Vermont Business Center instructors are not only engaging teachers, but renowned researchers, practicing professionals, consultants and authors as well.
Lea has been a successful entrepreneur since 1995. She is a partner in the Coaching Center of Vermont, a collaborative of business and life coaches, with offices located in Winooski. She has eight years experience working for WREN, Women's Rural Entrepreneurial Network, as a staff member, instructor and coach, helping men and women to start and grow thriving businesses. Lea has additional experience as the management instructor for the Women's Small Business Program in Burlington, Vermont, assisting budding entrepreneurs to write business plans and secure funding. As a consultant, she was a partner in Focus for Discovery Training Programs(tm), working with businesses and organizations in stress management, time management, change management, leadership and communications skills. Lea was also a manager in manufacturing and retail for Gale River Designs, a NH small business of the year. She now specializes in helping companies to create "coaching cultures". Lea is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), first in Vermont, credentialed by the International Coach Federation (ICF) and is a Certified Graduate of Coach U. She has been coaching individuals and groups since 1999. She is the author of Walk on Water: How to Make Change Easier (Change Agent Press, 2005) and has a B.A. in writing and literature. Lea's coaching credentials include:
Joe Candido is the founder and president of Fifth Element Associates, Inc., a sales, marketing, research, and business consultancy. He has over 25 years of experience in sales, marketing, consulting, technology, and advanced training methods. Joe works with his clients to develop competitive differentiation in their market place, and then build both strategic and tactical sales and marketing plans which leverage that differentiation.
Throughout Joe's career he has worked with wide range of clients and industries, often creating in-depth, multiyear programs. Joe has worked with several multi-national corporations, regional companies, and nonprofits. He has in-depth expertise in:
Joe owned and operated an IT consulting firm, held positions of Director of Sales, and VP of Sales and Marketing, VP of Innovation, worked with leading research and advertising firms, and delivered a wide range of technical and executive training programs, some which have been accredit by ACE and Champlain College.
Joe recently built and implemented a sales and marketing plan for a manufacturing firm that drove sales from $20MM to $30MM in 3 years during which time profits increased by 850%. He then positioned the company for a very successful acquisition. He served as a director of Hill Associates, Inc.'s Board of Directors for 3 years. He also consults/coaches with several executives on an individual basis.
Joe has been trained in adult learning and several sales methodologies and often includes their Principles when creating custom sales performance improvement programs for his clients. Joe graduated from the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh with a BS in Business Management.
Susan Hughes is an associate professor of accounting. She joined the UVM faculty in 2006. At UVM she teaches undergraduate accounting courses and the MBA Business Analysis and Consulting. Prior to joining the UVM faculty, Susan spent 17 years at Butler University where she taught financial and managerial accounting, and the MBA Integrative Capstone course. She also coordinated and taught in three, 14-week executive education programs designed to improve physicians’ business acumen, offered in conjunction with the Indianapolis Medical Society The results of her research have appeared in the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, theJournal of Accounting Education, Strategic Finance, Management Accounting Quarterly, Credit and Financial Management Review, and the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies. Her co-authored paper on Intel’s finance function received the Institute of Management Accountants 2006 Lybrand Gold Medal and was selected by the International Federation of Accountants for inclusion in Articles of Merit Award Program for Distinguished Contribution to Management Accounting. She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, and has designed and conducted executive education programs for the Vermont Business Center, Temple-Inland, Roche, Norwood Promotional Products, and various public accounting firms.
David Jones is an Assistant Professor in Management at the School of Business Administration, University of Vermont. David completed his Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Calgary in Canada. He is a passionate teacher who was recently honored as the recipient of a university wide teaching award.
In his research he focuses on employees' perceptions of fairness in the workplace. David studies the processes through which employees judge fairness and unfairness, and though which they respond through cooperative behavior, turnover, revenge, and counterproductive behavior (e.g., wasting time, theft). He also conducts research on employee recruitment and selection. David is active in presenting his research at scholarly conferences like the annual meetings of the Academy of Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and has published his research in top academic journals that include the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of Organizational Behavior, and the Journal of Management. Dr. Jones is currently a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Organizational Behavior.
