Meet Our Instructors

Jack Hatcher

Jack specializes with Corporate and Manufacturing clients

Jack is the Founder of ProManager and is the Senior Writer of the ProManager Management Development Program. He also serves on the ProManager Advisory Board and is a Principal in ProManager, Inc.

Before founding ProManager, Inc. in 1991, Jack held corporate officer positions and key management roles in Salem Carpet Mills, Jack Eckerd Corporation and Chicago Tribune Company.

He holds a Master of Science Degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he has served as an Adjunct Professor. He holds certifications in the areas of Corporate Assessment, Total Quality Management, Strategic Planning and Organizational Design. He is also a Registered Lobbyist.

Jack is a member of many professional organizations and gives his time to the Civil War Preservation Trust and Hospice. Jack has served on the Boards of both public and privately held companies and over the last twenty years has consulted with many Fortune 500 companies in the areas of Training & Development and Strategic Planning.

Jack has been instrumental in the launch of six corporate businesses, as both senior consultant and capital investor. Five of these companies are profitably operating today.

Jack lives in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee with his wife Marti and has two grown daughters.

Mike O’Neill

Mike specializes with Corporate & Manufacturing clients

Mike is the President of ProManager and is the Senior Editor of the ProManager Management Development Program.  He also serves on the ProManager Advisory Board and is a Principal in ProManager, Inc.

For the last 25 years, Mike held Senior HR Leadership roles with EMJ Corporation and Fortune 500 Mohawk Industries and Shaw Industries.

Mike is a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Certified Compensation Professional (CCP).

He has a Masters degree from Vanderbilt University in Human Resource Development.

An active community leader, Mike has served as Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Rotary Club and Board of Directors of United Way.

Mike lives in Dalton, Georgia with his wife Lin and their three sons.  Mike enjoys photography, backpacking and fly-fishing.

Todd Ballew

Todd specializes with Manufacturing, Healthcare, Distribution and Sales Organizations Clients

Todd’s experience in instruction and facilitation dates back to 1980 as a national trainer for Harris Corporation.  His hands-on executive leadership experience with large sales organizations, distribution operations and manufacturing companies provides in-depth understanding of these industries that adds to his ability to relate the learning material and core principles to day-to-day management application.

Todd was the Managing Partner of Initiative-One, a consulting company focusing on Healthcare organizations that sought to accelerate change within their corporate culture to improve the patient experience and create a powerful and positive professional environment for the medical staff.

Todd lives in Atlanta with his wife, Susan.  They have five adult children and currently six grandchildren (hoping for more!) Besides being active in their local church and community, all other activities and interest are whatever the grandkids want to do!

Dennis Roberts

Dennis specializes national and multi-national clients

Dennis is Vice President of Human Resources  at the NY-based Mana Products, Inc. and travels frequently to Asia and Europe.

Dennis’ 30-year career spans assignments in large (Beatrice International, Playtex, Max Factor, NYNEX and Holiday Inns Worldwide) and mid-sized companies and includes nine years as an independent human capital consultant to Fortune 500 and other organizations, including UNICEF, the largest component of the world-wide United Nations organization.

More recently, Dennis has focused on mapping people programs to business strategy in private equity projects involving workforce transformation to support turnaround, roll-up and other merger and acquisition projects.  Dennis holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership and both SPHR and GPHR certifications.  He authored The Role of Human Resources in Mergers and Acquisitions and is active in the Society for Human Resource Management, having assisted in writing the most recent international certification examination. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Human Resources at Mercy College.  He holds a U.S. Coast Guard Masters license and has sailed frequently on the Atlantic Ocean and various coastal and inland waterways.

Dennis lives in Mamaroneck, New York with his wife Sally and their two sons.

Stan Yaro

Stan specializes with Consumer Product Marketing clients

Stan Yaro was responsible for the company that develops and manufactures McDonald’s Global Happy Meal Premiums. Stan has over three decades of executive management experience working for Fortune 500 firms building multinational companies.  He has a broad base of experience in financial management, marketing, global operations, strategic planning, corporate consolidations and mergers.

Stan is recognized in the consumer products industry for developing offshore operations in the Far East, Mexico and Latin America.  Stan held senior management positions with General Mills, Tyco Industries, Havi Corporation and Intertek.  He has served on Loyola University’s Board for Executive and MBA programs.  He has a BS degree from California State University and a MS in Business Administration from the University of Cincinnati.

Stan played football at the high school and collegiate level.

Stan is an in-demand speaker on supply-chain management and always commands Q&A sessions when he has concluded.

Nancy Kennedy

Nancy specializes with Healthcare and not-for-profit clients

Since June 1994, Nancy has been the Executive Director of the Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership (NGHP).  Her roles include, coach, catalyst, convener and facilitator.

The NGHP mission is to improve community health by identifying sustainable solutions to significant health issues via innovation, benchmarking and application of best practices.

