Kent State University's Regional Corporate and Community Services soon will graduate its 21st Lean Six Sigma Black Belt class. Particularly crucial in the current economy, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training can enhance a company's profitability and improve its competitive position by studying business process improvements in Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. Black Belt training assists companies regionwide in improving their competitive position.

The June 5 Certificate Awarding Ceremony will honor students representing key companies, including Ed Baus, Nova Machine Products (Middleburg Heights); Elaine Crandall, County of Ventura (Ventura, Calif.); Sean Fraunfelder, Park-Ohio Products (Cleveland); Jaimy Joseph, Colgate Palmolive (Morristown, N.J.); Sean O'Dell, Coca-Cola Enterprises (Twinsburg); Dave Orr, The Step2 Company LLC (Streetsboro, Ohio); Janet Marie Patel, Automation Control (Morristown, N.J.) and Zachary Taylor, Elyria Foundry (Elyria). The ceremony will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Twinsburg.

Special guest speaker Chris Krumm will address the class at 11:30 a.m., before the certificate presentation ceremony. Krumm is the vice president of CorrChoice, a division of Greif Brothers.

The students completed 160 hours of training over the course of four months. They will continue on to complete a project for their organizations in order to receive the full Kent State Black Belt Certification. According to a recent survey, Kent State Black Belt student projects provide a 28- to-1 return on the training investment.

Black Belts serve as change agents for improvement, team facilitators and practitioners of the combined Lean and Six Sigma principles within their organizations.

The Offices of Corporate and Community Services at four Kent State University campuses (Ashtabula, Kent, Stark and Tuscarawas) offer Lean Six Sigma Green and Black Belt and Master Black Belt training and certification using a unique approach of weaving both Lean and Six Sigma methodologies and team-oriented problem-solving approaches into a seamless certification that helps achieve substantial improvements in organizations. The Lean Six Sigma programs are under the instruction of lead facilitator Robert Skillman. Skillman is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Lean Master Sensei who has been training and certifying Black Belts in Six Sigma and Lean methods since 1997, and Master Black Belts since 2007. He is a mechanical engineer from Painesville, who has held positions from supervisor to Executive Vice President in large, prominent organizations.

To learn more, contact Amy L. Lane, Regional Corporate and Community Services, at Kent State University at 330-672-5828 or Alane@kent.edu. More information about the programs is available online at www.kent.edu/LeanSixSigma.

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Media Contact: Amy L. Lane, 330-672-5828 or Alane@kent.edu.