As 2014 comes to a close, we take this time to reflect on the many wonderful opportunities the year provided.  Through collaborations with our esteemed partners and with the hard work of our amazing team members, LEAN Frog has been privileged to serve and support students, educators, and communities.  I’d like to take a moment to thank a few of those organizations that have helped make LEAN Frog’s 2014 a rewarding year.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE AND BE RECOGNIZED

• We would like to thank the Alabama Association of School Boards for being a co-sponsor of the inaugural Alabama’s Best Award that recognized the Best Practices and Innovations in the non-instructional departments of K-12 public schools in Alabama.  We congratulate award winners Tarrant City Schools, Huntsville City Schools and Sylacauga City Schools as well as all of those school systems across Alabama who work hard every day.

• Thank you Reach Out & Read Alabama which prepares Alabama’s children to succeed in school by working with pediatric health care providers to incorporate pre-literacy counseling with families into their well-child visits and to provide new books at each of those visits.  LEAN Frog was honored to provide a Kindle e-reader and ten books to this worthy organization and we thank Reach Out & Read for its commitment to literacy promotion.
• Thank you Rotary Club of Greater Huntsville through whom we supported the “End Polio Now” campaign sponsored by Rotary International

  

• Thank you Hartselle City Schools for your IMPACT Wellness Initiative that addresses the problem of childhood obesity.  LEAN Frog is proud to be a sponsor of your program and we commend you the initiative you have taken to promote healthy lifestyles for your employees and your students.
• We sincerely appreciate the honor and recognition that the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce bestowed on us as recipient of the 2014 Small Business of the Year Award for the Business and Professional Services category.  We thank Alabama A&M University for the prestigious 2014 “Excellence is Not Optional” award and for their support of small businesses.

  

THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE LEAN SIX SIGMA TO PUBLIC SCHOOL LEADERS

LEAN Frog helps public schools improve efficiency and effectiveness in their non-instructional departments through the practical application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools.  We are grateful to those organizations that have allowed us to provide training for their members and introduce LSS thinking, systems and tools:

• Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents (TOSS) as our partner with the half-day executive leader training on Lean Six Sigma process improvement and performance management and the opportunity to award Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification to attendees.
• Alabama Association of School Business Officials (AASBO) as our partner with the engaging “Lean Office” workshop featuring a panel of Alabama Lean Frog School System clients speaking about the benefits of implementing lean six sigma within their business office operations.

The success of these workshops have led to upcoming training we will conduct in early 2015.

• The upcoming “Strategies for Fiscal Sustainability in Harsh Economic Times:  Building School District Efficiency Through Lean Six Sigma” half day workshop for superintendents co-sponsored with the School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA) January 22, January 29 and February 5.
• The Southeastern Association of School Business Officials (SASBO) Discovery Forum in April 2015 where LEAN Frog will use interactive simulations to introduce Lean Six Sigma tools and concepts to business officials throughout the southeast.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE NEW AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS

As always, we express our gratitude to our clients for their business and for their friendship.

• 2014 was a productive year as we expanded our service offerings this year to include Stakeholder Driven Strategic Planning. We thank Hartselle City Schools and Cullman County Schools for the trust they have placed in us as we work together to develop a long-range, measurable strategic plan for their respective systems.
• LEAN Frog had the wonderful opportunity of conducting Lean Opportunity Readiness Assessments (LORA) for several Tennessee school systems and of securing our first Tennessee public school system client.  We thank Hamblen County Schools for the confidence they have placed in us and we excited about working with this great school system.
• In December, we had the great pleasure of participating in our first event in Georgia at the 2014 GSBA/GSSA Annual Conference.  We look forward to building relationships with school systems in both Tennessee and Georgia as we continue our relationships with school systems in Alabama.  We are most grateful for the opportunity to serve public schools by doing what we love.

On behalf of the LEAN Frog team, I would like to wish you a wonderful 2015 filled with many wonderful opportunities and much success.