FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Rebecca Kruse
June 27, 2011Telephone: 1.630.305.0003
The Association for Manufacturing Excellence Appoints Paul Kuchuris as President
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill.—June 27, 2011—The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) announced today the appointment of Paul Kuchuris as President of the Association. He will begin this role starting July 1.
As AME President, Kuchuris is responsible for developing relationships with key leaders in industry, healthcare and government; create and maintain strategic alliances with target organizations; identify needs of current and potential members; and introduce new products and services to meet those needs. A key goal of AME and Paul’s efforts will be to accelerate membership growth.
“We are delighted to have Paul join AME,” says Maria Elena Stopher, AME Chairman. “His solid leadership in industry coupled with his association leadership experience will help propel AME forward to grow our member organizations that come together to share excellence.”
Previously, Kuchuris was president and CEO of the Lincoln Foundation for Performance Excellence (LFPE), where he worked with Illinois manufacturers and other organizations to provide education and training programs focused on achieving high levels of performance to increase global economic competitiveness. During his time at LFPE, Kuchuris enhanced the Foundation’s awards program, modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, to help Illinois organizations distinguish themselves. He built the organization into one of the top Baldrige award programs in the country by increasing award applications and training more than 800 professionals, a 38 percent increase over the previous nine years.
Prior to his work at LFPE, Kuchuris held several management positions at Navistar International Corporation, originally International Harvester Corporation. During his 26-year tenure, Kuchuris launched more than 15 new products, managed a multi-million dollar training budget and built a comprehensive, company-wide training department.
Kuchuris holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and economics from Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. In 2010, he was honored with the Lincoln Foundation Excellence in Leadership Award.
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About the Association for Manufacturing Excellence
The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is the premier not-for-profit organization dedicated to the journey of continuous improvement and enterprise excellence. AME’s membership is composed of a trusted network of individuals who are committed to leveraging the practitioner-to-practitioner and company-to-company shared-learning experience. Through engaging workshops, seminars, plant tours and industry-leading conferences, AME members are continually discovering and implementing new continuous improvement strategies and best practices. AME offers its members a multitude of valuable resources to help them stay abreast of current industry developments, and improve the skills, competitiveness, and overall success of their organizations. For more information, visit or email AME at .