In his work with organizations, David served for two years on the Board of Directors, and a term as Chair of the Board, for a non-profit organization called the New Sudan Education Initiative (www.nesei.org) whose mission is to build secondary schools in South Sudan. David has also applied principles of workplace fairness to projects within government, retail, and information technology sectors. More recently, David has worked with the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) Foundation to study how GMCR's company-funded volunteerism program affects employee attitudes and behaviors.
Tim Lybarger is an instructor in the University of Vermont Professional Certificate in Leadership and Management and joined the Vermont Business Center Board of Advisors in 2004.
Merryn works with clients throughout the country and in all sectors, advising on management challenges and change projects, guiding strategic planning, creating employee development programs, and working with Boards of Directors. Merryn does this work as Principal of ReVisions LLC, an organizational development firm in Burlington, Vermont. Speaking about her work, Merryn says, "I enjoy collaborating with organizational leaders to anticipate and meet challenges and opportunities, plan, and guide change initiatives that help people and organizations grow."
Mark Youndt is a former Associate Professor of Strategic Management in the School of Business Administration at the University of Vermont and former faculty member in the Business School. He also teaches in the University of Connecticut’s Executive MBA program and conducts research and consults with numerous companies in the areas of strategy, strategic human resource management, and knowledge management. He has a B.A. in management and economics from Gettysburg College, a MBA from Rollins College, and a Ph.D. in management and organization from Pennsylvania State University. Professor Youndt has won numerous teaching awards, and his research has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management, and Journal of Management Studies. Prior to pursuing his academic career, Professor Youndt worked for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Sonoco Products.
Karen has over 25 years of strategy, marketing, product development and research experience with leading traditional and non-traditional organizations. Karen is the University of Vermont, Vermont Business School Instructor teaching Strategic Marketing Management. Her career includes such notable companies as Procter & Gamble, Ocean Spray and Application, Inc., Stonyfield Farm, and Seventh Generation. She has also worked as a growth strategy consultant at CDI (now part of Mercer Consulting). As Vice President of Marketing at Stonyfield Farm and Seventh Generation, she developed and launched the two most successful product lines in the company’s histories and helped establish these companies as leading brands in their respective categories.
Karen also was co-founder and CEO of Coates Walker, Inc., a manufacturer of “green” cabinetry that served residential and commercial markets.
Karen is a board member of the Vermont Green Building Network, a member of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Peer to Peer network, and the marketing instructor for the Vermont Women’s Small Business Program. She is also the Director of the MBA Program in Sustainable Business and Associate Professor at Green Mountain College, and founder and president of her own marketing and sustainable business consultancy.
Karen earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and her MBA degree from the Harvard Business School.
Rocki-Lee DeWitt is the former Dean and Professor of Management in the School of Business at the University of Vermont. She earned her Ph.D. at Columbia University in strategic management, her M.S. at The Ohio State University in Agricultural Economics and her B.S. in Marketing and Management at New York University. Prior to her arrival in 2002, Dr. DeWitt was the Associate Dean for Professional Masters Programs at the Pennsylvania State University. While at UVM, Dr. DeWitt has been responsible for hiring 15 of the school's 27 tenure track faculty, played a leadership role in increasing the number of endowed faculty fellowships and professorships, and helped build a management development and executive education presence. Dr. DeWitt has received numerous teaching awards and has discussed teaching innovations at multiple national conferences. Her research on downsizing and restructuring has been published in top tier journals. Dr. DeWitt is a member of the Board of Governors of Beta Gamma Sigma, a member of the Board of Directors of Yankee Farm Credit (an ACA), and sits on various community boards including the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Burlington Industrial Council.
Does not apply to courses for college credit.
Employees working in the industries of: manufacturing, healthcare, informational technology, telecommunications, and environmental engineering may be eligible for up to a 50% discount on courses. This grant is offered through a partnership with the Vermont Training Program and the Department of Economic Development. For more details call the Vermont Business Center at 888-222-3413 or 802-656-4033.
