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Mission Statement
Mission
Statement CNYTDO's mission is to accomplish economic development through the support of high tech and manufacturing entrepreneurs and businesses in Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, Cortland, and Oswego counties.
Bob has been president and CEO of the CNYTDO since early 1994, and provides the company with a unique combination of technology, business, manufacturing, and economic development experience. In the past five years, the CNYTDO has significantly expanded its programming by becoming affiliated with the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NYMEP) and by expanding its services to clients and the community in the area of information technology. Prior to joining the company, Bob was president and CEO of Hamilton Digital Controls in Utica, NY, which manufactured magnetic recording equipment. From 1973 to 1984 he was executive vice president of Brush Industries in Pennsylvania. Prior to that, Bob held product line management and engineering positions at Hamilton Watch and Forglo Corp., also in Pennsylvania, Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp. on Long Island--where he was assigned to the lunar excursion module project--and Hazeltine Electronic Corp. in Greenlawn, NY. Bob brings perspectives from defense and non-defense, large, medium and small business to the CNYTDO. Bob holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, class of 1961. Bob is a licensed private pilot and is very active in community volunteer activities, having served or serving on the board of directors of CNYNet, the New York Export Society, the CASE Center, the Mohawk Valley Applied Technology Corporation, Housing Visions Unlimited, and Temple Emanu-El in Utica. He also has served on advisory boards to the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Albany Law School Science and Technology Law Center as well as having been a member of the executive board of the Land of the Oneidas Council of the Boy Scouts of America CURRICULUM VITAE in Microsoft Word for Windows Version7
Glenwood C. Chwala
Glen has been with TDO since 2005, bringing over 10 years of experience in lean. He has been fully involved with several clients on their lean implementations and has become a certified TWI instructor since joining TDO. Before joining TDO, Glen worked with Cooper Industries, Crouse-Hinds Division in Syracuse, NY as a Project Manager in the Improvement Operations Office developing and delivering training in the lean tools. Additionally, he led kaizen events across North American and European sites in both manufacturing and office environments. In total, Glen managed multiple projects resulting in over $2 million in annual savings. He was also involved with Cooper Industries' roll out of its Six Sigma/Lean initiative known as the Cooper Manufacturing Variance Program (MVP). Glen led and participated in several Six Sigma based projects that were successfully completed in both Canadian and US facilities.
Prior to Cooper Industries, Glen was employed with Prestolite Electric in Arcade, NY where he implemented lean tools to support the facilities transformation to Synchronous Manufacturing. Glen directed continuous improvement activities related to the manufacture of electronic voltage regulators and alternators. During this time he also played a significant role in the design and implementation of QS9000 and ISO9000 systems.
Glen began his manufacturing career with North American Medical Instrument Company (NAMIC) in Glens Falls, NY as a Manufacturing Supervisor in the Injection Molding Department. This experience introduced him to the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as regulated by the FDA.
Glen is a graduate of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. He earned both a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration focused in Operations Management. During this time he completed Co-op employment with both Xerox and Welch-Allyn. He also managed the Canadian-US Business Consulting Service at Clarkson University.
Email: gchwala@tdo.org
Susan A. Kuhns
Sue brings over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience in Marketing, Strategic Planning, Sales Management, Product Development and Team Building to the TDO and our client organizations. She is an experienced manager and business consultant. Sue's career experiences with General Electric and Inficon, a leading manufacturer of process control instrumentation, spanned diverse industries such as the semiconductor, electronics, heat treating, instrumentation, optics, and thin film markets. She successfully marketed products worldwide and has direct experience with sales networks in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. In various marketing management positions, Sue led the development and implementation of strategic initiatives that addressed business issues such as declining sales, price erosion, quality problems, and aggressive competition. In addition, she created financial plans, worldwide pricing strategies, competitive analyses, forecasting systems, and sales and promotional literature. Sue played a critical role in the selection, development and introduction of several new products. These projects involved market research, determination of specifications, project scheduling, product packaging, beta site management, and market introduction. She also initiated, negotiated and implemented private labeling relationships both as a supplier and a customer. Sue was intimately involved in Total Quality Management programs and has had extensive training and experience in Team Building, Problem Solving, Facilitation, Conflict Resolution and Organizational Dynamics. As a principal consultant with the Directions Group from 1997 to 2001, she worked with organizations in Central New York on numerous projects including development of marketing plans, business acquisition planning, assessment of business processes, customer satisfaction surveys, creation of marketing and sales tools and guiding the launch of a Continuous Improvement Program. Sue
has a BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering and Management from
Clarkson University and has performed graduate studies in the
MBA program at Syracuse University with a concentration in Marketing.
