Lisa Howlett to retire
Tanning group ISA TanTec has announced that Lisa Howlett will retire from her role as a brand ambassador for the company on May 31. Ms Howlett joined ISA TanTec when the group integrated her family company, Auburn, into the business in 2018.
Auburn Leather was established in Kentucky in 1863, specialising in leathergoods for the horse and buggy market before evolving into a producer of leather laces for footwear and sporting goods. With Lisa Howlett’s help, ISA TanTec has continued to offer these products to its customers.
In 2013, coinciding with Auburn’s 150th anniversary, the Export-Import Bank of the US named the company as Small Business Exporter of the Year. This coincided with Ms Howlett being elected chair of Leather Industries of America, one of the component bodies that merged in 2019 to form the Leather and Hide Council of America.
The International Council of Tanners appointed Lisa Howlett as its president in 2018, a role she carried out until 2020.
ISA TanTec chief executive, Uwe Hutzler, said Lisa Howlett’s work during the integration of Auburn had been of “enormous value” to the group.
For her part, Ms Howlett said she intended to spend “a little downtime” camping in the Colorado mountains, but would then use her talents and time “to benefit others, to be a voice for the unheard and an advocate for the disadvantaged”.
