From humble beginnings

Find out how a hard-work ethic and love of family have provided direction for Commercial Systems leader Kelly Ortberg.

By Jill Wojciechowski

Kelly Ortberg acknowledges that his childhood years in Eastern Iowa were rather humble. Thoughts of traveling by airplane or taking elaborate family vacations – like those that are seemingly commonplace in today's society – were just mere dreams.

A native of Dubuque – a historic community located along the banks of the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin – Ortberg and his family stayed true to their Swedish background and maintained a hard-working, rather conservative lifestyle.

"It was a big deal for our family to travel to a lake in Minnesota for a fishing trip," said Ortberg. "That was the extent of our family vacations and was as far as I'd ever gone with the exception of a Boy Scout trip to a ranch in Philmont, New Mexico – and then we traveled by train."

Today, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Commercial Systems at Rockwell Collins spends a great deal of time in places that to him were once just dots on a map. Frequent trips to cities in Europe, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and China simply come with the territory, as do meetings with some of the airline industry's most powerful executives.

"I had been on an airplane once prior to graduating from college, so it's sort of ironic that I end up working for an aerospace company and leading a division involved with commercial aviation," said Ortberg. "There are times when I'm sitting in an airport in a place like London, England, wondering how I ever got where I am today."

Beyond the state line

A graduate of The University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, Ortberg began his professional journey in 1982 when he joined the Defense Electronics division at Texas Instruments in Lewisville, Texas.

"My number one goal upon graduating from college was to get out of Iowa," admitted Ortberg. "I hadn't had much of an opportunity to see what was beyond the state line, and I wanted to experience life in the big city."

Not long after launching what has since proven to be a successful career, Ortberg was joined in Texas by his college sweetheart, Valerie, a dietitian whom he married on Aug. 13, 1983. Together, the Iowa natives settled into their one-bedroom apartment and began to adjust to the hustle and bustle of suburban Dallas.

"Val also was from a small town in Iowa so she was excited about moving to Texas," Ortberg recalled. "She had two sisters who lived in Houston, and she thought it would be fun to be a bit closer to them. She also wanted to find out what living in a metropolis like Dallas was all about."

While the couple enjoyed the time they spent in the Lone Star State, it was the birth of their first child, Kaitlyn, in 1987 that prompted their return to Iowa.

"Family is very important to us and we decided that Iowa was the place we wanted to raise our children," said Ortberg. "Once you leave Iowa, you realize that it really is a nice place. But I am glad that I left for awhile and experienced life in a metropolitan city because I think it's definitely helped me throughout my career."

With five years of engineering experience under his belt – including some international business involvement and aircraft integration work – Ortberg was a natural fit at the Iowa-based company known today as Rockwell Collins.

Hired as a program manager for the Multi-functional Information Distribution System (MIDS) program, Ortberg was quickly asked to spend his first year on the East Coast as the program manager on a MIDS project involving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

"It was kind of ironic that I wanted to move back to Iowa and instead ended up moving my family to New Jersey for a year," said Ortberg. "But it was a great experience both personally and professionally. In fact, our company is still building MIDS terminals today – that turned into a very large business for us."

For the next six years, Ortberg served in various capacities within our company's Data Links area where he also was given an opportunity to hone his networking skills. In fact, it was during his time as program manager on the Swedish Ministry of Defense Data Link program known as Ra-90 that he met Nan Mattai, who was then the project's lead software engineer.

"Kelly has always understood what it takes to win," said Mattai, now the senior vice president of Engineering and Technology at Rockwell Collins. "In fact, he traveled to Sweden 34 times during our pursuit of the Ra-90 program to build and nurture relationships with the Swedish Defense Material Administration.

"In the end, we defeated an in-country supplier to win the Ra-90 program, which is not an easy feat," Mattai continued. "Kelly worked hard to build those relationships, and they have served our company well for the past 14 years."

The career journey continues

In January 1993, Ortberg's career journey moved in a different direction when he accepted a position in the Government Systems marketing department. One year later, however, he returned to program management to oversee our Advanced Data Links program and, in the fall of 1998, he was promoted to director.

After our company completed the consolidation of our communication systems businesses in Cedar Rapids and Dallas in 2000, Ortberg once again was promoted – this time to vice president of Communication Systems for Government Systems.

In July 2001, when Rockwell Collins began trading as an independent company, Ortberg assumed the role of vice president and general manager of Communication Systems, which is where he remained until transitioning to the Commercial Systems side of our company in the fall of 2002.

"Everybody thinks I'm an airline guy, but I spent the majority of my career on the government side of our company," said Ortberg. "When I took over Air Transport Systems in the fall of 2002, I didn't know any of our customers, and I had no idea which commercial airplane was which."

Still, Ortberg's success continued. "The processes and the skills required for managing development programs in Government Systems and Commercial Systems are very interchangeable," he said. "The technology also is very common, which made the transition much easier. I also spent a lot of time out in the air transport marketplace just trying to understand how business was conducted."

For the next four-and-a-half years, Ortberg worked hard to increase business in an area greatly affected by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And, on Oct. 1, 2006, he was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Commercial Systems, assuming the position previously held by a man for whom he has great respect, Bob Chiusano.

"I have learned a great deal from Bob over the years and he definitely helped make the transition to my current position much easier than it could have been," Ortberg said. "We spent the first 30 days on the road meeting with our business jet customers. That's such a relationship-oriented business and he helped me through all of the introductions."

Balancing work and life

A self-described quiet leader who admittedly takes awhile to form an opinion before making a major decision, Ortberg continues to learn from some of our company's most talented leaders. Likewise, those same individuals continue to learn from him.

"Kelly has taught me a lot about strategic planning and preparation," said Steve Nieuwsma, who was first introduced to Ortberg about 20 years ago when the two worked together on a Data Link program. "We used to come in to work on Saturdays just to brainstorm program issues and to play out different scenarios."

Now the vice president of Commercial Systems Engineering, Nieuwsma reports directly to Ortberg, whom he describes as a man of high integrity and moral character. In addition, he says Ortberg has a great sense of humor.

"Kelly has a very strategic mind and he's always thinking about something, so some people might think he's unapproachable," said Nieuwsma. "He's exactly the opposite. He is quiet, but he has a very warm personality and he's a lot of fun to be around."

A devoted husband and father, Ortberg admits he wouldn't be where he is today without the love and support of his wife and their daughters — Kaitlyn, 20, and Abigail, 16 — who help him keep his priorities in line. Even his parents, Bob and Carol, still offer advice when the challenges of balancing a family and a career seem overwhelming.

"With a position like the one Kelly is currently in, it would be easy to work almost around the clock," said Nieuwsma. "Kelly's parents instilled in him a hard work ethic, but they also taught him to be very family-oriented. I think those strong family ties have helped remind him that there's more to life than work."

This August, Ortberg and his wife will celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary. At about the same time, their eldest daughter, Kaitlyn, will begin her junior year at the University of Michigan, and Abigail will begin her junior year at Cedar Rapids Washington High School.

Time does seem to pass quicker as each year goes by, said Ortberg. Still, the 47-year-old executive is in no hurry to trade in his BlackBerry® device for a permanent tee time on his favorite area golf course.

"I really enjoy what I'm doing, and I enjoy working for Clay (Jones)," said Ortberg. "Our company used to be a mere footnote in the Rockwell International annual report, and now we're an independent company, and a recognized industry leader in a global marketplace.

"When I do retire, you will definitely find me on the golf course," continued Ortberg, who tries to play a round each Saturday morning before his daughters awake. "Maybe that's when I'll actually be under par for the first time in my life … when I really have time to work on my game."

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