Kristy Higginbotham
Area Manager
Arconic
I am passionate about manufacturing because it allows me the opportunity to work in a team environment, creating products that improves the lives of our employees and the lives of people around the world! I love that each day brings something different and that I am challenged every day!
Arconic recently appointed Kristy to help lead a critical, fast-moving project to replace its Tennessee Operations’ significant can sheet revenue stream with industrial products. This new market was no small undertaking, as the existing equipment was not designed to manufacture the new materials at the gauge and quality required. In addition to tackling the program with her strong engineering, production and maintenance skills, Kristy, never one to hide behind an office door, was out on the floor day in and day out working with her team. A short six months after the start of the engineering studies, production was in swing with new products that met the heightened standards every step of the way.
Kristy is a committed mentor to young women at Arconic. She has also served on the Arconic Women’s Network steering committee, co-leading symposiums that offer development and networking opportunities. Because these programs are so well-designed and effective, they are very popular and the most recent was attended by more than 80 percent of its location’s female professionals.
She was also a founding member of Tri-State Women in Computing and Engineering (TWICE), which during her tenure sponsored networking events for professional women and created STEM programs for girls in fourth through eighth grades. These included an on-site “Day of Engineering” program with the University of Evansville that reached an average of 90 young girls per year.
Kristy’s positive impact extends to her local community as well. During her presidency of her church’s St. Vincent de Paul Society, she worked to oversee volunteers who helped people close gaps in their lives by identifying existing resources in the community that would help them obtain financial well-being, better access to preventative medical and dental care, and so on. Through Kristy’s leadership, the society helped an average of 80 people each month.