By Anna Marie Kukec Daily Herald Business Writer
When her chief executive husband died and her brother-in-law left the family business in 1989, Janice M. Christiansen suddenly found herself leading a major flag manufacturer.
J.C. Schultz Enterprises Inc., parent company of Batavia-based FlagSource, was floundering in debt and Christiansen had to find a way to keep it afloat.
"I was thinking survival," she said. "We had a good name, despite the financial problems. So I went around and talked with all the vendors to see if they would work with me and they did."
Although she didn't become a lawyer as planned, Christiansen used her law education and experience in payroll to reorganize the company. She whittled the workforce from 90 to 60 and sought government and other contracts.
Then with the 1990 war with Iraq — Operation Desert Storm — and again with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, everyone wanted an American flag.
Business was thriving again.
Christiansen is among 2,500 women statewide to lead a small or mid-sized manufacturing company. In 2005, about 11 percent of all manufacturers in Illinois had women holding positions as CEO, chairman, chief operations officer or owner, according to Oak Brook-based Illinois Manufacturers' Association. Figures for earlier years aren't available, but industry executives agreed the number of women in top roles has been increasing.
They're the front-line women who avoid the limelight and keep the business going, and in many cases, thriving. They're not the top-dollar stars like Sara Lee Corp. CEO Brenda Barnes or Kraft Foods Inc. CEO Irene Rosenfeld.
"The ascension to lead the small and medium-size businesses are more likely to go now to the daughters or wives than the sons or another man," said association CEO Greg Baise.
Over the past five years, women have gained more acceptance as industry leaders, said Mary Rose Hennessy, executive director of Business and Industry Services in Naperville, an association for local manufacturers.
"Twenty years ago, it was quite rare to have a woman involved in any aspect of manufacturing other than human resources," said Hennessy. "I started noticing more female engineers, and quality professionals moving through the ranks in the late 1990s. As women gain more experience and credibility, they are moving up the organizational chain, fully capable of taking over when the time comes."
Automation and improved manufacturing processes have dramatically transformed the talent required to run the plant, Hennessy said.
"The actual physical environment in new or retooled manufacturing facilities is drastically different than the old, dingy, loud, dirty plants of yesteryear," said Hennessy. "Many are bright, clean, beautiful facilities, making them much more acceptable to women."
Dora Kuzelka, president of KSO Metalfab Inc. in Streamwood, was her husband John's partner when they started the company more than 30 years ago. They also raised four children, who would later work with them. But it was hard being a woman in manufacturing.
"In the beginning they didn't take us seriously. It was very tough," she said.
About nine years ago, she took complete control when her husband retired due to illness. He died last year.
The company started with five employees and grew to 72 employees, but the economic downturn five years ago and the loss of a few major customers forced some layoffs.
Today, the company has 37 workers who produce various metal products, such as pedestals for coin boxes on buses, hoods for ovens at restaurants, and even muffin pans for McDonald's Corp.
"When you're doing something, you don't realize it's tough at the time," Kuzelka said. "We just did what we had to do."
In Christiansen's case, she took the reins of a company that had been established in 1920 by her husband's grandparents. The grandmother and then the mother had led the company as presidents.
Christiansen had worked in various positions, including payroll, in the family business since 1975. When her husband died in 1985, her brother-in-law took over for four years.
After he left and became a minister, Christiansen found herself in the president's seat, working non-stop with her staff to get the company back in shape. She declined to discuss details of the financial crisis but she said they eventually retired all the old debt and started producing more flag and banner products with better technology.
She was the first woman to lead a full-line major flag manufacturer in the country. Now, she is treasurer of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and in line to become its first chairwoman since the group was founded 1893.
"I believe people should be judged by the job they do, not by their sex," Christiansen said. "I focused in on what I wanted to accomplish and what I cared about and I cared about this company."
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