Investment in Mexico

Conference Information

• Opening Address Speakers

  Miguel Antonio Cuesta Zarco, Deputy Consul General of Mexico
  Miguel Antonio Cuesta Zarco has been a Mexican Foreign Service career member since 1992. Cuesta Zarco was assigned to the Department of Environmental and Global Affairs during two periods in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City (1992-1997 and 2008-2011). He has been assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission to the Mexican Embassies in Kenia (1997-2000), Israel (2000-2004), Morocco (2004-2008) and New Zealand (2011-2015), and as Deputy Consul General to the Mexican Consulates in Chicago (2015-2021) and currently in Raleigh since August 2021.

  Francisco Sandoval Saqui, Department for Economic Affairs of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC
  Francisco Sandoval-Saqui joined the Embassy of Mexico's Economic Affairs Section as Economic Advisor in October 2022. Francisco has an extensive career as an International Trade Specialist working for the Mexican Government. From 2001 to 2019, he held various positions in Mexico's Ministry of the Economy's Trade and NAFTA Office at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, DC. In 2016, he was appointed International Trade Counselor for the negotiations of the United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA) based in Washington, DC, where he advised the negotiating team on the economic and trade effects of different potential outcomes of the negotiations in the Mexican economy and strategic industries such as the automotive, energy and services. He also participated in the negotiating teams of the Energy, Digital Economy, Cross-Border Trade in Services, and Non-Conforming Measures chapters of the USMCA. He also served as a liaison to the U.S. stakeholders in Congress, the private sector, academia, and the general public with interests in the negotiation, conducting outreach about the benefits of the trade agreement, the U.S.–Mexico trade relationship and promoting foreign direct investment.

  Sandoval-Saqui earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) in Monterrey, Mexico, and a master's degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) in Mexico City with a specialization in international trade, industrial organization, and regulatory economy.

• Keynote Address Speakers

  Antonio Gonzalez, BMW, Vice President Body, Exterior and Interior Purchasing and Supplier Network Americas
  Antonio Gonzalez has worked in the Automotive Industry for 26 years in Europe, Mexico and the USA. He was born in Mexico City. He has a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and an executive development program diploma from the IESDE Business School in Puebla. He started his career in 1996 as a buyer with the launch of the New Beetle and since then has occupied multiple positions with Volkswagen and BMW in the purchasing, quality and supply chain departments. He is now Vice President for Body, Interior and Exterior Components in America for BMW.

  Bogdan Ilie, BMW, Director of Electrics and Electronics, Purchasing and Supplier Network Americas
  Bogdan Ilie has been working in the automotive industry for 24 years in Europe, U.S. and Mexico. Born in Romania, he has a master's in Engineering/Quality Control and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He started his career in 1998 as an engineer and held various executive management positions in Operations, Quality and Program Management. Ilie also worked in the advanced manufacturing of medical devices and pharmaceutical products for three years. He is now Director of Electrics and Electronics Components in the Americas for BMW.

• Panel Discussion Speakers

  Mr. Francisco Quiroga, Ambassador of Mexico to Germany
  Francisco Quiroga has been the United Mexican States Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany since September 2021. He was born on March 3, 1973, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and is married to Cipactli Camero Cortés. The couple has three children. He studied economics at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Mexico, and holds two master's degrees: International Business and Development from Yale University and Operations Management from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

  Throughout his career, Quiroga has worked both in the public sector in Mexico and in the private sector in Mexico and Germany. He started his career in the International Trade Department of the Mexican Ministry of Trade and Industrial Promotion (now the Ministry of Economy). In the private sector, he held senior management positions. He worked in companies in the steel industry, dealing with issues of international trade, the development of global value chains, logistics and financing, among others.

  While working in the private sector in Germany, Quiroga lived in Hamburg and Essen. Before he was appointed Ambassador of Mexico to Germany, he was Secretary of State for Mining in the Mexican Ministry of Economy. During this time, he focused on creating safe and well-paid jobs and promoting transparency, accountability, environmental protection and the rule of law.

  Furthermore, he is a volunteer advisor to Mariposas AC, which supports women in difficult situations, and to the A.I. for Climate initiative, which promotes using new technologies in environmental management.

