Our Team
Our Team

GET TO KNOW

OUR TEAM

CASS CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

At Cass Precision Machining we foster a culture of collaboration that runs from our President and Leadership Team down to the newest hire on our production floor. Our staff is comprised of creative and caring people who are innovative thinkers and problem solvers. With an inclusive culture and strong team camaraderie, all of our employees take on stimulating challenges under a positive tone that encourages employee engagement and a culture of recognition.

We strongly believe that our people are what make the difference between Cass and other machine shops. We invest heavily in our staff and treat them like members of our family. The result is low turnover, longevity, and high productivity. We believe our first mission at Cass is to provide good livelihoods to our employees and their families. Without this tenet in place, nothing else would matter.

LEADERSHIP TEAM

James Larson

President

James is an experienced business leader who has been optimizing the customer experience, driving operational excellence, and developing new products for more than 30 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and his experience spans manufacturing, supply chain, product launches, and sales in a variety of global and domestic businesses. James is known for seeing the big picture and being the go-to person to put a strategy into action rapidly and efficiently, while maintaining focus on taking care of customers and team members. James’s passion is the team and his customers—and believes that by putting the team in a position to win, everybody wins.

As a business executive James has a history of optimizing operations, customer experience and profitability. He brings a broad set of experiences, from industrial engineering to P&L management spanning manufacturing, supply chain, product launches and sales across a variety of global industries. He combines that history with a people-first approach to deliver innovative solutions.

James leads Cass with a focus on sustainable improvement and scaling for growth with a high-trust and winning culture that achieves both quick wins and long-term results.

Ted Biorn

Director of Operations

Ted Biorn is Director of Operations. Ted started at Cass in 1995 as a CNC machinist. He is a subject matter expert in machining and turning and has grown into top leadership positions during his tenure at Cass. As Director of Operations, Ted drives the continuous improvement in lean manufacturing technology development and drives efficiencies in all manufacturing. Ted enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, skiing, motocross, tennis, and being on the lake

Sarah Schreiner

Controller/HR

Sarah joined the Cass team in 2020. As Controller, she oversees the financial health and well-being of Cass. She has 20+ years of experience in manufacturing and enjoys the challenges and variety the world of manufacturing brings each and every day. Sarah holds a B.A. in Accounting from Gustavus Adolphus College. Sarah is married, has 2 sons and a dog. She enjoys spending quality time with family & friends, watching her sons play sports, and traveling.

Derick White

Director of Sales & Marketing

Derick has over 25 years' experience as a leader in sales and marketing management, from fortune 1000 companies to small privately owned businesses. Derick has led sales and account management teams in global technology businesses, the service industry and manufacturing. Derick has served on the board of directors for Local and International business associations including International Association of Business Communicators, Technology Service Industry, Grow Minnesota, the American Marketing Association, The Minnesota Miracle League, and more. Derick is an avid and passionate outdoorsman. When not helping companies with sales growth he can be found on northern Minnesota lakes fishing, in the western prairies chasing pheasants or in the Boundary Waters canoeing and camping with his family.

Keith Bester

Project Leader

Keith is an experienced problem solver and manufacturing professional who has been optimizing in the areas of people, process, data, and technology for over 10 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, and a master’s degree in religious education. Prior to becoming a manufacturing professional Keith served in the US Army and still serves in the Minnesota Army National Guard. Keith’s industry experience includes Make-to-Stock, Make-to-Order, and Engineer-to-Order paradigms. He has served in the foundry, machining, and custom equipment manufacturing industries. Keith’s personal interests include spending time with his family, as well as reading, podcasts, physical fitness and serving his church.

Joe Mateuszczyk

Director of Materials

Joe Mateuszczyk is our Director of Shipping and Logistics and has over 25 years of experience in the production planning, logistics, IT, and material management fields. Joe has worked in several different types of manufacturing including automotive, aerospace, agricultural and medical. As a systems consultant Joe has had the opportunity to implement several ERP systems for companies large and small to improve processes and drive costs down and profits up.

Norman Witteborg

Sr. Quality Assurance Manager

Norman has over 25 years of experience in automotive/medical device manufacturing and quality systems. Norman is an active member of the Manufacturer Alliance Quality Peer Group and the American Society of Quality as Education chair. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering BSME, a master’s in engineering management, MSEM, as well as multiple certifications in engineering and quality. One of Norman’s passions is officiating youth sports, which includes Volleyball, Basketball, Baseball, Football, and Softball at high school and college levels.

Dave Past

Director of Operations, Micro-Fab

Dave Past began at Micro-Fab in 1998 and over the years has spent time working in all facets of the business. Dave is looking forward to working with the team on the challenge of helping the Micro-Fab division and Cass Precision as a whole grow and meet the new challenges of the future in the machining industry. A sports fan his whole life, there’s a good chance you’ll find him watching or listening to the Wild or Vikings game. As a young adult, Dave earned his black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He enjoys travel and hiking in the outdoors, especially camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.

Jason Churness

Director of Operations

Jason joined Cass in 2023, bringing over 25 years of world-class operations experience to the Director of Operations role. He has a variety of experience ranging from contract manufacturing, low volume/high-mix assembly, sheet metal fabrication, product reconditioning, and new product launch. He has a strong understanding of Lean/Continuous Improvement concepts and tools used to drive increased capacity, improve material flow and reduce customer lead-times. Jason has worked with and managed QMS, ISO9001, ISO13485 and AS9100 quality systems and processes. He has demonstrated a solid track record of applying lean and quality systems to the manufacturing processes that add the most value to our customers.

Our culture of collaboration extends to the businesses and associations that we’re a part of, our customers, suppliers, and every member of our team. At Cass our team members are our family and we treat them as such with regular team-building outings like “Shooting for Scholarships,” axe throwing, bowling, and more.

axe throwing
FooterDesktop
FooterMobile

Sorry! No Accordion Shortcode Found.