 Fred P. Keller is chairman and CEO of Cascade
Engineering, a leading provider of plastics solutions for the
automotive, industrial, and solid waste industries. Under
Keller’s leadership, Cascade Engineering has grown from a small
injection molding company with six employees into a complex
manufacturing organization with 1,200 employees and 13
facilities worldwide.
A materials engineer by training, Keller founded Cascade
Engineering in 1973, following an earlier career as a
metallurgist with Pratt & Whitney. Cascade Engineering was built
to reflect his belief that businesses should be “sustainable”
and committed to realizing lasting and socially beneficial
goals. His model for sustainable business focuses equally on
three types of capital: financial, social, and ecological.
Through his focus on this model, and an emphasis on the
potential impact each individual employee can make, Keller has
created not only a successful business enterprise but also an
organization dedicated to achieving broader community and
environmental aims.
Keller’s leadership has attracted widespread industry
recognition. He is the recipient of numerous, high-profile
awards, including Chrysler’s “Technology Role Model,” number 8
in the country as 'Best Medium Company to Work for in America'
at National Human Resource Conference, the Hugh Michael Beahan
Foundation’s “Faith in Humanity” Award, the White House’s Ron
Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, and Goodwill Industries’
“Employer of the Year.” In 2004, Keller was named to the United
States Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council, chair of
the Workforce Committee and received a “Distinguished Service
Award” from the National Governors Association.
Keller serves as director of Meijer, Inc. and the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation, vice chairman of the Economic Club of Grand
Rapids and chair of the School-to-Career Progressions Board. His
achievements and innovative management approach have been
featured in numerous trade and business publications, and he
currently teaches a course on sustainable business at Cornell
University. A Grand Rapids native, Keller earned a bachelor of
science degree from Cornell University and a master of science
in business management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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