  Mr. Wolfgang Hofmann, President and Senior Commercial Managing Director of Röchling Automotive, USA

  Dr. Phillip Mayer, Regional CEO, Dräxlmaier Automotive, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

• Roundtable Session Speakers

  Baier and Michels

  Henning Bundtzen, VP of Operations
  Henning Bundtzen attended the University of Kiel (GER), class of '12, and studied Business Administration, majoring in finance and supply chain management. During this time he interned at the Forklift Manufacturer Jungheinrich where he wrote his master's thesis on the benefits and barriers of returnable packaging programs. Upon graduation, he began his career as a management trainee SCM with Automotive Valve Manufacturer Alfmeier in Pilsen, C.Z. In 2014, he transferred from Alfmeier to Anderson/Greenville SC to support their Lean and Supply Chain Strategy. In 2018, Bundtzen took the role of Logistics Manager, and in 2021 as V.P. of Operations at baier & michels in Greenville, driving his process and logistical mindset through the organization. He is currently focusing on aligning the North American Business and Operations Strategy to the model at the German headquarters while applying it to the North American market requirements. Henning credits most of his career and his ability to critically question the status quo and his entrepreneurial approach to his early stays abroad, his teachers at the University of Kiel and his mentors' frustration tolerance during his time as Management Trainee.

  Cathy Capistrano, V.P. of Sales
  Cathy Capistrano attended California State University Stanislaus, class of 2005, and studied business administration with a major in marketing. She worked as a marketing assistant with a local advertising agency in Modesto, California, after graduation. In 2007, she moved to Greenville, South Carolina and worked as a media buyer for another local advertising agency. After a short hiatus, Capistrano was given an opportunity to join baier & michels in 2011 as a procurement administrator. At the time she joined, baier & michels USA was a small office, and she helped establish some of the processes and procedures still in place today. During her time at baier & michels, she learned different roles in various departments and finally settled in the sales department, where she took the position as a key account representative and was then later promoted to key account manager.; As a key account manager, she contributed to the growth in company sales and customer base. In 2021, she took on the role of vice president of sales to help further promote the company's brands and innovations. She is currently focusing on the sales and marketing strategy of baier & michels USA to be recognized as an innovative supplier in the automotive industry.

  Stefanie Moseley, HR Manager
  Stefanie Moseley attended Greenville Technical College and graduated in May 2014 with an associate degree in accounting. She went to work at Roechling Automotive as an accounts receivable specialist. In 2015, she moved into Human Resources as a payroll specialist. During this time, Moseley received training and certification in all aspects of the Human Resources field. In 2017, Moseley took the role of human resources manager at baier & michels. She established and implemented all facets of HR within the company in this role. In 2019, Moseley moved to Michigan and began working as a human resources manager for another company within the Wuerth Group, Arnold Fastening Systems. In 2022 with a move back to South Carolina, Moseley stayed with the Wuerth Group and began as human resources manager with Wurth Wood Group. After a short stint with this company, Moseley was given the opportunity to return to baier & michels, and returned to her role as human resources manager.

  BMW Manufacturing Company

  Antonio Gonzalez, BMW, Vice President Body, Exterior and Interior Purchasing and Supplier Network Americas
  Antonio Gonzalez has worked in the Automotive Industry for 26 years in Europe, Mexico and the USA. He was born in Mexico City. He has a bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and an executive development program diploma from the IESDE Business School in Puebla. He started his career in 1996 as a buyer with the launch of the New Beetle and since then has occupied multiple positions with Volkswagen and BMW in the purchasing, quality and supply chain departments. He is now Vice President for Body, Interior and Exterior Components in America for BMW.

  Scott Trembly

  Context Design Group

  David Lewis has 40 years of experience in the architectural field. He has a diverse background working in a broad range of market sectors, including governmental, institutional, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, general manufacturing, electronics and commercial markets. His experience has been rounded with design leadership responsibility for all project phases. He has been the architectural department manager for a large international firm, owning and managing Context Design Group (CDG) since 2002. Lewis has been the lead architect and design manager for numerous large-scale, fast-track project types. He has great experience working with both design/bid/build and design/build project delivery methods. He has been responsible for designing projects ranging in size from $150K to $1 billion in capital investment. Over the past 30 years, he has focused on programming, font-end planning, scope definition, design and management for a wide range of projects.

