Our Team

Ann Clark

In 1989, after years of creating small handcrafted toys, dollhouses, and ornaments for sale throughout New England, artist and baker Ann Clark designed a metal cookie cutter and launched a new business in her garage. Armed with a small amount of cash and unbridled enthusiasm Ann tackled her first trade show and sold out her limited inventory of cookie cutters. Ann Clark, the company, was born.

Ann’s artistic flair and love for baking has created an extensive product line of handmade cookie cutters for the gift and kitchenware industries that sell throughout the United States and in many parts of the world. Ann Clark Cookie Cutter “The Cookie Cutter People from Vermont,” is now the largest manufacturer of cookie cutters in America.

Ann graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in art. She and her husband, John, picked Vermont as their home and soon found a scenic site in the foothills of the Green Mountains to raise a family. Beyond her art, Ann also enjoys traveling, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and spending time with her grandchildren. She’s active in the local garden club and volunteers at the Rutland City Free Library.

Ann’s favorite cookie cutter is Mountain Bear, although the piggy cookie cutter continues to hold a special place in her heart.

Ben Clark

Ben, our fearless leader, is likely the most zealous whiteboard user you'll ever meet. He doesn't use them just for stick figure drawings or snarky comments: he pushes innovation and continuous improvement, with the boards as his aides. Anyone who is invited to a whiteboard discussion knows that Ben means business.

Ben was raised in Rutland, Vermont, and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont. He later completed a Master's in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His career included employment with Black & Decker in new product development and purchasing, as well as the die casting industry. In 1998, he and his wife moved to Vermont so he could join the family business. Since becoming CEO of Ann Clark Cookie Cutters, Ben has been an avid proponent of lean manufacturing, which is a method of reducing waste without sacrificing productivity.

Ben's laugh can be heard from several rooms away, and he loves comedy. He also loves skiing, hunting, hiking, and paddle boarding. He currently serves on the board of Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center, whose primary mission is to strengthen and empower Vermont manufacturers. He and his wife Denise have two daughters, Margaret and Becca, and the family dog is a chocolate Labrador named Molly.

His favorite cookie cutter is the Watering Can.

WHAT DRIVES ANN CLARK COOKIE CUTTERS?

CEO Ben Clark discusses what drives the company, its vision and its management philosophies.

Ben Pelkey

Self-proclaimed as an Excel guru, Ben enjoys diving into the numbers and letting the data tell a story. A seventh-generation Vermonter, Ben was born and raised in Rutland County, where he still lives with his wife Lilly, daughter Sparrow, and their dog Wynter.

After earning a B.A. in Finance Economics from Ohio Wesleyan University, Ben began his career in banking before transitioning to corporate finance in the solid waste industry, where he gained a multitude of experience over 7 years.

When he’s not crunching numbers, you’ll find him coaching youth football or gearing up for Spartan races. He loves off-roading in his Bronco and hitting the slopes in Vermont's beautiful mountains. Cooking is one of his favorite pastimes, though his wife is the true baking expert in the family!

Ben is thrilled to be part of a family-owned company that values craftsmanship and community. His favorite cookie cutter is the Skull & Crossbones, a nod to his love for Pirates of the Caribbean and the adventurous spirit it embodies.

Denise Clark

Denise, who is married to Ben, is a trained lawyer who received her JD from Wake Forest University, and she's also a licensed pharmacist. While that might not be the background you'd expect for an HR leader, it was just what the doctor ordered when she joined Ann Clark Ltd. in 2021 to help manage the company's rapid growth.

Denise loves travel and being outdoors, skiing, mountain biking and other active pursuits with Ben and daughters Margaret and Becca.

As a southern girl transplanted to Vermont, she can appreciate the winter hat, but her true favorite cookie cutter is all about summer, or a tropical vacation: The Flip Flop.

Laura Kanya

Laura, a Vermont-based chef, recipe developer, food stylist, and mom of two, boasts an impressive journey through the food industry. With 25 years of experience in the culinary world - from pastry chef to executive chef – including roles in restaurants, resorts, schools, catering, retail operations, and food production companies. She's earned her culinary stripes working as a recipe tester and developer for top-notch magazines like EatingWell, Southern Living, FOOD & WINE, Allrecipes, Martha Stewart Living, and Better Homes & Garden.  

Laura discovered her love of baking growing up alongside two grandmothers and a mom who loved baking and cooking. They unknowingly established the importance of food and cooking in Laura's life.  When not baking up new recipes, Laura enjoys biking with
her family, being a soccer mom, checking out the latest restaurant or grocery store and finding the best maple creemees.

Laura's favorite shape is the Soft Serve Cone, a nod to her family's quest to find the best maple creemee in Vermont.

Tom Funk

Tom grew up outside Boston and fell in love with Vermont as a college student at Middlebury College. After a few years of working in New York in the book publishing business, Tom returned to Vermont where he has managed online marketing and website content for some of Vermont's most beloved brands, including Vermont Teddy Bear Company, PajamaGram, Green Mountain Coffee, Keurig, and Gardener's Supply Company. Tom first met the Ann Clark team when working for its website agency in the early 2000s, then joined the company full time in 2020.

