Meet Our Team - Cass Precision Machining

PROFESSIONALS WORKING TOGETHER

Our large array of machining tools would be useless without the people who run them. 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. They take pride in knowing what they’re making, and for whom. 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.

James Larson

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

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

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

Derick has over 25 years’ experience as a leader in sales and marketing management, from large fortune 1000 companies to small privately owned businesses. Derick has successfully led both sales and account management teams in global technology businesses, the service industry and manufacturing. His success as a sales leader allowed Derick the opportunity to run his own sales consultancy firm for 10 years, mentoring sales leaders and teams in a variety of industries including financial institutions, high-tech, manufacturing and professional services.

An active member in the Minnesota business community, 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 Twin Cities Trout Unlimited and The Twin West Chamber Of Commerce. His passion for delivering strategic solutions has afforded him the opportunity to serve global organizations that include 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Johnson Controls, Lexmark and Cargill.

Derick holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and has lectured at UST’s Business School, Carlson School of Management and the U of M on branding, sales, marketing, business analytics and business development. 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.

STEVE GERBER

Steve Gerber joined Cass in 2017 as a Sales Engineer. Steve broke in at Cass working side by side with Steve Brown until his retirement. Steve brings over 40 years of machining and manufacturing experience to Cass, working his way up from machinist trainee to shop foreman. He is well known by his customers and colleagues for doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Steve is also a certified Park Patroller for the Three Rivers Park District and enjoys spending his down time hiking, snow shoeing, mountain biking and bike packing.

VINCENT SCHMITZ

Sales Engineer

Vincent Schmitz joined Cass in 2005 as a multi-spindle automatic screw machine operator. He moved on to running our EDM wire machines, making custom tooling for all Cass machining departments. Vince became foreman of the automatics department in 2015. In 2019, he moved to the role of Cass Sales Engineer. Vince does a great job of leveraging his extensive machining and shop floor experience in his Sales Engineering role, while also supporting our DFM services to the benefit of all of our customers. He enjoys spending time with his family at the lake, riding dirt bikes, and snowmobiles.

JOE MATEUSZCZYK

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.

KALEI ENSTAD

Kalei Enstad heads up Contracts & Purchasing for Cass. Kalei started at Cass in 1993 and has created a system that enables Cass to stay on top of the very best pricing for raw materials in the industry and allows Cass to maintain the ability to offer fair and competitive pricing for our customers. Originally from Hawaii, Kalei’s passion is dancing and teaching the hula. She and her husband love spending time with their grandchildren, bowling, playing cards and hanging out with friends.