She is a member of the American Marketing Association and the
Sales and Marketing Executives of Central New York. Email: skuhns@tdo.org
Frank Lanno
Frank joined the TDO with over 14-years of manufacturing experience in the Central New York area. Frank has held many different roles in his professional career, but one common thread has been his interest in employee development and continual improvement. Frank first learned of Training Within Industry in 2002 through dealings with CNYTDO’s Bob Wrona and has followed the program since. As a continual improvement practitioner, all the TWI modules have been supportive to his efforts. As an operations manager, Frank led a high-speed paper converting operation in the food packaging industry. His focal points were maximizing capacity and investing in the company’s appreciable assets … the people. Frank trained and led teams in Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) to reduce changeover times, improve ergonomics, increase operator knowledge of equipment, and improve machine uptime. Frank also worked on the Continual Improvement Council to integrate Lean and Six Sigma. In engineering management for a ceramic manufacturing company, Frank led employee involvement teams, Value Stream Mapping, and various other kaizen event facilitations. As a member of the corporate Lean Steering Committee, he drove Continuous Improvement efforts enterprise-wide. Frank created a series of organizational training programs for 5S, Value Stream Mapping, and Lean Manufacturing. He managed the capital expenditures budget and spearheaded a number of major process installations from concept to commissioning. Frank is Lean Certified through the University of Michigan and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology.
Email: flanno@tdo.org
James C. (Jim) Myers
Jim Brings 34 years of experience as an industrial engineer/management consultant in a Fortune 100 company to the TDO. Jim transforms organizations into high performing, high commitment enterprises. His approach is business driven, analytical, and systemic. A sought after organization transformation professional, Jim is known for his extraordinary work ethic, his concentration on the client's opportunities, and his fast cycle, results driven process. Jim has written extensively and published 16 technical journals and written magazine and newspaper articles. He is also a Six Sigma Green Belt with 17 years experience, training hundreds of production operations people in the 7 basic quality tools, in understanding variation, and in achieving process control. Jim is a Vietnam Veteran and is active in the local Veteran's Organizations: Veterans Outreach Center and Veterans Network. He volunteered with a 10-year commitment as a consultant to an elementary school in the City of Rochester, NY, working with the principal, staff, and parents to improve student performance. He is a 1976 graduate in Mechanical-Industrial Engineering and a 1980 graduate with a Masters in Business Administration (Accounting Major), both from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a Senior Advisor with Lean Advisors, Inc, a member of the OMN, a member of the American Society for Quality, a member of the Socio-Technical Systems Network, and a past senior associate member of the American Institute of Industrial Engineers. Over
the past 4 years, Jim has been working with 30-40 different companies
helping them implement Lean. He is a Lean Sensei with expertise
in all of the various Lean Tools and especially in utilizing Lean
as a business enterprise-wide system.
Email: jmyers@tdo.org
Cindy L. Oehmigen
Cindy Oehmigen is a leader recognized for guiding organizations through change, improving manufacturing competitiveness, creating team environments, reducing costs, and developing staff potential. With over 20 years of diversified manufacturing and engineering experience in union and non-union settings, her expertise lies in lean manufacturing, plant layout, methods design and improvements, capital project management and workforce development. Since joining TDO, Cindy has consulted with over 100 companies on lean initiatives and workforce development. As a certified trainer in all three TWI Training Within Industry modules Cindy has delivered programs to hundreds of employees. At Crouse-Hinds, Cindy spear-headed projects in machining, assembly, wet processes, packaging and warehousing resulting in millions of dollars impact savings and work-in-process reductions. In addition, she directed the design and implementation of a 300,000 sq ft assembly and automated distribution center with a return of $2.5 million in annual savings. She also managed manufacturing and process engineering functions. During her tenure at Carrier’s Carlyle Compressor Division, she specified and implemented a state of the art on-line maintenance management system and served as the superintendent of automated paint and final assembly operations. As the Director of Process Improvement at Loretto Management Corporation Cindy brought her skills in organizational efficiencies and problem solving techniques to the healthcare field. Cindy is a graduate of United Technologies Lean Manufacturing
University and has been certified in APICS, ASQC and in several
quality control and management planning tools. She has a Bachelor
of Science in Industrial & Management Engineering from the
University of Iowa and a Masters in Business Administration from
Syracuse University.
