About Watch the overview video. 9g Enterprises was founded in 2002, as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business with a focus on providing our tool set to help leaders get better. Using our proven survey method, workshops, coaching and keynotes our clients showed a strong desire for surveys at an affordable price. SurveyVitals was created to focus this effort and help our clients Get Better. Providing immediate feedback, SurveyVitals helps you focus your energy on the business. Board Bob Vosburgh – Board Chair – President – Workshops – Coaching – Keynotes Bill Jansen – Board – Director of Technology – Strategy Dr. John Russell – Board – Strategy Ray Schwichtenberg – Board – Treasurer – Strategy Blake Vosburgh – Board – Director of Creative – Strategy Sam Westbrook – Board – Workshops – Coaching – Director of Education – Strategy Grady Dougless – Adjunct to Board – Director of Compliance – Legal – Strategy Geoff Thumma – Adjunct to Board – Chief Financial Officer – Strategy Product Development, Client Experience, Support Shan Kruse – Chief Operating Officer Caralyn Barlow – Finance Heather Vosburgh – Director of Client Management Nathan Norton – Lead Developer – Solution Strategy Tyler Webb – Developer – Solution Strategy Tracy Carico – Client On-Boarding Specialist – Projects Chris Montgomery – IT – Solution Strategy Cindy Paschall – Administration – Finance Resources Ulli Munroe – Workshops – Coaching – Consulting Rick Searfoss – Workshops – Coaching – Keynotes Dr. Jim Shipley – Workshops – Coaching – Strategy Bob Vosburgh Bob Vosburgh has a rare mix of management and leadership talent having spent half of his professional life in the military and the other half in the corporate world. He has flown over 50 different aircraft, has managed groups ranging in size from 10 to over 1,000, is a member of Mensa, has personally coached over 1500 medical providers and administrators and receives great reviews on his workshops and keynotes. Bob graduated from college as the #1 ranked Air Force ROTC cadet, with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. He then went on to finish a Masters Degree, and PhD coursework, in Astronautical Engineering. He graduated from pilot training as a distinguished graduate and his class’s “Most Outstanding Second Lieutenant” before finishing his F-111 training as #1 academically, and his class’s Top Gun. Bob was an instructor pilot for new fighter pilots and departed that assignment as a flight examiner and ranked #1 of over 200 instructor pilots. He taught Aeronautical Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy before flying the F-16 in Japan, where he was a Squadron Top Gun. His last military assignment was as an Air Force ROTC Commandant of Cadets, where he taught Leadership, Management, and Officership. After the Air Force, Bob joined a super-regional bank and managed an institutional sales group which dealt with over 500 banks. He quickly moved to be the broker dealer’s head of strategic programs, where he oversaw the insurance and investment division merger of two multi-billion dollar banks. He then oversaw a regional sales team with emphasis on private banking, trust services, brokerage and investment management. Bob moved on to become the CEO of a startup company that focused on online brokerage until it was acquired. Four months after the acquisition Bob was moved to the CEO position of the acquiring company. Bob founded 9g Enterprises, Inc. to follow his passion of teaching, speaking, coaching and helping organizations implement scientific method for continuous improvement. He surrounded himself with other strong leaders, people who perform a couple standard deviations above the mean! He’s an energizing and motivational leader, responsible for the company vision, strategy and leadership. Sam Westbrook Sam Westbrook graduated from the Air Force Academy and spent three years at Trinity College, Oxford, England as a Rhodes Scholar. At Oxford he completed two advanced degrees in physics. After Oxford, Sam earned his pilot wings and was assigned to the F-111 tactical fighter aircraft. General Westbrook’s twenty-eight years in the Air Force as a pilot, policy analyst, and senior manager included five years in Washington, DC, with a year on the National Security Council staff. Westbrook commanded the largest F-111 tactical fighter wing in the Air Force. During his two years at the helm he helped plan and then execute the first overt use of military force against state sponsored terrorism, the joint Air Force/Navy strike against Libya in 1986. He was the Commandant of Cadets at the Air Force Academy and later oversaw all Air Force undergraduate pilot, navigator, and survival training. Using these experiences as well as insights gained while serving on the Board of Directors of a large insurance and financial services company and as an advisor to a dotcom start-up in Seattle have provided him with great perspective on business, process and how to build successful organizations. Dr. Jim Shipley Dr. Jim Shipley’s fundamental expertise is building growth enterprises, with a particular focus on organizational development and leadership, as well as financial affairs. He approaches leadership as a graduate of the school of hard knocks, having held positions in the private sector, government, and with a national laboratory. He created and led a small venture capital firm in Washington State that focused on taking young, technology-oriented companies successfully into the marketplace. Jim learned the business of venture capital as Vice President for Operations and Strategic Planning for Fluor Daniel Technologies, the corporate venturing arm of Fluor Daniel, Inc. Similarly, he learned the diplomatic arts as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador-at- Large for Nonproliferation Policy in the US State Department, and served as the ranking US representative regarding nonproliferation matters to several countries. Jim grew and led several large programs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, including nuclear safeguards, nonproliferation, arms control, and environmental management, the last being an organization of some 3000 people and $300 million in funding. His technical background is in electronics engineering and computer science, in which he holds a doctorate degree, with concentrations in statistical decision