Lorraine Medici is the Director of Training and Development at Express Employment Professionals of Grand Rapids.  She has successfully launched Purpose-Driven Leadership Training, a Leadership Academy targeted at helping develop managers and leaders at all levels in manufacturing and other industries.  She is also an approved Training Partner with the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). She is an Associate Certified Coach and Master Practitioner for the ELI (Energy Leadership Index) Assessment. Lorraine is also certified in DISC and Emotional Intelligence training. Lorraine has extensive experience as a personal development coach and workshop facilitator in the areas of leadership, teambuilding, and sales.

As a certified coach, Lorraine works closely with clients to help diagnose company challenges and provide action plans to enhance employee engagement, build stronger leadership teams, increase retention and bring about cultural awareness through workshops and personal coaching. 

 

As Director of Manufacturing Training, John Keuning has a passion to put his 30 years of manufacturing and leadership experience to work for companies by providing both classroom training, virtual training, and on-site consulting. His goal is to help develop better leaders, engage workers, lower cost of goods, and increase profits for companies by arming teams with the tools necessary to be great agents of change. John's favorite place to be is on the plant floor working side-by-side with teams and leaders to find solutions to manufacturing questions.

He has extensive experience in Lean manufacturing theory and implementation as well as helping new and advancing leaders understand the day-to-day work of being a leader. John has served multiple industries as a supervisor, Lean leader, product launch leader, production manager, plant manager, and director of manufacturing.

Ana Nichols joined Express Employment Professionals in 2017 as the Training and Event Coordinator/Client Relations. She has ten years of experience planning conferences, meetings, and special events for a Board of Directors from a non-profit organization. She started her career in 2007 after earning a Bachelor in Liberal Studies with a minor in Human Resource from California State University of Fullerton. Her project management, along with strong organization skills and attention to detail have allowed her to be successful in planning hundreds of events. Ana's goal is to provide clients with the utmost professional care when attending an Express Training or Event.

Ryan Williams serves as a Training Specialist at Express Employment Professionals of Grand Rapids. He is a certified Everything DiSC facilitator and has his master's in organizational leadership from Cornerstone University. Ryan brings a wide variety of cross cultural leadership experience, having worked previously in Hong Kong and with Native American populations in Alaska. Most recently, Ryan has worked in higher education, developing and implementing training curriculum and programs across the organization. 

Ryan's passion and focus is for everyone to love the place they work. People who love their workplace, work harder and perform better. He brings a unique perspective in helping organizations evaluate their organizational culture, understand cross cultural dynamics, and implement strategies to create better leaders.

 

Michael Gilreath, a senior member of the American Society for Quality, is certified as a Six Sigma Blackbelt, Quality Engineer, and Quality Systems Lead Auditor.  He has provided consulting and training in all aspects of Lean, Six Sigma, and Quality & Environmental Management Systems to over 100 organizations including healthcare, manufacturing, and education. 

 

He began his career with 20 years' experience at General Motors learning and applying Lean through GM's partnership with Toyota at the NUMMI plant in Freemont, CA. While at GM he was a Statistical Process Control facilitator, and Education & Training Coordinator.  In 1998 he began training and consulting full time, which he continues to this day.   

What sets Michael apart is his ability to engage people.  His energy is contagious, and his mission is clear - teach, coach and inspire teams to greater heights of excellence.  A life long learner, Michael feels the best way to learn is to teach.  He understands the difference between teaching and telling, and continually strives to improve the learning experience.  

 

Lary Shoemaker has over 20 years of hands-on experience in the precision machining and advanced manufacturing industry and over 15 years working as an instructor in these areas. He is an expert trainer in the areas of precision machining, manufacturing basics, CAD/CAM, CNC, and Pre-engineering. 

He began his career with Paragon Die and Engineering as a machinist apprentice and later became a journeyman machinist and master machine builder. Lary later held the position of Plant Manager at Highlight Industries where his responsibilities grew to include the management of mechanical and electrical engineering, purchasing, inventory, and quality.  During this time, Lary worked with the U.S. Dept. of Labor to develop the company's registered apprenticeship programs for machinist and welding.

In 1997 Lary was hired by Grand Rapids Community College, Business and Technical Training group as a Training Specialist of manufacturing and precision machining. Since 1999 Lary has been teaching industrial education at Byron Center High School.  He was hired to teach and develop the fledgling industrial education program. He was instrumental in planning the new facility, specifying precision machines, CAD/CAM software, and curriculum development. His teaching load includes CAD, CAM, CNC, Drafting, Blueprint Reading and Pre-engineering.