Email: coehmigen@tdo.org
Clara
A. Scherfner Clara has thirty years of Accounting experience; fourteen of which are in the non-profit sector. Clara joined CNYTDO in September of 1991 and is responsible for handling all of CNYTDO's finances and reporting. Clara manages our client contracts, tracking & invoicing and monitors CNYTDO's goals, participates in Board Meetings and is responsible for our yearly audit in conjunction with our auditors. Prior to joining TDO Clara spent 10 years raising her family and held many volunteer positions in the School District that her children attended. Clara is still an active community member in her school district and church. Clara is also a Notary Public. Email: cscherfner@tdo.org
Adelaide Silvia  Outreach Co-ordinator Email: asilvia@tdo.org
Marcene S. Sonneborn
Marcene S. Sonneborn is the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Specialist for the Central New York Technology Development Organization (TDO). The TDO's SBIR/STTR program covers a 24-county region. In this capacity, Marcie conducts workshops around the region for companies interested in federal technology programs including SBIR, Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR), the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), and others. She also provides one-on-one assistance to companies and entrepreneurs to help them to coordinate the proposal preparation process. She reviews proposals for her clients prior to submission, and assists them when they are preparing their SBIR project budgets. She also uses the NYSTAR (New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research) network to provide expertise to clients from across New York State if capabilities are not available within the client's region. Marcie also provides technical and business development assistance to TDO clients, principally in the areas of research and development, technology transfer and commercialization, intellectual property protection and licensing agreements, technology-business organizational planning, management team development, and strategic marketing. She has prepared clients to make presentations to venture capitalists and to participate in venture capital forums. Marcie's specialty is marketing and strategic planning for technology-based and emerging growth companies. She has her MBA from the SU School of Management and received her degree in the Innovation Management Program, with emphasis in marketing and finance. Marcie is an adjunct faculty for the SU School of Management Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises Program, teaching both a classroom-based and a distance learning course. In October, 1997, Marcie was a recipient of the Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration. This award is given for economic impact of technological innovation, business achievement and effective collaborations, and effective state and regional impact and support. Marcie also has published articles on technology management, wrote an assessment workbook for "Taking Your Business Online," and a chapter on the marketing of financial services for a textbook which was published in Eastern Europe. She has participated as the marketing representative on a management team for management training programs in Eastern Europe. She also has worked in marketing research and survey design, including participation on a subcontract to a Fortune 50 company designing and developing technology products for the 21st century. In 1994, Marcie first heard about nanotechnology after attending a World Future Society conference in Boston. This marks the beginning of her incorporation of futuring into her consulting practice. She recognized that this, and other technologies on the horizon (such as the World Wide Web), would fundamentally change the way we live, work and interact with each other. From an entrepreneurial perspective, this creates an exciting environment filled with opportunity, due to the confusion and chaos that occurs through any major transition to a new enabling technology. She began to include in her strategic planning sessions information about nanotechnology, the Human Genome project, teleomeres, etc., and their impact on the client's future business directions and products. An enabling technology's greatest influence is usually the impact on the consumer and what and why people will buy products and services in the future. Her technology clients often develop technology for products that won't be ready for market until three to five years into the future. Therefore, they have to think forward five years about the life and needs of the consumer, if they want to have customers who will buy what they plan to produce. This forward thinking or "futuring" is especially worthwhile with Marcie's SBIR clients who seek funding for high risk R&D for products the average person cannot imagine ever wanting or needing. Email: msonneborn@tdo.org
Robert D. Weller
Bob is a 1963 graduate of Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh with a degree in metallurgical engineering. He was employed for five years as a research engineer with Jones & Laughlin Steel Company in Pittsburgh and for another 23 years as a development engineer, senior research engineer, group leader, and supervisor of process research and development for Crucible Steel. Bob is a member of the American Society for Metals and the Iron and Steel Society of the A.I.M.E. and a former Chairman of the Process Technology Division. He is also a member of the Association of Energy Engineers and Environmental Engineers & Managers Institute. Bob has authored and co-authored a number of technical papers on the subject of high temperature ferrous metallurgy and is responsible for real-time computer power demand monitoring/control concepts and implementation for steel plants of up to 200 megawatts. His expertise also extends into the areas of M I S programming/implementation, energy audits, and environmental monitoring and air and water pollution control. A nationally recognized OSHA General Industry Outreach Trainer, Bob uses his 28+ years of mining and steel mill experience plus extensive training at the OSHA Training Institute Education Center in Lockport, NY to present the 10- and 30-hour OSHA training courses to local manufacturers along with walk-through compliance inspections. Bob is a skilled instructor who has a good working relationship with the local OSHA office. He has been with the CNYTDO since November of 1990.
Robert J. Wrona
Bob joined TDO early in 2001 after
fifteen years as an independent organizational consultant. During
that time he worked with over thirty organizations, coaching leaders
to establish performance improvement goals and then implementing
the strategy either as a project or by forming employee teams
to change the culture.
Services If you are a technology based entrepreneur, a technology based or manufacturing startup company or a small to medium sized manufacturer your TDO may be able to assist you. Your TDO delivers : A Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) outreach program assisting companies and individuals apply for federal research grants. A Regional Technology Development Center (RTDC) providing access to State and Federal research, introductions to sources of funding, business development assistance, business plan reviews, etc. An industrial Technology Extension Service (ITES) providing direct assistance to help manufacturers improve competitiveness The New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NYMEP), partially funded by NIST, providing a national network of resources MEP to manufactures. There is no cost for initial consultation and costs are usually well below market for specific projects. You never incur any costs without first receiving a formal quotation and then agreeing to the statement of work. For more information on how the TDO can help your company: Contact us |
