Missouri Business Management
Consulting & Training - Staff

Claude L. Howard - Director

Director of The Alliance for Business (an educational partnership between Crowder College and Missouri Southern State University), comes to this role with many years of various training and consulting experience. He worked for several years as a Management Consultant for a large Chicago-based consulting firm and then as Management Development Consultant for UNISYS, a multinational computer company. During his career, he has developed and presented a variety of classes on computers, application software and operating systems. Likewise, he has created and delivered many management and supervisory seminars as well. In fact, prior to coming to Crowder (almost ten years ago) and The Alliance for Business, Howard had his own consulting/training business for ten years. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Missouri State University and has completed his Master's degree in the same discipline. Howard is a member of the American Society for Training and Development, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and local chapters as well. He is certified as a Zenger-Miller trainer and is a member of the Missouri Association of Customized Training. He is also CompTIA A+ Certified and teaches at the Master level for Microsoft Office Specialist applications. Claude is also a member in good standing with the International Society for Performance Improvement and the National Council for Continuing Education and Training.

Mike Kelley - Performance Consultant

Mike Kelley comes to The Alliance for Business with many years of "real-world" experience. After graduating from a local area school, Mike went to the U.S. Navy. He was there for four years and studied all aspects of Electronics. Mike went through the Navy's advanced training schools in California, learning even more skills. Following his discharge, he returned to the Joplin area. This is where he started his thirty-seven year career with F.A.G. Bearings. Mike was promoted to Maintenance Supervisor and served in this role for the last eight years he was there. During his time at F.A.G. he attended many technical training sessions and schools, including Siemens, Rockwell Automation and Allen-Bradley and others. We look forward to him sharing his vast skills and knowledge with our many clients and welcome him to The Alliance staff.

Pam Landolt - Performance Consultant

Pamela Landolt comes to The Alliance for Business with seven years of manufacturing experience, over ten years of customer service background and a year's experience in the managerial field. Originally from the four-state area, Pam is a recent Cum Laude graduate from Crowder College. She has helped one of our client companies develop and execute a pre-employment training program which took their new-hire turnover rate from 85% to less than 10%. She also assists with WorkKeys job profiling, state grant filings and has been with The Alliance for over two years.

Tresa Wilkins -
Performance Consultant / Human Performance Skills

Tresa Wilkins' academic background and career experience are in education. Much of her work with The Alliance for Business has centered on the areas of assembly and modern manufacturing practices. Wilkins was instrumental in a local company's start-up, training new employees in assembly and helping them to develop positive work habits. More recently working on a project to reduce turnover rates for new hires at an area company, these rates were slashed from 85% to less than 10%. She holds certification in public school secondary education, Zenger-Miller, True Colors, and Vital Learning training systems as well as ACT WorkKeys job profiling. Wilkins enjoys facilitating in the soft skills areas of Team Building, Problem Solving and Principles of Working and specializes in developing work skills training programs. She is a member of the Missouri Association of Customized Training.

Robin Denison - Performance Consultant

Robin began his work career in the U.S. Navy in the electronics field. He worked on and maintained many different navel systems, mainly focusing on communications and radar. After leaving active duty, he went with a large defense contractor and helped develop new systems for the Navy's fast frigates and fast attack submarines. He then joined Eagle Picher, maintaining production equipment and designing and building specialized battery test equipment. After several years, he then moved to F.A.G. Bearing as an electrician, becoming lead electrician for the automotive side of the business. Robin has been working with The Alliance for Business for quite some time now. His expertise and "hands-on" approach has been valuable for many of The Alliance's clients.

Will Lant - Safey Trainer

Will Lant graduated with a B.S. in Environmental Health and has worked in industry as a Safety, Health and Environmental Manager since 1992. Will joined the Crowder family in July of 2001 as a Safety Trainer. While working with 3 different companies over 9 years he developed safety and environmental programs to maintain compliance with OSHA and EPA regulations as well as with DOT and AFT regulatory requirements.

Nancy Kenney - Director of Sales & Marketing

Nancy Kenney has 19 years of experience in performance consulting, facilitation, adult learning, motivational speaking, and performance measurement. She has managed corporate and university learning and development organizations and has successfully lead and facilitated workforce consortiums. She has studied under such key leaders in the training and development field as Don Kirkpatrick, Peter Senge and Dana Gaines Robinson. Nancy's focus is on training, organizational assessments, performance enhancement, and integrating training with systems improvement strategies with her clients.

Paul Cole - Performance Consultant

Paul Cole comes to The Alliance for Business with over 16 years of manufacturing / engineering experience. With a 2 year Vo-Tech Certificate, 2 year college degree in Drafting & Design from Crowder, and working with 3 different local manufacturing companies, Paul has a broad scope of what the “production-world” is like. Having worked extensively with AutoCAD 2-D and Inventor 3-D modeling software and other computer programs on various engineering projects, Paul is very acquainted with the “office-life.” But, at the same time, he has also worked very closely with the manufacturing personnel and fabrication equipment throughout the years to give him a good understanding and hands-on experience of the “shop-life.” Some of his training and experience also includes Plant & Warehouse Layout and Lean Manufacturing Techniques.

Michelle Nichols - Compliance / Office Manager

Michelle Nichols came to The Alliance for Business in March 2007 after working as an Accounting Clerk for the City of Joplin, MO for seven years. She has also worked as a Merchandise Customer Service Assistant for Sears and as a Cashier/Customer Service person at another retailer. Her background in Accounting and Customer Service oriented positions brings a well rounded array of experience and skills to her position as Compliance/Office Manager.