theory and instrumentation. Currently, Jim focuses on helping organizations of all sizes to survive and prosper through the sometimes difficult and arcane process of developing applying innovative and effective improvements in their operations, products, and marketing. Dr. John Russell John became McMurry University’s 11th President in August 2002 after more than 33 years of increasingly responsible positions in the United States Air Force. He earned the PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado in 1985, conducting advanced research in unsteady aerodynamics. Dr. Russell was selected in 1991 to lead quality improvement efforts undertaken by the Air Force Space Command to better align user requirements and provider capabilities. His selection to serve as Commandant of the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1995 placed him a position to direct all graduate and professional education programs undertaken world-wide by Air Force officers. As the President of McMurry University, Dr. Russell provides operational and strategic leadership to a campus of 270 employees and 1500 students dedicated to high quality liberal arts and professional education. Bill Jansen Beyond his 9gs work… Bill currently is a partner at OLSONdenali, and is primarily responsible for the design and architecture of Tally – their proprietary loyalty program tracking software. Bill has more than 30 years of IT experience specializing in loyalty and retail applications. Bill served as the Chief Technology Officer for MilePoint Worldwide where he led the development of the Cambio “Turning Miles into Money” engine and the point vending application utilized by major airlines and hotels. Prior to MilePoint, Bill was Senior Vice President of Systems Development at The Lacek Group Worldwide where he was responsible for the development of the Reward Loyalty Tracking System, an advanced consumer loyalty management system currently used by 30+ industry leading loyalty program sponsors worldwide. Before joining the Lacek Group, Bill spent 10 years in the airline industry and was involved in pioneering loyalty program technology for Republic and Northwest Airlines,including Northwest’s WorldPerks program. Shan Kruse After Shannon Kruse graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, he went on to earn his pilot wings and three master’s degrees. While flying excellence was the foundation of his career, he also excelled in every leadership, strategy, and management opportunity. Shan was selected to lead one of three operational B52 squadrons and his superior performance earned him the designation as the #1 operational squadron commander in all of 8th Air Force. He was then selected to be the Air Force National Defense Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. Following this, Shan was chosen to be the Senior Military Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower, and Reserve Affairs. He finished an outstanding AF career by leading a 4-star general’s action group at U.S. Strategic Command where he was responsible for designing and coordinating the Commander’s vision, strategic guidance, speeches, engagements and legislative affairs. He now leverages all of these experiences to ensure Survey Vitals operations are effective, innovative, and efficient. Heather Vosburgh Heather oversees customer service, supports the loyalty program, coordinates and trains the “live” customer support functions, the frequently asked questions and support video components of the Survey Vitals portal solution. Prior to working with Survey Vitals, Heather trained as a customer service and floor supervisor for Sprint. She has been involved in every aspect of the client experience from account setup to results overview and training. Email Heather now. Geoff Thumma Accomplished and dedicated Financial Management Executive with a solid background in both start-up business and operational turn-arounds. Analytical and results-oriented leader with a proven track record of increasing revenues, improving staff productivity, reducing costs, expanding into new markets, and managing both capital expenditure and capital budgets. He has 30 years experience with large telecom companies, technology start-ups, and small minority-owned companies. He is experienced in building and managing high performing teams ranging from 3-130 personnel, both in start-up businesses and underperforming programs. Geoff has extensive experience in creating and documenting processes, using continuous improvement practices, and performance measurement to improve service and reduce costs. Nathan Norton Nathan is a web programmer and database architect for 9g Enterprises, Inc. He has built, rebuilt, and/or maintained the site and database for over 20 sites. He has independently and institutionally studied and applied 15 programming languages over the last 9 years and has been involved in open-source projects, including plug-in development for WordPress platforms and other large projects. Nathan is finishing a BS in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, with a mathematics minor, at the University of North Texas. Tyler Webb Tyler, Senior System Engineer, uses more than 15 years development experience with large and scalable infrastructure and processing systems to bring the very best in reliability, performance, and design to the Survey Vitals solution. Tyler is a Digium Certified Asterisk Professional. Tracy Carico Tracy facilitates client on-boarding projects and processes. Working with new and existing clients Tracy excels in helping with technical requirements for the Survey Vitals processing engine as well as customer support. Tracy has his Bachelor of Science in IT- Project Management, and has worked for local tech companies within the Boise area for 9 years. Email Tracy. Chris Montgomery Chris has an MBA from the University of St. Thomas and more than 15 years of software architecture experience specializing in online systems. Prior to OLSONdenali, Chris served as the Director of Technology for BidPal Technologies, which is a portable and paperless silent auction system used by major charities across the country. Chris also worked at 3M, and was responsible for integrating the Global Package Engineering’s legacy archival system into a new web based archival system. Prior to 3M, Chris served as MilePoint’s lead web developer supporting