After a 42-year career that began as a part-time receptionist, Annette Lund is retiring from Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Diversified Plastics, Inc. (DPI) as vice president. Lund also served as office manager at the custom plastic-injection molder and digital manufacturer, as well as purchasing manager and sales/marketing manager. She will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors and trustee for the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
When Lund started working at DPI, there were just 13 employees and three injection-molding machines in a 2,500-sq.-ft. facility. Today, the employee-owned business has 37 state-of-the-art machines and approximately 100 employees in two plants located in Minnesota and California.
As the company grew, Lund realized that in order to grow with DPI, she would need to go back to college. In addition to working full-time and attending evening classes at North Hennepin Community College, Lund managed her household and raised her son. She received her Associate of Arts degree with honors in 1983. DPI had started a tuition reimbursement program to encourage employees to continue their education and Lund directly benefited from this far-sighted program.
Despite increasing work responsibilities and taking care of her growing family, Lund continued taking one class a quarter, and sometimes for only two quarters a year. After 14 years, she earned her bachelor of arts degree in business from Metropolitan State University in 1997 – the same year her son graduated from high school.
After completing her studies, Lund began volunteering in various roles with several local organizations, including on the Community Advisory Board of North Hennepin Community College; on the Foundation Board of Hennepin Technical College; as part of the Business Task Force for the City of Brooklyn Park; and as treasurer of the Brooklyn Park Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast.
For more information, visit www.divplast.com.