Operations & Project Engineering Leader with 20+ yrs Experience

Mark A. Wade

Mobile: 319-***-**** Email:****.*******@*****.***

Profile Summary

Results-driven Operations and Project Engineering Manager with 20+ years of progressive experience in operational optimization across food processing, Animal Nutrition, manufacturing, construction, and chemical industries. Process design, EPCM project management, and proven track record in leading cross-functional teams, managing multimillion-dollar Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) projects, and delivering substantial cost savings through strategic process improvements. Strong background in regulatory compliance (FDA, USDA, AIB, HACCP, SQF, GMP), technical design (PFDs, P&IDs, AutoCAD, SolidWorks), and supply chain strategy (ERP, MS Project).

Professional Experience

General Contracting Private Client 2025 – Current

•. Complete home renovation project including interior and exterior.

Temporary Staffing Assignments Various Clients 2020 – 2022

Supported essential operations at SiemensGamesa, Roquette America, ConAgra Foods, and UPS in production and logistics roles.

Founder & President Allen Management Group 2014 – 2020

Provided expert consulting and forensic engineering services for personal injury, accident reconstruction, and property damage litigation.

Led EPCM initiatives, Capital Expenditure projects, overseeing full-cycle project design, execution, and commissioning.

Co-Founder & President Midwest Industrial & Mechanical – Ames, IA 2008 – 2014

Directed company operations, P&L, and engineering services, growing revenue from $600K to $1.4M.

Managed two VPs and supported strategic business development and client acquisition in the food manufacturing and ethanol industry.

Delivered engineering support for industrial construction, safety training, and skills certification.

President & Owner Hall-Wade Engineering – Ames, IA 2004 – 2011

Led over 700 forensic/failure analysis engineering investigations in accident reconstruction, mechanical failure, fire and explosion analysis, and workplace safety.

Managed a $10M CAPEX project for a plant expansion in Kansas; supervised design, procurement, and installation.

Spearheaded design and implementation of explosion safety systems in food processing facilities utilizing spray dryers for whey permeate. Worked with client developing CAPEX of $20M+ and contract reviews.

General Manager & Partner Academy Commercial Roofing – Ft. Lauderdale, FL 2003 – 2004

Launched new branch operations; defined go-to-market strategy and ensured regulatory compliance.

Managed construction projects with full financial accountability and passed Florida Roofing Contractor exam.

Process Operations Manager Tone’s Spices - Ankeny, IA 2000 - 2003

•. Responsible for meeting and exceeding operational performance objectives, quality . . . . . . . standards, safety and process improvements while achieving the lowest processing costs.

•. Supervised 4 direct reports and 34 indirect reports in the department.

•. Prepared capital and operational budgets for department.

•. Coached and developed employees on a continual basis with focus leadership, process . . . . . improvement engineering, safety and labor relations with work force

Participated in union labor relations meetings and joint board hearings.

Initiated formulation changes project for manufacturing processes that contributed nearly $500K in annual savings for the company. Worked with R&D and purchasing to bring the change to fruition

Devised and managed a yearly process improvement plan for the department. Completed 33 process improvement initiatives over a three year period that totaled savings of approximately $736K. Headcount was reduced from 52 to 34 with minimal capital investment and maintained production volume and product quality.

Negotiated supply contracts and worked with vendors to reduce manufacturing supply budget by 50% over a three year period this included packaging materials and liquid nitrogen used in Cryogenic processing.

Negotiated a contract for Vendor Managed Inventory for a manufacturing supply budget of $500K plant-wide. Explored global alliance opportunity with sister company and parent company with operational supply costs of approximately $10MM annually.

•. Completed a benchmark study on the packaging and maintenance operations that identified . opportunities for improvement valued at approximately $1MM annually due to a 23% . . . . . . increase in mechanical downtime and 1% increase in product and material scrap.

•. Completed and implemented Economic Order Quantity study for 435 blended products that . changed order quantities and product routing. Resulted in an estimated $250K in yearly . . . . . savings.

Designed and oversaw installation of a liquid nitrogen spent gas recycle system that reduced cooling load for a milling process by approximately 15%.

Managed a departmental B-Safe program to improve the safety records for plant.

Project Manager – Tone’s Spices and Blends Ankeny, IA 1999-2000

• Responsible for project conception, design and implementation for spice processing and . . packaging operations.

• Completed $250K CAPEX warehouse improvement project. The project entailed doubling the size . of the Cross-dock operation for club stores and adding an automated pallet wrapping station for the Retail Picking operation. Updated electrical and automation systems with Allen-Bradley PLCs.

