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The Editorial Board of EveryCompanyCounts.com represents a combined
120 years of experience in a variety of businesses and industries. The
Board’s expertise encompasses start-up, financing, operations,
human resources, marketing and strategy. They have employed these skills
as owners and consultants in both large and small firms, either helping
to bring a start-up to life or turn around a struggling mature business.
Of greater importance, board members are committed to the belief
that Rhode Island’s small business community embodies
incredible management talent that is meeting competitive
challenges everyday to grow their firms. The commitment
to providing a forum to share this talent drives their
desire to provide quality and timely articles for your
review. Their commitment to Rhode Island’s small
businesses reflects the values
of the Every Company Counts.com virtual community:
Marty Cooper
Principle, Sage Business Solutions
Hometown: North Kingstown, RI
Marty Cooper, is a principle of Sage Business Solutions with Ed
Greene. Based in Cranston, the company is a consulting firm that
serves as an advisory board to small businesses in Rhode Island.
Prior to forming Sage Business Solutions, Marty Cooper’s
career included over 25 years of marketing products for nationally
recognized companies. He has served on several national association
committees including, National Association of Electrical Distributors
(NAED) and, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).
Marty has been instrumental in helping businesses attain increased
sales and profitability through comprehensive marketing plans and
creative marketing programs. He has produced integrated marketing
programs that included innovative advertising, public relations,
direct mail, trade shows, sales promotions, training and Internet
communication.
Marty grew up and worked in a family that owned a small business
in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. It is through this experience that
he developed a passion for working to help small businesses become
successful in Rhode Island.
A Rhode Island resident for almost 20 years, Marty has been an
active member of the community. He has been actively involved in
education in the town of North Kingstown where he and his family
reside.
A graduate from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, Cooper has a
B.S. in Communication.
Lynne C. Couture
President, LCC and Company
Hometown: Cumberland, RI
Lynne C. Couture is president of LCC & Company. Lynne has
25 years of experience using high-performance management systems
and training tools to create, manage, change, and improve organizations.
She has worked with large and small organizations in the service,
manufacturing, not-for-profit and government sectors. She facilitates
meetings and delivers workshops on change management, leadership
development, project leadership, team effectiveness, ethics in
business and interpersonal skills.
Lynne’s early career at AVON products in New York focused
on implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) throughout the organization,
including problem solving training and leading project/process
improvement teams. Subsequently, as an experienced entrepreneur,
she launched three successful organizations. All three companies
continue as viable businesses today. This combination of entrepreneurial,
corporate, and not-for-profit experience lends real-world credibility
to Lynne’s interaction with participants in her workshops.
Her industry experience includes manufacturing, textile manufacturing,
nonprofit, education, healthcare, government, publishing, fiber
optics, retail, pharmaceutical, and consumer products.
Lynne earned her Bachelor of Art’s Degree in International
Relations and Business from the American University of Paris, and
is a lifelong learner who continues to attend seminars, workshops
and certification programs to broaden, deepen, and strengthen the
services she provides to client organizations. She is a certified
trainer for Achieve Global Skill Modules, an authorized distributor
for Inscape Publishing and an affiliate of Vital Learning Company.
She is also an adjunct facilitator at Bristol Community College,
Bunker Hill Community College, Community College of Rhode Island,
and Quinsigamond Community College.
Bob Hewitt
President, Hewitt Development Enterprises
Hometown: Wickford, RI
Bob is a results-oriented executive with over 30 years experience
in Executive Management, Strategic Planning, Operations, Sales & Marketing
with profit/loss responsibility and consulting in related fields,
i.e., electro-mechanical, mechanical, textile, aerospace, military
electronics, chemicals, and microcomputer system communication
corporations with small and large companies including extensive
experience with family-owned businesses.
Bob, as President of Hewitt Development Enterprises, has been
consulting to senior business leaders for 18 years. He has expertise
in resolving troubled turnaround and start-up operations and has
been able to provide strong direction for company growth and profitability.
He has held crisis interim management positions as President, COO
and VP of Operations as well as Project Management Consultant in
a variety of industrial assignments.
Bob has extensive international business and management experience
in Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, India and Asia. This
experience is in setting up and negotiating vendor alliances/partnerships,
project management and holding such positions as President of a
textile company in Poland and a COO of an apparel accessory manufacturer
and worldwide distribution company in China.
Prior to Bob’s consulting practice, he served as President
of Branzonics, Adams-Russell Electronics, where a new management
team was developed and a new product market strategy was implemented
with a 20% sales increase in the U.S. and Middle East in less than
six months.
Bob has taught courses at the college level and has worked with
Bryant College consulting and mentoring of companies needing assistance
with business problems as well as importing and exporting projects.
He has served as a Board Member of a private manufacturing firm
in Rhode Island
Mr. Hewitt is a member of the Turnaround Management Association
(TMA), Association for Corporate Growth (Boston & Miami) and
the Rhode Island Export Assistance Center.
Lawrence A. Girouard
President, Business Avionics
Hometown: Newport, RI
Larry is President of Business Avionics, Inc, a consulting company
that focuses on strategic planning, sales and marketing programs
and corporate cultural transitions.
With over 35 years of business experience Mr. Girouard (BSME, MBA) has had
a broad breath of responsibilities in management positions that span Fortune
500 companies (DuPont, Cookson, Kaydon ) to high technology start-up companies
(Spectrum Technologies, Composite Development Corp).
Throughout his career he has had extensive experience in sales/marketing,
establishing and motivating field sales forces (direct or reps),
forecasting, business plan organization and implementation, strategic
planning, managing internal corporate cultural change and in creating
both internal and external systems to facilitate communication
within the corporate structure.
He was first Executive Director for both the NASA Technology Transfer
Center for the State of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Manufacturing
Extension Center (RIMES), a US Department of Commerce funded program.
Mr. Girouard is a frequent lecturer at regional colleges/universities
and other venues discussing the difficulties of negotiating the
growth curve for small entrepreneurial companies. He also served
on the Boards of the Slater Mill (5 years) and RIMES (5 years)
and was the “chair” of RI Manufacturing Week (1998)
that attracted 2000 people to various locations in Rhode Island
to raise awareness of the importance of manufacturing to the Rhode
Island economy.
John Nelson
Owner/Manager, The Capital Connection
Hometown: Newport, RI
Whether it's consulting, writing or speaking, John Nelson brings
a depth of experience to the field of business development. John
has over 35 years of banking and business experience in commercial
lending, entrepreneurial activities, business development, credit,
operations, personnel administration, and multi-branch management.
John is the author of The Plan, a business plan workbook, as well
as Understanding Commercial Lending, a question and answer guide.
John is also a lecturer on entrepreneurial and finance topics,
and has been invited to speak at many educational conferences.
John Nelson is the owner and manager of the Capital Connection
which specializes in financial consulting, business planning to
raise capital, seminars for small business, and placement of debt
and equity capital. In addition, John is also a certified consultant
for the RI Small Business Development Center.
Whether lecturing on small business finance topics or helping
small business owners obtain loans, John Nelson has dedicated his
career to the entrepreneurial spirit. He was named the Small Business
Administration/SBA Financial Advocate of the Year in 1989, 1994
and 1999, marking the third time he won the prestigious award.
John was also an invited speaker at the 2002 ASBDC conference in
Nashville, as well as the 2003 ASBDC conference in San Diego.
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