Innovation Engineering Experience for Vermont Working Lands Companies – February 16 and 17, 2016 at Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, VT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, November 30, 2015

Contact: Robynn Albert, Marketing & Training Manager
Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC)
PO Box 12, Randolph Center, VT  05061
(802) 793-2078 / [email protected]

Innovation Engineering Experience for Vermont Working Lands Companies – February 16 and 17, 2016 at Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, VT

RANDOLPH CENTER, VT  – Vermont Working Lands companies and organizations will have an opportunity to spend two days working on their businesses and taking action on ideas for more profitable new Products or Services, new Business Models, new Marketing Messages or new Processes.   The Innovation Engineering Experience is a systems approach to innovation that will help participants accomplish in two days what might otherwise take weeks or months. Agriculture, Food, Forest and Wood products industries can take advantage of a one-time special event pricing made possible through a grant from the Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative.  The investment is just $250 per person, a more than 70% discount from the regular event cost of $895 per person.

The Innovation Engineering Experience will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 16 and 17, 2016, from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm in Judd Hall on the main campus of Vermont Technical College (VTC) in Randolph Center. Doug Hall, Founder and CEO of the Innovation Engineering Institute, will be leading this high energy and fast-paced event. Company teams will be guided through the Innovation Engineering® process to define a strategic objective, and then create, test, problem-solve and pitch meaningfully unique new product and service ideas for increased sales and profitability.   Prior to the 2-day session, participants will meet with VMEC Innovation Engineering Black Belts to clarify their focused objective for the event and complete a problem survey.  Results of the survey will be used to customize the event.

Following the workshop, a series of meetings with VMEC and other participating companies will provide support to help complete projects and reinforce the Innovation Engineering® methods learned.  Innovation Engineering® is a proven, scientific system for never-ending innovation developed by Eureka! Ranch, the University of Maine, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), and the Innovation Engineering Network. Grounded in over 27 years of research and project work, it incorporates the systems thinking mindset of Dr. W. Edwards Deming through education, tools, coaching and mentoring to enable innovation by everyone, every day. VMEC is a founding member of the Innovation Engineering Network and has been assisting companies of all sizes with Innovation Engineering projects since 2006.

According to Mark Desrochers, Vice President, Classic Designs by Matthew Burak, “Inoculating my workforce with the notion of creating meaningfully unique products has resulted in increased revenues for my business and an increase in employment for the community. Importantly, we are leveraging local forest products to strengthen the regional economy.” And Mike Rainville, Owner, Maple Landmark Woodcraft, states “It used to be that product development was a one person show, me. I took in ideas and suggestions but ultimately all designs and decisions were up to me. At the same time I was, as typical, wearing many other hats. Therefore, product development was uneven and often hurried. Through my experiences with Innovation Engineering I realized I needed to respect the creative process more. We needed more ideas, more input to filter them properly, and more time to polish the good ones. Our most practical move was the creation about four years ago of a production development team, made up of internal people with enough varied skills to work on ideas without me. We have probably doubled our idea generation and doubled our new product introductions, often with greater success than we’ve seen in previous years. We are able to make more profitable judgments about what products we keep in our line because we know there is a solid pipeline of additional products coming. The continuous push of IE in the back of my mind keeps us moving along.”

Innovation expert Doug Hall is the Founder and CEO of Eureka! Ranch and the Innovation Engineering Institute. Doug is a highly respected innovation leader who is deeply committed to helping American businesses and organizations succeed in today’s challenging global economy.  For more than 25 years, the Eureka! companies through their corporate consulting group have served Fortune 500 clients such as: Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Ford, HP and American Express. Doug is also a best-selling author of more than five books on courage, creativity and innovation, including Jump Start Your Business Brain, named, “One of the 100 best business books of all time” by business book expert Jack Covert.

The discounted 2-day registration fee for companies in Vermont’s Working Lands sectors is $250 per person. The registration fee (event only) for organizations outside of the Working Lands sectors is $895 per person and the registration link can be found here – IEE Non-Working Lands companies.   The registration fee includes breakfast and lunch each day.  Seating is limited and companies are encouraged to attend with teams of two persons or more.  Visit vmec.org for further information or call the VMEC Main Office at (802) 728-1432.  Please click on this link – IEE Working Lands, February 2016 – to register.

About VMEC: Hosted by Vermont Technical College (VTC) since 1995, VMEC has operated as a not-for-profit with a primary mission, “To help improve and grow manufacturing in Vermont and strengthen the global competitiveness of the state’s manufacturers.” A local resource and trusted adviser to enterprises of all sizes, The VMEC Team brings world-class expertise in consulting, coaching, hands-on implementation support, training and education for leaders and workers.  Through the VMEC PSG business unit established in 2006, on a selected basis VMEC also brings its process, strategy and innovation expertise to non-manufacturing business, non-profit, healthcare and government sectors in Vermont. VMEC provides proven Systems and Solutions focused on Strategies, Processes, Products, Technologies and People.

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