• Designed and installed a $96K pepper milling improvement project. Installed process . . . . . .system for an aspirated stream and mills it for yield improvement. Project achieved a . . ., . .1.5% yield savings of approximately $200K annually. Included total automation . . . . . . .changeover with Allen Bradley PLCs and Panel View HMI interfaces.

• . Completed a plant wide project updating the lockout - tag out program for equipment

•. Lead and directed Ergonomic committee for improving plant ergonomics. Initiated and . . . .completed several projects that improved work station ergonomics.

• Developed contractor Intermittent Services Program for all contractors doing work at the . . .Tones Spices facility.

• Represented the engineering department for a plant wide Kaizen training and B-Safe . . . . .implementation program.

Project Manager - Koch Industries Inc. Wichita, KS & St. Louis, MO 1997 – 1999

• Responsible for development and execution of food by-product processing capital projects . for the Koch Animal Nutrition company. Worked with business leaders to define venture . . . . . objectives, identify risks and project drivers.

• Researched process technology and implemented solution for a $1.2MM odor abatement . . . . project. The odor abatement solution was a bio-filter and wet scrubber system.

• Developed project for a $4.7M de-hydration and processing plant.

• Developed project scope, budget and processing technology for $7.0MM food by-product . . . . plant.

• Worked with regulated utilities and de-regulated energy marketers to explore options for . . . . plant energy needs. Identified opportunities for rate discounts that reduced plant energy . . . . . costs by 20%.

• Developed concept and execution plan for a heat re-circulation project that reduce natural . . . gas costs by 30% for a fluid bed drying system. Worked with outside engineering firm for . . . . . detailed designs.

•. Relocated to St. Louis, MO after Koch Industries purchased Purina Mills. Was responsible . . . for developing food by-products projects to produce material for formulation into Purina . . . . Mills products and implementing CAPP. (Capital Asset Project Process.)

Engineering Specialist - Proliant Dairy, Biologics, Meat Ingredients, APC, Brand Essentia Proteins Solutions, (Meat) Owned by The Lauridsen Group, Inc. Ankeny, IA 1993 – 1997

•. Responsible for project conception, design and management for completion. Work with . . . . . R&D and sales personnel in scaling pilot plant processes and products to the manufacturing . . phase.

•. Managed concept, design and completion of 12 raw material procurement projects over . . . . . two year period focusing on continuous improvement. Project capital totaled $3.6MM . . . . . . contributing $20MM to annual sales. Implemented new technologies including Coriolis mass . flow meters to monitor process output and provide operator feedback for adjustment. . . . • . • Wrote operating and safety manuals for the newly installed operations

•. Designed and managed on site a multi-million dollar plant expansion for receiving, . . . . . . . . . . centrifuging, concentration and spray drying an Animal Nutrition product. Re-commissioned . . . a used 50’ tower spray drying system and retrofitted into plant in SW Kansas. Responsible . . . . for electrical and mechanical installation equipment. Designed and installed plant wide CIP . . . (Clean in Place) system for sanitizing processing and storage equipment. Responsible for . . . . . project safety and designing and installing a safe work environment.

•. Worked on cross-functional team to improve process yields at remote plasma collection . . . . . . sites. Used the Total Quality Management (TQM) Developed hardware and software . . . . . . . . . architecture for a process control model for plasma production. System was capable of real-. .. time monitoring from drying plants as well immediate feedback and display for collection . . . . sites.

•. Designed and installed a completely automated plasma collection system in Calgary, . . . . . . . Canada. Installed Allen-Bradley, PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) and Panel-Views for . . process monitoring and control and man-machine interface. The system also included a fully . . automated CIP (Clean in Place) system for equipment cleaning.

• . Worked with Argentina, South American partners for technology transfer for a joint venture . . created in 1996. Traveled several times to South America for design and installation of . . . . . . . pollution control devices for the thermal drying systems. Retrofitted plant to accept three . . . . BHA dust collectors.

Education

Drake University – Des Moines, IA

MBA, Master of Business Administration Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society GPA: 3.9

Iowa State University – Ames, IA B.S., Industrial Engineering

Certifications & Training

•. Professional Mechanical Engineer – Iowa License #18690

(2008–2017)

•. Fundamentals of Engineering – Certificate #16300

•. Kaizen, TQM, Process Drying Systems, Allen-Bradley PLCs & PanelView Design

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