When Kim Casineau purchased The Coating House in East Longmeadow, she didn’t make a big announcement. In fact, she didn’t tell anyone. Not customers. Not suppliers. Not even her peers in the industry.
It wasn’t because she lacked pride in what she had accomplished, it was because she knew the manufacturing world she was entering. A male-dominated industry where being a woman at the helm often comes with skepticism, questions, and assumptions. She told The Republican, “I didn’t broadcast I was the new owner because you don’t want to do that in an industry like this.”
Instead, she simply took over “as the new person.” She didn’t want her customers to get the “jitters” or question her ability to lead. “They would have less confidence (than a man) in my ability to run it,” she said. “There’s definitely a bias out there.”
That didn’t stop her.
In the years since taking over, Kim has quietly transformed The Coating House-tripling gross sales, expanding its customer base from 40 to over 220, increasing its product line and building a 14-person team evenly split between men and women. The company specializes in providing fasteners-threaded parts with or without pre-applied adhesive coatings for critical components in industries where safety and performance are everything.
But while her company’s growth has been impressive, it’s Kim’s evolving approach to visibility and leadership that truly stands out.
She’s no longer staying quiet.
Kim now uses her platform to speak up – and to make space for others. “It is frustrating,” she said, “but whatever frustration I have only drives me to be more vocal and to bring awareness to people around me and the community that it can be done.”
That belief shapes how she hires. At The Coating House, job postings emphasize entry-level accessibility. “You don’t need to have experience,” Kim says. “The ability, desire and aptitude to learn is all that’s required. We want to bring women into the manufacturing space.”
It’s a mission born not just from her own journey, but from a desire to rewrite what leadership in manufacturing can look like. Her success proves that women don’t need to mimic their male counterparts to thrive-they need support, opportunity, and the freedom to lead in their own way.
Kim Casineau may have started by keeping a low profile. But today, her impact is impossible to ignore.