Sherrie L. Ford, an organizational consultant for 19 years, founded the Center for Continuous Improvement at Athens Tech in Athens, GA in 1991. She later formed a new company, Change Partners, LLC, in July 1996; her partner Steve Hollis joined her later. In 2003, Ford and Hollis acquired a 500-employee manufacturing facility, the former ABB Power T&D in Athens, GA. The business was renamed Power Partners, Inc. (PPI), where Ford is chairman, majority owner, and executive vice president of culture. The PPI plant serves as a proving ground for culture change and manufacturing reinvention and as a role model for local economic development; 500 jobs were saved when ABB was about to close down the operation. PPI employees continue to manufacture pole-type distribution transformers. In the fall of 2007, they introduced a production line for thermal solar panels for residential, commercial, and industrial applications; they are readying the launch of adsorption chillers (ExoMax), an industrial refrigeration technology that runs on the power of waste heat and the energy equivalent of running four light bulbs. In 2007, PPI was listed as the seventhlargest woman-owned business in the United States in top-line revenues. Ford became majority owner of Gap Partners, Inc. in Rabun Gap, GA, in 2008. GPI has 50 employees engaged in precision metal forming and fabrication in a variety of industries including defense and aerospace. Ford’s writings have been published in Target, Economic Development Review, IndustryWeek White Papers, APICS and SAPICS conference proceedings, and other publications. She has served as president of the AME Southeastern Region board

Marvin Klein, co-founder of PortionPac Chemical Corporation, never stops learning about ways to improve organizational performance.
The author of the Target Third Issue 2008 article, “Green Is a Golden Opportunity for You,” he counts environmental responsibility as a
key to organizational high performance and long-term success. Klein recently shared recommendations for resources that contribute to
understanding and better outcomes in sustainability.

Rand Waddoups, director of strategy/sustainability Wal-Mart, asked about his “top picks” for sustainability resources...

Today’s turbulence is tomorrow’s promise. As markets, industries, and enterprises shift, leaders may wonder when “normal” conditions will
reemerge. In our increasingly interdependent, interconnected world, organizations seek better ways to insure against risk and take advantage of uncertain times.

How many times have you showed up for an appointment at the dentist’s office and scrunched into a chair in the waiting room, only to be “entertained” for what seems forever by the cheerful sounds of elevator music and the occasional departure (escape?) of patients scheduled earlier that day?

One way to develop a learning organization.