NCTCOG and SGR Partnership

North Central Texas Council of Governments Announces Launch of Institute for Leadership and Change Management in Collaboration with Strategic Government Resources, Inc.

The North Central Texas Council of Governments announced today that they have entered into a collaborative agreement with DFW based Strategic Government Resources, Inc. to launch The Institute for Leadership and Change Management on their Arlington campus. NCTCOG Executive Director Mike Eastland noted that NCTCOG already has a national reputation for the technical training they provide, and this partnership will help NCTCOG build on that foundation in partnership with SGR to offer premier management, leadership, and customer service training to local government employees far less expensively than they can access individually.

Eastland said that “the DFW area is known nationwide for the quality of our local government leadership and for highly professional management. The Institute for Leadership and Change Management will help our region continue as a national pacesetter in the quality of our local government leadership. It will emphasize equipping local government leaders to manage and lead more effectively in a rapidly changing world.”

The Institute for Leadership and Change Management will offer over 50 classes in 2009 organized into several main tracks, including Supervisory, Management, Leadership, Customer Service, and Compliance. In addition, there will be a monthly Trendsetting Technology series where officials can gain access and insight into the latest technologies that affect their particular operational area. The Institute will include a monthly Executive Book Briefing for elected officials and senior executives where a briefing and discussion regarding current leading business books allow local government leaders to consider and discuss the applicability of state of the art thinking in the private sector as it applies to local government. There will also be a monthly track for young professionals where they can engage with leading local government leaders in practical discussions around core topics which will be essential to their professional development as effective local government leaders.

The Institute for Leadership and Change Management will be overseen by Deputy Executive Director Monte Mercer, who previously initiated the successful NCTCOG Shared Services program where local governments gain access to lower cost contracts for goods and services through collaboration. Mercer said that NCTCOG began exploring how to meet this critical training need in the region almost two years ago, and after considerable research concluded that finding an exceptional private sector partner would be the most effective way to serve the region, at the lowest possible cost. After evaluating the marketplace, Mercer invited Strategic Government Resources CEO Ron Holifield in for exploratory discussions in January, 2009 and the two began exploring a collaborative partnership. “Many hours of discussions and planning have culminated in this exciting launch of the Institute for Leadership and Change Management” according to Mercer.

SGR trains hundreds of local government employees every month and in 2009 set a new record high of over 1100 local government employees attending their training sessions in a single month. SGR is the largest private company in the nation that specializes in training local government employees in leadership, management and customer service. Led by former City Manager Ron Holifield, SGR has almost 200 local governments as clients throughout Texas and Oklahoma, has recently entered Arkansas and Missouri, and is preparing launches in Kansas and Tennessee.

Holifield noted that the partnership is a tremendous win for the region. “This collaboration will allow us to take our offerings to local governments to an even higher plane, while keeping costs very low by reducing overhead and duplication through regional consolidation. “ Both Holifield and Mercer noted that while the January launch of the Institute for Leadership and Change Management will focus on live training, SGR is already a national leader in online training specifically for local governments, and NCTCOG has recently implemented the technology and capability to begin webcasting and providing satellite transmissions. Both gentlemen expressed an expectation that SGR and NCTCOG would also be collaborating to deliver online training, webcasts and satellite training before the end of 2010. Mercer noted that “we will be providing premier national quality training on the NCTCOG campus… we have the technology in place to broadcast that nationwide… it only makes sense to expand the benefits of collaboration beyond our region, to local governments nationwide via our strong technology platform.”

For more information contact:

Monte Mercer, Deputy Executive Director, NCTCOG, 817-695-9121, mmercer@nctcog.org, www.nctcog.org.

Ron Holifield, CEO, Strategic Government Resources, 214-676-1691, Ron@GovernmentResource.com, www.GovernmentResource.com.

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Next Generation Leadership Luncheons

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Best Practices Series

Calendar of Events
Please click the course title for more information, including course description, presenter's bio, map link, and downloadable flyer.
The letters behind the course name stand for the course series.

NGL     Next Generation Leadership Luncheon
BP       Best Practices Series
BB       Elected Officials Executive Book Briefings

NOTE: All 8:00 AM classes have been changed to 8:30 AM

January 2010

01/14 8:30 AM Now That I'm A Supervisor (Supervisory)

01/14 8:30 AM Tools for Successful Leadership (Management)

01/14 1:00 PM Transitioning from Peer to Supervisor (Lead Worker)

01/14 3:00 PM Leading By Example (Lead Worker)

February 2010

02/01 1:00 PM Customer Service: Starting Strong (Customer Service)

March 2010

03/12 11:30 AM Staff Effectiveness (Part 1): Coaching and Mentoring Brown Bag Luncheon (NGL)

April 2010