With three daughters in college or graduated, Tom and his wife are rising to the challenge of their "empty nest" -- hiking, skiing, gardening, dining out and traveling. Tom also plays hockey a couple nights a week with the aptly named Disfunktional Hockey Club.

His favorite shape is the Llama because it's fun to decorate, and reminds him of a family vacation in Peru with awesome trekking through the Andes.

Evelyn "Evie" Henderson

Originally from the backwoods of Maine, Evie fell in love with Vermont while pursuing a BFA in Graphic Design & Digital Communications at Champlain College in Burlington, which she completed in 2019. During her time there, she took art related classes that took her to various places around the world, including Spain, Portugal, and an entire semester in Auckland, New Zealand.

Evie came back to Vermont to work at Ann Clark Ltd. as the in-house graphic designer a year after graduating from college. She spends her days there creating imagery and graphics to further elevate Ann Clarks visual brand standards. A wiz with the Adobe Suite, she enjoys touching up product photography and sketching new packaging ideas. She has also become intimately involved in the creation of new cookie cutter shapes.

In her off time, she partakes in other creative hobbies, including painting, pyrography, and macrame. If asked whether she would jump off a bridge 'just because your friends are doing it', she can in fact answer yes, and highly recommends it: provided there is a state-of-the-art bungee cord attached.

Her favorite cookie cutter is the teacup, a fine addition to her collection of antique porcelain.

Lauren Olewnik

Lauren is Ann Clark's data wrangler. Her favorite task is cleaning data. She loves a good, clean spreadsheet filled with raw data that is ready to be mined for marketing gold. She recalls a time as an undergraduate at the SUNY Buffalo when she pondered how she could 'do research' for a living, while sitting in a library rifling through academic journals. After receiving Bachelors' degrees in History and French Language and Literature, she received a Master's degree in Library Information Science. While Lauren originally came to Vermont to apply her skills as a librarian, she is now engaged daily in vigorous competitive industry research.

In her spare time, Lauren runs the Women's Woodworking Club at Rutland's Makerspace, and is working on building a hollow wooden paddleboard from scratch. She is also a (no joke) worm farmer--you should see the data she collects on her worms--time, temperature, moisture, feed rates. Truly exciting stuff.

Lauren's favorite cookie cutter shape is the rocket ship, because her guiding principle is that you are only bound by your imagination, so we should always push boundaries to see how far we can go.

Annora McGarry

Annora loves finding ways to weave data and creativity together to craft compelling clickable content. Try saying that 5 times. She enjoys finding what makes a brand unique and shouting that story from the rooftops. As the Digital Content Specialist, Annora gets to combine her passion for data-driven content with her love of baking and crafting memorable moments.

A native Vermonter, Annora grew up on a dairy farm in the northwestern part of the state. After graduating with a degree in Marketing & Food Industry Management from Cornell University, she sought adventure and found it in the mountains of Northern California. There, she led the marketing program for a resort and retreat center and spent all of her free time mountain biking, backpacking, and shredding the gnar. After nearly a decade out west she moved back east, leading content and marketing programs in the horticultural industry to develop robust ecommerce strategies for plant nurseries and one soil manufacturer. She acquired a wealth of horticultural knowledge and a veritable indoor jungle along the way.

In her free time, Annora loves all things outdoors. You'll find her in the mountains camping, hiking, skiing, or mountain biking. She also enjoys getting her hands dirty in her ever-expanding garden and cooking homemade goodies in her kitchen.

Annora's favorite shape is the cow face, because it reminds her of her favorite cow, Ruthie, on her family's dairy farm.

Jillian Costello

Jillian recently graduated from college in Washington State, earning a BA in Economics and a BBA in Marketing. Eager to embark on her professional journey, she made the bold decision to relocate to the picturesque landscapes of Vermont to pursue her passion for digital marketing.

Now settled in Vermont, Jillian has found her niche as a Digital Marketing Analyst for Ann Clark Ltd. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for data analysis, she thrives in the fast-paced world of online marketing. Whether she's crafting engaging social media campaigns, optimizing website content, or analyzing consumer behavior trends, she is always working towards driving digital growth and maximizing brand visibility.

Outside of the office, Jillian enjoys exploring Vermont's charming towns, and indulging in outdoor adventures such as paddle boarding, snowboarding, and camping. You can also find her bringing her sweet yellow lab Bandit on all her adventures.

Her favorite cookie cutter is the fashion doll head because it was the first new shape she helped bring to market, and she loves any excuse to decorate something pink!

Don Williams

Don came to Ann Clark with an extensive background in production and logistics management, especially small businesses manufacturing Vermont made products. He enjoys seeing the process of manufacturing through to the end, getting the products that provide some fun and enjoyment in the hands of customers.

In his free time, he alternates between the peaceful tranquility of the Green Mountain National Forest in search of the white tail deer, or the adrenaline pumping chase for the checkered flag at nearby Devil's Bowl speedway in the Limited Sportsman division, in a car he owns and maintains himself.

He is a lifelong resident of Vermont, and along with his wife Melissa, raised three daughters here in the Green Mountain state, and recently welcomed their first grandchild. Canine companions Daisy and Ginger are usually not far behind.