What is Mayor Dick going to do after he leaves office? I've been asked the question so many times. I don't know ! But, I figure it's a question in need of an answer. First, I am going to speculate. Richard comes from a statistical quality orientation, and was a founder of the local TQM Network. What is TQM Network?
The TQM Network is a program of the Northeast Indiana Business Assistance Corporation (NIBAC) a 501c3 non-profit organization. NIBAC, originally founded by Graham Richard, and a local group of like-minded professionals dedicated to grass roots economic development through assisting others to improve individually and organizationally in the areas of competitiveness, profitability and quality. Through Cheri Becker’s diligent leadership and an active board of directors, we began working toward their vision for Northeast Indiana to become known internationally for the quality of its products, services, people and work life.
Well where does the money come from?
To begin the journey toward achieving that vision, in the early 1990’s a group of area manufacturers and community representatives collaborated to receive grants to fund this vision. A total of $385,000 from the State of Indiana through the Strategic Development Fund Grant (SDF) was secured and matched with almost $425,000 of private local capital to seed the development of a highly innovative program called the TQM Network.
Where is this cutting edge business located?
Downtown..
The TQM Learning Center is located in the FourthWave Building (formerly NIPSCO), at the southeast corner of Main and Barr - across the street from the Performing Arts Center. Parking is immediately east of the building, with entry from eastbound Main or northbound Lafayette.
Would that be the old Nipsco building where FourthWave is located?
You betache..
TQM Learning Center - Leadership & Learning Center
300 East Main Street, Suite 120
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Does this have anything to do with the Lean six sigma implemented for city workers?
Oh yeah, the employees and city department served as guinea pigs.
Six sigma was the starting point for improvement in the city. The TQM Network provided bargain-priced training, and companies like ITT and Raytheon lent black-belt level employees to the city to work on improvement teams with city employees.
As a quest speaker, Scott Lasater, Director of the Lean Six Sigma Enterprise Institute will lead this session. For the last decade, Scott Lasater has been known around General Electric as 'The guy who taught Six Sigma to Jack Welch (CEO, GE)'. As Master Black Belt and Director of Global Lean Six Sigma Training, he has trained over 5,000 business leaders internationally. His primary focus has been developing and coaching GE customers as Black Belts and their senior executives in the deployment of Lean Six Sigma. In the last three years alone, his Black Belt students saved in excess of $450 Million for their own organizations.
What is Mayor Dick up to of late?
,,Mayor Richard will share the latest innovation he is forging, the new High Performance Government Alliance - a partnership with the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce and the TQM Network. Mayor Richard will describe how the City and other Indiana governmental entities will be using business and education partnerships and broadband technology to be globally competitive. This powerful alliance has the potential to save tax-payers millions and radically improve the quality of life in Indiana.
Who are some of the partners?
American Society of Quality
American Society of Quality, Section 0905
American Society for Training & Development
BAE Systems
Barnes & Thornburg
Barrett & McNagny
Briljent
Business Excellence Consortium – Milwaukee School of Engineering
Cavanaugh Consulting Group
City of Fort Wayne
CH2MHill
Concentra
Crystal Ball
EH Design & Consulting
Economic Growth Partnership
Fort Wayne Metals
Goal QPC
JMP
IFN Technologies
Indiana Data Center
Indiana Institute of Technology
Industrial Solutions Group
IPFW
Ivy Tech Community College
Minitab
National Serv-All
Northeast Indiana Innovation Center
OnCall PSN
Parkview Health
Raytheon
ReVision LLC
SAS Systems
Springboard Thinking Group
WCM Associates
Do you think their any conflict of interest?
Oh yeah big time.
Do you think the Harrison Square Park will generate business for TQM Network?
Now that's a question we should ask Mayor Dick. If you can't find him in city hall you know where to find him, just go right down the street to his 501(C)(3). And you have to pay a $100 to hear him speak.
What about Mayor Dick's book?
Performance is the best politics?
About workers doing their jobs, I don't know, but you can buy the book here. Can't say the same for the Mayor but at least he wants the little guy to earn his money.
And what about wiring the city?
Verizon needed to keep its customer, but here's Mayor Dick's take on it.