  DAA Dräxlmaier Automotive Group

  Mr. Ralph Schwarz, Director of Corporate Communications

  Häring Precision

  Nikki Bailey, Head of Human Resources
  Nikki Bailey received her B.S. in Kinesiology from Anderson University in 2013. She originally planned to pursue grad school for Physical therapy but ultimately chose another path. After graduating, she started as a patient services representative, managing the medical billing and central administration offices with Elite Integrated Therapy Centers. In 2021, Nikki became the human resources generalist for Haering Precision and is now the head of human resources for the Lavonia, GA, facility. As head of HR, Nikki is responsible for overseeing recruiting, retention, benefits, employee satisfaction, compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, maintaining company policies and procedures, coordinating training programs, housekeeping and coordination with the company restaurant.

  Tim Bennett, Senior Expert, Human Resources, Häring Precision USA, Lavonia, GA
  Tim Bennett networks with technical colleges, universities, local school systems and community workforce boards to promote career paths with Hearing Precision, a family-owned business with 4000 employees and five locations on four continents. Hearing Precision customers cannot thrive if the company does not provide well-planned career pathways leading to the future. Hearing Precision is a culture that understands and embraces this. Bennett's job is to ensure this generation and the next understand this culture. His primary message is that we have careers, not jobs, and Hearing is a company that you can start here and go anywhere.

  Kautex Textron

  Ms. Molly Fox, Human Resources

  Mr. Jorge Jimenez Bertheau, Director of Operations

  I.K. Hofmann

  Ms. Wendy Brooks, Area Manager

  Ms. Rolyn Lister, Recruiting Manager

  Rolls Royce

  Yates W. Bostic III, Senior Manager, Strategy Purchasing
  Yates Bostic received his Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Clemson University in 2010 with a minor in German Language. He has more than 13 years of experience in strategic purchasing, more than nine years with Rolls Royce and four years in strategic purchasing with heavy equipment OEM and steam systems companies based in the UK and Germany. Bostic leads a team of strategic buyers supporting direct material purchasing for North American engine production and aftersales businesses with team members in South Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota. Since 2023, he has been driving initiatives to develop new supply partners and increase sourcing (currently in Europe) to Mexico. He is also part of "Local-for-Local" and "Best Cost Country" purchasing strategies.

  Fabiola Sanchez-Davila, Strategic Buyer
  Fabiola Sanchez-Davila graduated with a bachelor's in international business from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (Tecnologico de Monterrey) and studies abroad, certified by the Kempten University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Her language skills include Spanish, English and German. Her experience includes working in the automotive industry for four years at Hyundai Mexico and starting her second year at Rolls Royce. She is currently working on projects to expand the company's supply chain into Mexico, targeting suppliers in the castings area.

  SEW Eurodrive

  Andrew Spencer, Engineering Manager Southeast Regional Engineering SEW-Eurodrive, Inc.
  Andrew Spencer studied Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University (2014) and participated in the cooperative education program with SEW-Eurodrive. He started full-time with SEW-Eurodrive as an application engineer immediately upon graduation. He became the manager of the southeast regional engineering team in 2019, also serving as the quality manager of the regional assembly plant. Spencer is responsible for leading a team of electrical and mechanical engineers in the application and technical support of SEW-Eurodrive's drive technologies in the industry. He also works to manage quality, emphasizing the design and implementation of new processes and automation in our state-of-the-art assembly plant.

  SWJ Technology

  Douglas Parker, Project Manager, MN-80 BMW, SWJ Technology, Greer SC
  Doug Parker received his Bachelor of Science degree from North Greenville University in 2006. Parker studied areas like Industrial Psychology, Public Relations and International Trade. Immediately upon graduation, he began working for Penske Logistics onsite at BMW in Greer. While logistics and supply chain improvement were his primary focus, his experience in customs and international freight was a notable contribution. Years later, he took a position at SWJ Technology in BMW's SKD Packing Plant. Working in this environment, he developed and focused on international trade within BMW's key networks worldwide. In 2019, Parker was selected by SWJ to be the project manager for BMW Quality. Working for BMW Quality on behalf of procurement has presented opportunity to travel and interact with notable people and brands such as BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce, Mercedes and Volkswagen, to name a few. Parker is currently a site lead for SWJ and is responsible for key accounts in logistics, quality and packaging at BMW. His time studying people and cultural diversity on a macro level has aided in his appreciation and understanding of basic human needs and connections.