the point vending application utilized by major airlines and hotels. Chris has also worked with The Lacek Group to develop and support a customer survey application for both Disney and Starwood Holels. Additionally, Chris developed and supported a customer service system for IDeaS, a global leader in revenue solutions for the hotel industry. Prior to his involvement with web based systems, Chris worked for Exact Software North America as a custom solutions engineer for their shop floor execution product JobBOSS. Cindy Paschall Cindy oversees the daily office administration and financials at 9g Enterprises, Inc. She works on custom survey projects, as a point of contact for clients, and works closely with Customer Service on the Customer Loyalty Program. Cindy’s experience is diverse and includes working as a bookkeeper for a CPA, an office administrator for an Air Force NCO Club, an office manager for an Orthopedic Surgeon, manager of an interior design group for a home builder group in Colorado and with the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association. Her Nursing experience includes working at a large hospital on a cardiac, telemetry floor. She has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Texas Women’s University and is a registered nurse and graduate of Iowa Methodist School of Nursing. Blake Vosburgh With a mix of creative digital marketing, design, development, and video production skills Blake is able to tackle projects from a variety of perspectives. He has nearly a decade of design, web, and video experience most of which spent in the health care field. He previously worked as a Web Manager at a Hospital in Texas where he managed large growth in site statistics. Blake has a BA in Integrative Arts from Pennsylvania State University. Grady Dougless With a rare mix of leadership and management talents, Grady Dougless has excelled at every challenge for over 25 years. His diverse experiences have included the need to motivate both highly intelligent, skilled aviators and reluctant, timid volunteers. Known for his ability to matrix together solutions which optimize personnel and their traits to anticipate and overcome unforeseen circumstances, Grady has received award after award for top performance. Grady graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Chemistry. He served in several leadership roles while in college. He later earned a Masters degree in Systems Administration from St. Mary’s University and was recognized as a Distinguished Graduate. Graduating from pilot training as a Distinguished Graduate, Grady earned the Flying Training Award for superior airmanship. He was also recognized as the Top Graduate from his Instructor training class and instructed in three aircraft. While in the military, Grady wrote the initial implementation plan for the Air Force’s conversion to Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training and spearheaded a complete airspace restructuring for Cannon Air Force Base. He also has extensive international experience, having coordinated the sale of new fighter aircraft to Saudi Arabia and the introduction of new fighter aircraft for Singapore. Grady’s leadership capability was recognized early and he served in several leadership roles. In his last position, Grady was responsible for vision development, strategic planning, and execution for a 350-person organization, earning the Quality New Mexico Piñon Award. He was then selected to develop a matrix organization to develop deployment and employment capability for a 3,000-person organization—the end product was rated “Excellent.” During this time period, he also coordinated two major equipment moves to different continents. As a Union member, Grady led the Strategic Planning Committee for his Union. His task was to integrate the strategic objectives of the organization and focus the company toward the Union’s needs at the bargaining table. His team was responsible for integrating the internal and external communications of the Union, demonstrations of resolve, legislative efforts, and negotiations. Grady is now the President of a strategic planning and management company, where he advises clients on strategic vision, mission, and goals and on organizational development. Ray Schwichtenberg Ray has been associated with 9g Enterprises for 8 years in roles ranging from workshop facilitator, executive coach, Director of Finance to being member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer. His financial background and understanding of commercial enterprise finances makes him an outstanding addition to the 9g’s team. Ray is Vice President and the Senior Lender at State Bank & Trust Co, Nevada, Iowa. He provides finance and consulting services to Midwest area businesses. Ray has over 25 years experience helping all sizes and phases of commercial enterprises from start up through maturity. His successful customer attraction and retention is through innovative solutions, personal attention and custom tailoring of financial products. Prior to banking Ray was a Manager and Sales Trainer for Moorman Manufacturing where he developed and expanded business penetration in new and existing market areas. Ray is a business graduate of Iowa State University, serves as an adviser to the Iowa Bankers Commercial Lending School and provides leadership support in numerous community and professional organizations. Rick Searfoss As an astronaut with three space missions, Colonel Rick Searfoss shares with only a handful of people in history some of the most unique human experiences possible. In his career he has led many different teams, including commanding the most complex science research space mission ever, the STS-90 Neurolab flight on Columbia. He also piloted two other space flights, including a joint Russian-American mission to the Mir space station. Prior to becoming an astronaut Colonel Searfoss was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Air Force, with over 5800 hours flying time in 71 different types of aircraft. He was also the number one graduate in his Air Force Academy class and earned a master’s degree at the California Institute of Technology. Rick has held executive level positions in the aerospace industry and now consults regularly for numerous entrepreneurial space ventures, including serving as the Chief Judge for the $10 million Ansari X Prize.