Director of Business Development
Nick Wilkes is passionate about understanding manufacturers' challenges and being a resource that the Washington manufacturing ecosystem can rely upon and seek support.
He started his career with boots on the ground as a front-line manufacturing supervisor. He can relate and interface well with everyone, from the production floor to the CEO.
Nick has experience diagnosing and delivering solutions to manufacturers across their enterprise: Continuous Improvement, Operations, Quality Management Systems, Organizational Strategy, Team Building, Cybersecurity, ERP, and Market Intelligence. Nick understands how time-critical business decisions can be and operates with the same urgency and drive as his clients. He comes to Impact Washington with broad experience in manufacturing methods such as investment casting, forging, composite fabrication, assembly, machining, and welding.
Nick has several years of experience working within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). As Regional Director of Impact Utah, he developed an organizational transformation model for Utah manufacturers. He grew the strategic partnership program across Utah's manufacturing community to maximize the Center's value to manufacturers.
Before joining Impact Utah, Wilkes held operational leadership positions at seven facilities within the Precision Castparts Corporation. Most recently, Nick directed a cross-functional Program Management team of 8 individuals responsible for executing $100 million of annual deliveries for aerospace and military manufacturing contracts. When not working, his therapy comes from the outdoors. In the summer, you can find him mountain biking and skiing in the backcountry in winter. Recently, trail-building has become a labor of love.
Education
Masters in Business Administration from the University of Utah
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University