Kellie Johnson
President, Ace Clearwater Enterprises
Kellie Johnson is President of Ace Clearwater Enterprises, located in Torrance, California. Ace Clearwater is a metal forming company; manufacturing formed and welded assemblies for aerospace and power generation industries.
Kellie Johnson graduated from USC in 1982 with a major in International Relations and Political Science. She joined the family business ACE Clearwater Enterprises in 1983 working in all areas from purchasing to production control. At that time the company had annual revenues of approximately 10 Million dollars, primarily in aerospace sheet metal forming and fabrication.
Kellie took over operations in 1985. By 1995 Kellie had doubled annual sales to over 20 Million dollars, with current (2004) projections at 26 Million. Focusing on speed and quality, ACE Clearwater Enterprises has become a preferred supplier for several prime OEMs. Under her leadership the company received the highly coveted Boeing Supplier of the Year award in 1993. Specializing in complex formed and welded assemblies, Industry Week recognized ACE Clearwater Enterprises as “One of Americas Top 25 Small Manufacturers” in 1999. She has also positioned ACE Clearwater Enterprises and its 175 employees as the full service manufacturing facility of choice for Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Honeywell, Textron/Bell/Cessna and a host of primes. ACE Clearwater was recently awarded the largest single contract in its 54-year history for exhaust nozzles on the Apache AH64 Helicopter. In 2002 Kellie completed her companies acquisition of the Honeywell metal forming business, which has led to a nearly 20% increase in revenues. Under Kellies’ leadership, ACE Clearwater Enterprises has been recommended for approval to the new ISO 9000:2000 and AS 9100A international quality standards, making ACE Clearwater one of a handful of aerospace companies working under this new quality standard.
Kellie Johnson was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the CMTC (California Manufacturing Technology Consulting) in 1995 where she is active as a current Board Member. Kellie also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Manufacturers, and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Manufacturing Institute. Additionally Kellie is a member of the Technical Advisory Board for City National Bank. In the civic arena Kellie is actively involved with several local groups such as the Palos Verdes Dance Peninsula, The Los Angeles Music Matters Program and the LA County Principal for a day program.
Johnson has been a vocal leader in the California manufacturing community and has spoken out on lack of skilled workers, workers compensation reform, and the benefits of a manufacturing job.
