Smucker’s Rider among BizWest Women of Distinction honorees

FORT COLLINS — Amanda Rider, area leader at J.M. Smucker Co., will be one of 13 women from Northern Colorado to be recognized with this year’s Women of Distinction awards, a BizWest program to acknowledge the contributions of female leaders in the region.

The awards will be given out at an event to be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Drake Centre, 802 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins.

Selected in the Manufacturing category, Rider joined the sandwich-making department at Smucker’s Uncrustables plant as a process engineer in 2021 just after graduating from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. She was promoted to her current role in February 2023.

As area leader, Rider is responsible for all results on one sandwich-making production line, including safety, quality, reliability, cost and organizational health. She directly manages a team of 48 production technicians and is responsible for their coaching and development.

Rider also is the inaugural company operations lead for the Greater Resources and Opportunities for Women employee resource group, and is a member of Women in Manufacturing and the Society of Women Engineers.

Rider and this year’s dozen other honorees were selected by previous recipients of the award to represent multiple categories of business and nonprofit activity.

Also to be honored, along with their categories of award, include:

• Leading Ladies: Betty Aragon-Mitotes, president of Mujeres de Colores and co-founder of the Museo de las Tres Colonias; and Beth Walker, former dean, College of Business, Colorado State University.
• Banking and Finance: Christina Kraft, market president, Bank of Colorado.
• Business and Business Services: Lori Gama, founder and president, DaGama Digital Marketing Agency.
• Education: Leah Bornstein, CEO and president, Aims Community College. 
• Emerging Leader: Tori May, deputy director, Loveland Habitat for Humanity.
• Exceptional Volunteer: Paula Galloway, program lead for visual-impairment snow sports, scholarship director, instructor supervisor and board member, Ignite Adaptive Sports. 
• Government, Energy and Utilities: Michelle Vance, executive director, Windsor Downtown Development Authority.  
• Healthcare: Cyndi Dodds, CEO, SummitStone Health Partners. 
• Nonprofit: Donna Visocky, director of public relations and fundraising, Community Services Center of Wellington.   
• Outstanding Mentor: Ginger Graham, owner, Ginger and Baker.
• Real Estate: Alicia Ready, training and development director, Elder Construction, BuildHER Collaborative and NoCo Construction Sector Partnership. 

Seats can be reserved in advance by clicking here.

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