03-12-2025
Karen Beachy has spent much of her professional career in the utilities field, including assignments at LG&E and KU Energy, Vectren and Black Hills Energy. She says all three had a common thread.
“A mentor, who was the company’s CIO, often told me that we’re a technology company that happens to be a utility. I reported to the CIO because we wanted to use technology to help improve our operational efficiency and improve our ability to manage our supply chain processes,” says Beachy, who earned an undergraduate degree in political science and a master’s degree in business from Purdue.
Beachy returned to campus on March 7 to speak to students in the Executive Forum. She told them much of her work has been in the supply chain arena, but her path wasn’t necessarily intentional.
“I had an opportunity to join a rotational program in my very first job out of college,” she says. “One of those rotations was in operations. I got my first introduction to supply chain working with contracts and contractor management. I made a connection with the supply chain group because they were responsible for identifying contractors and putting those contracts in place.
“It helped me think a lot about my future career path and I built a depth of knowledge in operations, supply chain and eventually corporate strategy.”
She urged students interested in the supply chain field to get firsthand experience, either by working in a warehouse or in inventory/materials management, to give them a bottom-up understanding of how all the supply chain disciplines work together and with the business.
Beachy has her own strategy consulting firm and serves as a director for Pangaea Logistics Solutions, a dry bulk shipping and logistics company, and Oceaneering International, a technology company that delivers solutions to the offshore energy, defense, aerospace and manufacturing industries. In all roles, she says planning is key.
“We’re always thinking about the future, our key assumptions and possible contingencies when things don’t go as planned,” she says. “I think some people didn’t realize how stretched out global supply chains are until COVID hit. As supply chain professionals, you need to understand your vendor base and know where your materials are coming from. Ensuring you have language in your contracts and alternate sources of supply can help protect the company from disruptions.”
