Ellen Ellsworth – MassMEP Employee Highlights

“As a Project Manager here at MassMEP, we go to clients and deliver training,” says. Ellen Ellsworth. “I’m a newbie, so I’ve been shadowing other Project Managers and going through our presentations. We offer anything from Lean 101 to TWI to Project Management. I’m understanding where I can plug in and be most effective both in using my skills and filling the gaps at MassMEP.”

Ellen continues, “It’s a really interesting story of how I found MassMEP. I had been working at GE for 13 years and decided it was time for a change and to go somewhere else. I have a passion for manufacturing, so I was searching ‘manufacturing MA’ and connecting with people on LinkedIn. That’s how I came across the MassMEP website with list of all manufacturers in MA, what they do and what town they’re in. If you google just manufacturing in MA, it doesn’t work as well as the MassMEP website. As I was writing down the information I got thinking ‘What is this MassMEP thing?’ That’s when I started to reach out to MassMEP people on LinkedIn and asked them to help me understand more about the company. And now here I am!”

“I went to school for Mechanical Engineering and at one point was looking for an internship and not getting responses. My dad asked me why I didn’t come to work for GE. I didn’t want to go to work where my dad works. I didn’t know anything about aircraft engines or airplanes. Eventually I said okay. I really didn’t even think about manufacturing at the time, even though that’s what my dad did. I started on the shop floor and I LOVED it! I’m getting goose bumps right now thinking about it. I loved the pace, I loved making something out of nothing, I loved connecting with people instead of sitting behind a computer solving a problem and staring at a computer all day, which was my original expectation of being an engineer. It felt like it fit. After a couple internships I went on to do one of GE’s Leadership Programs, OLP (Operations Leadership Program). That took me across the country to places in Ohio where you are 45 minutes from a Wal-Mart, as well as to NH and Indiana. Through those roles I was in quality and in manufacturing, as a manufacturing engineer, and as a supervisor. I continued to take roles throughout GE both in OH and MA as manager in materials, program manager, and advanced manufacturing engineer.”

Ellen’s professional passion revolves around continuous improvement. “That’s why MEP was such a unique and perfect fit for me. I was looking to get out of the insane phone calls and always on-call emails from the shop. But I love the shop, so the continuous improvement and coaching people and mentoring them, aligns with that. At GE I was always the person coaching someone, and anyone that was new to the area helping to get them up to speed. At one point one of my co-workers started calling me Siri – they would just ask me questions and I would figure out the answer.  It’s just something I really enjoy doing,” Ellen shares.

What about outside the office? Ellen concludes, “A few years ago I would have said that working on my house was my favorite way to spend my time. My husband and I totally flipped over our house; we redid the whole thing. It’s sort of like manufacturing – making something out of nothing. But today I have a 2-year-old son, so there’s not a lot going on outside of chasing him around.”

How well do you know Ellen? Two of these statements are true and one is not. Can you guess which one?

• I am a watch collector and have about 10 watches right now.
• I have 2 dogs: a lab, and a beagle.
• I am the youngest of three and have a brother and a sister.