Prior to joining the Healthcare Partnership, Ms. Kennedy served as the campaign director for the United Way of Northwest Georgia.  Nancy’s knowledge and understanding of health care is extensive and her networking and leadership skills are well known nationally.

Under her leadership, the Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership was chosen as one of America’s best community health networks by the National Community Care Network.

Because of her expertise, Nancy is often sought as a public speaker for professional conferences.  Nancy recently served as President of the Rotary Club of Dalton, Georgia.

Nancy lives in Dalton, Georgia with her husband David and has one grown child.

David Milam

David specializes with Manufacturing and Healthcare clients

David is a career Human Resources Executive with advanced degrees in Organizational Psychology and Business.  David has held Senior HR positions with both auto manufacturers as well as major hospital/health care centers.  David enjoys a particular knowledge of some of the world’s largest Pacific-rim companies.

David is a veteran group trainer and facilitator with over 30 years Management Development and Leadership experience.  He has led companies to ISO certification, facilitated planning and initiated recognized job enhancement /employee relations programs.

David has been Chamber of Commerce President and served on the Boards of three organizations, including a tour as the U.S. Business Administration Executive for one of the nation’s largest Japanese-owned corporations.

David lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri with his wife, Ann.  He is an avid hunter and preservationist, both owning and managing over 2,000 acres of wildlife preserve in central Tennessee.

Angie Sledge

Angie specializes with not-for-profit clients

Angie is the Vice-President of Knox Area Rescue Ministries. She is responsible for overseeing marketing, public relations and fund development, and raises more than $4 million annually from individual donors.

Angie has 17 years executive leadership experience working with nonprofit organizations. While serving as Executive Director of the Center for Nonprofits, Angie led numerous organizations through strategic planning and visioning processes. She is a highly rated instructor specializing in governance, social entrepreneurship and staff development.

Angie has received national recognition for her fundraising leadership, and has served on the boards of directors for numerous organizations and is a grant reviewer for the Susan B. Komen Foundation.

Angie is a member of several professional organizations and is an active volunteer for United Way, the Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services with an emphasis in nonprofit management and she holds certifications from BoardSource and Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy.

Angie is married to Dr. Jeff Sledge, a Presbyterian minister, and lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. They have two grown daughters.

Jim Hazel

Jim specializes with Healthcare clients

Jim is a career Healthcare Executive with an advanced degree in Healthcare Administration. Jim is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). For the last 30 years, Jim has held executive healthcare roles most recently serving as CEO of Murray Medical Center. During his long career with Hamilton Healthcare System, Jim was responsible for Emergency Services, Medical Staff Services and Physician Recruitment to name a few.

Jim’s community leadership roles include Chair of the Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership, Boy’s & Girl’s Club Executive Committee and long-term United Way Board membership.

Jim and his wife Eilene live in Georgia and have three grown children. Jim’s passions include: whitetail deer hunting, skiing and youth development.

Linda Pickthorne Fletcher, Ph.D.

Linda serves on the ProManager Advisory Board

Linda is the Robert McClellan professor of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is the past Dean of UTC’s School of Business. She was the first female Ph.D. graduate from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in her field.

Linda is a nationally renowned author on the science of entrepreneurism. She is the product of enterprising entrepreneurial parents and has an avid interest in thoroughbred horse racing. She has an extensive business instructional and consulting background, including having served on the Boards of many public and private corporations. She has also served as business professor in some of the nation’s best schools, including LSU, Old Dominion, Westchester and The Wharton School during her educational career.

Linda has authored hundreds of published papers as well as researched and written business case studies.

Linda has a life mission and focus of bringing entrepreneurship and proven business practices to the University setting, while extending the best of education into the business setting. Her classes frequently feature appearances by top Business Executives, with whom Linda has consulted or upon whose Boards she has served.

Linda makes her homes in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Little Rock, Arkansas and Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Doug Cummins

Doug serves on the ProManager Advisory Board

Doug is a career CEO and COO, having led companies in that role for over 30 years working with ACC Tech Corp., Liggett Group, North Atlantic Trading Company and Salem Carpet Mills, Inc.  Previously, Doug was the youngest Corporate Officer appointed at R. J. Reynolds, where he was world-wide Marketing Vice President and Director.

Doug has led management teams in several highly-successful turn- arounds as well as conceived and guided large corporate mergers and acquisitions.  A to-the-point straight communicator, Doug enjoys imparting common-sense life skills without complication.

Doug has particular expertise in advising family-owned, multi-generational companies and working with major law-firms and court systems as a Family-Business Mediator and Consultant.

Doug is a graduate of Harvard University and holds an MBA from Columbia University.  His adjunct business professors, by the way, included Henry Kissinger and John F. Kennedy.

Doug and his wife Betsy live in Saratoga Springs, New York and Lake George, New York and have three grown daughters.