a few years ago so I was already a fan of the product. Prior to Milgard, I was working in the electronics industry in California. I moved to Washington to join an organization I believed was strong and offered a great career growth opportunity for me. That decision has proven to be one of the best career decisions I have made. I have an excellent team reporting to me and they make my job easier. I also report to an excellent manager and he makes my job challenging and is a mentor to me. My favorite thing about my job is that my team and I have a direct impact on the ability to ship products to consumers. It is a high pressure and also high reward job. There are a lot of moving parts in the supply chain and being successful requires a broad range of skills that require my team and I to stretch and be on our toes in support of location production.”

 

Amith Vangala

DIRECTOR, APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT – Corporate Headquarters

Amith started with us as a Data/Business Intelligence Architect in 2010. Currently, he is the Director of Application Development. In this role, Amith over see’s all custom development and maintenance for enterprise business systems such as customer relationship manager (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer quoting software, business intelligence and middleware. Amith manages high performance teams that deliver quality software and services on tight deadlines. Outside of work, Amith loves playing cricket, spend time with family, staying current with technology and enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest summers.

Amith says: “I am excited to show up to work every day as I lead a competent team that produces innovative software solutions that produce tangible results for Milgard. My job gives me the opportunity to serve dual role for the organization as motivational leader and business systems architect. In my role I create value to the business by establishing best practices, leading internal team(s), managing partnerships with external vendors, and ensuring successful execution of all development projects and support requests.

 

 

Chris Beecher

GENERAL MANAGER

Chris joined us as an Associate Plant Manager in 2006. After leading our Portland, Oregon facility in winning numerous recognitions, including the 2012 Milgard Location of the Year, Chris was promoted to the Director of Operations in our Sacramento, California operation, where he oversees manufacturing, logistics, service, and delivery.

Chris says that his favorite thing about his job is the people. “They are fun, hard-working, and love to succeed. It is great to work with such a wonderful group.  I also enjoy and value being part of a company that believes in taking care of the customer and delivering a superior product - all while helping our employees grow in their own careers.”

Outside of work, Chris enjoys riding his bike, watching his family compete in sports and sightseeing in and around Portland with his wife.

 

 

Matt Slater

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MANAGER – Pultrustion Operation

Matt started his career with Milgard as a Manufacturing Engineer, contributing to the launching of new products by providing support with equipment and technology. His focus on reducing operating costs and increasing profitability introduced him to Continuous Improvement where he learned lean tools to drive waste from the business. As a result of his outstanding contributions as a Manufacturing Engineer, he was promoted to the position of Continuous Improvement Manager where he supported CI initiatives throughout the company. Matt’s next move was to join the Pultrusion Division, one of the Milgard Business Units, as their CI Manager to lead the lean program and develop people to identify and eliminate waste. Outside of work, Matt enjoys the sport of ultimate Frisbee. “Not to be confused with disc golf, ultimate frisbee is an intense sport between two teams that involves non-stop running, offensive and defensive plays, and un-paralleled sportsmanship,” he explains. Matt also enjoys playing 

the guitar, working on shop projects, participating in the “Milgard Clearly the Best® Toastmasters Club,” and learning about science and technology.

When asked why Matt joined Milgard, he says:  “My wife and I moved to Washington from Michigan and I was looking for an engineering job in the area. I got a call from Milgard three days after the move and started working two days later – it was very cool!”

Matt and his wife moved to Washington State from Michigan so that Matt could search for a job in engineering. Three days after the move Matt got a call from us and started working two days later! Matt says his favorite thing about his job is the opportunity to not only work cross-functionally.

 

Kathy Steiert

SENIOR SALES REPRESENTATIVE – Temecula, California

Kathy joined Milgard in 2007 as a Senior Sales Representative in our Temecula, California sales and manufacturing operation. During her tenure, she has worn many “hats” as she transitioned to a Location Marketing Representative and then an Architectural Representative. In 2014, given her successful track record in customer-focused roles, Kathy was asked to join the implementation team as leader, to implement a new customer-quoting and product management software. In this role, Kathy helped created a new, innovative quoting program called CTB Quote Plus that incorporated a Voice of the Customer component while streamlining our quoting process.

Kathy says she doesn’t have one favorite thing about working at Milgard – she has several!    She loves our focus on customer service, on quality products, and our Full Lifetime Warranty. Kathy is proud of the products we offer and of the service we provide to our customers. Another favorite part of her job is working with her team. As Kathy says, “We are all committed to Milgard, to our customers, to providing the best products possible, and to each other. I feel extremely fortunate to be part of the Milgard team! “What I enjoy most is collaboration with our internal and external customers. Our team consults with our Dealers, Outside Salespeople and Inside Salespeople to incorporate the “Voice of the Customer” into our new quoting program. Our goal is to ensure we build a product that users want and we do!”