Executive Directors

George Eckes
George Eckes is Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Eckes & Associates, Inc. (EAI), a Colorado-based consulting group specializing in results driven continuous improvement, six-sigma training and implementation, organizational development and managing change. A former psychologist, Mr. Eckes has a holistic approach to changing an organization’s culture.

His clients have included Hewlett Packard, Cisco, JPMorganChase, Wells Fargo, Volvo, Molex, Inc., HSBC, and Park Nicollet Healthcare. 15 of the last 17 Eckes & Associates, Inc. clients have generated over seven figures ROI in year one. George has appeared on both CNBC and ABC’s World News Now.

In 1996, EAI was chosen as a primary consulting organization for General Electric in their Six Sigma Quality initiative. His work has included course design, delivery and consulting with business leaders, improvement teams and internal quality consultants. In 1998 he was notified that of the 62 consultants at General Electric Capital, he was the highest rated by GE personnel.

In the fall of 2000, Wiley and Sons published his first Six Sigma Book, The Six Sigma Revolution, How GE and Others Turned Process into Profits. This book was rated one of the top 25 Business books of the new Millennium by Strategy-Business Magazine. In May 2001 Wiley published his second book on Six Sigma, Making Six Sigma Last, Managing the Balance Between Cultural and Technical Change. His third book, Six Sigma Team Dynamics: The Elusive Key to Project Success was published in the fall of 2002 and his fourth book, Six Sigma For Everyone, has been out since January 2003 and is in the top 10 Six Sigma Best Sellers. In the summer of 2005, McGraw Hill published his fifth book, Six Sigma Execution.

In 2003, he was chosen Honorary Chairman for President Bush’s Business Advisory Council. He received a National Leadership Award for Business Advice.

In 2006, he joined the faculty of Villanova University’s eLearning program. He was interviewed by Alexander Haig on CNN’s 21st Century Business which aired in March 2008.

Education:

1976 – University of Notre Dame – Psychology, B.A.

1977 – Eastern Michigan University, M.S.

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Andrea Price
Andrea Price is the Senior Vice President of Operations and a member of the Board of Directors of Eckes & Associates, Inc. (EAI), a Colorado Based Consulting Group specializing in Six Sigma Training and Consulting, Organizational Development, Change Management, Supplier Development and Facilitation of Team Dynamics. Ms. Price has been affiliated with EAI for over 18 years.

Expertise
• Executive Coaching, Leadership and Organizational Development
• Six Sigma Methods and Tools
• Group Facilitation and Influence Strategy Development
• Curriculum Development/Adult Learning
• Team Building
• Research Design/Design of Experiments
• Coordination and implementation of Champions consulting

A partial list of EAI clients she has recently worked with includes Ossur Americas, HSBC, WMC, Hewlett Packard, AECO, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Getco, ResMAE, CAE, APQC, Acuity Brands, HSBC, CDI and Luzenac.

Previously, Andrea served as Vice President of Human Resources for Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and Robert Waxman, Inc., an international electronics and interactive services business.

Andrea served as deputy director for the Colorado State Council and at-large director for the Area VI Board of the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). Ms. Price is a past president of the Colorado Human Resources Association, which named her HR professional of the year in 1996.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Denver with a degree in business.

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Dave Schulenberg
Dave Schulenberg is a Senior Vice President of Eckes &Associates, a Colorado based Consulting Group specializing in Six Sigma Training and Consulting, Organizational Development, Change Management, Supplier Development and Facilitative Leadership Techniques.

Mr. Schulenberg has over twelve years experience, both as a consultant and in industry, in leading, coaching, facilitating, and training organizations to develop, apply and sustain business improvement strategies. His experiences have involved him at every organizational level including the Board of Directors, executive leadership, mid-management, line supervision, and the factory floor.

He has extensive consulting experience with organizations from both service and product assembly/manufacturing industries. He previously spent over six years with one of the world's largest consulting firms where he was a critical resource in establishing this firm's Center of Excellence for Quality and Change Management services. He led and performed long-term consulting engagements with clients such as Allied Signal Corporation, First Data Corporation, John Deere & Company, NCR, Royal Dutch Shell, Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, and the United States Air Force. Additional client engagements include Gateway, Corning, Holland Binkley, Chromalloy Corporation, JC Penney, Quaker Oats, and Rhone-Poulenc, USA.

Prior to forming an alliance with Eckes & Associates, Mr. Schulenberg led the Quality Leadership development and implementation activities for GE Capital Services, a $30 billion division of General Electric Corporation. Primary responsibilities included the development and delivery of consulting services to Capital's twenty-seven businesses worldwide to support the implementation of GE's Six Sigma Quality initiative. Other responsibilities included conducting Strategic Quality planning sessions, developing a Corporate wide Quality curriculum, implementing Process Management systems, and providing leadership coaching. Services were tailored to the needs of the individual businesses and delivered on a just in time basis. Mr. Schulenberg managed more than twenty external consultants from seven professional service firms during the effort.

Mr. Schulenberg's subject matter knowledge and applied experiences have included Strategic Quality Planning and integration, Six Sigma Quality implementation, Process-based organizational design, business-based Quality assessments, Business Process Management systems, Change Management practices, Process Reengineering and Continuous Improvement, and Quality training development and delivery. He has served as a featured speaker on Leading Organizational Change at the Conference Board in New York City. Mr. Schulenberg earned a Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from Clemson University.

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Susan Ayarbe
Susan D. Ayarbe, Ph.D. is a Senior Vice President of Eckes & Associates, Inc. (EAI), a Colorado Based Consulting Group specializing in Six Sigma Training and Consulting, Organizational Development, Change Management, Supplier Development and Facilitative Leadership Techniques.

Expertise
· Six Sigma Methods and Tools
· Group Facilitation and Influence Strategy Development
· Executive Coaching and Organizational Development
· Curriculum Development/Adult Learning
· Team Building
· Research Design/Design of Experiments

Background
Susan has over twenty years experience in the fields of education and learning, quality improvement methodology, and clinical psychology and healthcare. Initially a high school special education teacher, Susan worked in the public school system as an educator and administrator. She also served on the faculty of both the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Colorado, Boulder. After earning her doctorate in psychology, Susan worked for over ten years in healthcare, using quality improvement methods to improve patient care in an era of reduced resources. Susan has been with Eckes and Associates since 1996. During that time she has worked with many businesses including GE Capital, NBC, Volvo Trucks North America, Unifi, Household Retail Services, and Atlantic Envelope Company.

Education
· B.Sc. Special Education 1976
· M.Ed. Administration 1980
· Ph.D. Clinical Psychology 1988