Testimonials

"Norfolk State University was so pleased with your lunch presentation 'Learning Happens!'. You truly understood our needs by developing the presentation in line with the theme of our corporate partners meeting which was the importance of lifelong learning. You not only engaged the audience with your humor, but really provided thought provoking information and ideas."

Brenda L. Kuntz
Director, Corporate & Foundation Relations
Norfolk State University

Dear Ron:

"The TNCC, 5 Star and Siemens Partnership in Education has provided the tools and skills to ensure that our workers can compete on the cutting edge. The benchmarking opportunities with our business neighbors and relationships developed through 5 Star have made it possible for us to improve even faster."

John Olson
Vice President and General Manager
Siemens Automotive
Fuel Components Division

"As a small business owner, 5 Star has been an invaluable resource for our development of an empowered workforce. Over the last three years, 5 Star has been the key to our growth and success in the highly competitive home healthcare market."

Tom Inman
President
Virginia Home Medical

"5 Star, Inc. was instrumental in the Alliance's successful efforts to locate John Deere, Nextel, and Wal-Mart on the Virginia Peninsula."

Fred Paris,
Vice-president for Marketing
Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development.

Case Study of Lutheran Family Services of Virginia, Inc.
Roanoke, Va.

Lutheran Family Services of Virginia is a charter member of Lutheran Services in America, a non-profit human services organization that serves nearly 2 million people a year in all 50 states and the Virgin Islands.  Locally, the organization provides a variety of social services, including adoption and foster care services, counseling, training and education services for children with special needs.

Problem
• The employees in one of Lutheran Family Services' regional offices were not acting in a manner consistent with the company's culture.  They were unresponsive to the community's needs and more focused on their own needs.
• The regional office hired a new director to turn the office around, but he needed additional training to help him successfully undertake this task.

Solution
• Lutheran Family Services hired 5 Star Training and Consulting to conduct a series of training and development sessions focused on basic professional skills, such as dealing with change, team-building and conflict management.
• The director of the regional office worked with an executive coach from 5 Star to prepare him for his new responsibilities as a senior manager.

Results
• Post-training, the Lutheran Family Services' regional office has a completely different atmosphere.  According to Glenda Edwards, chief operating officer of Lutheran Family Services, "When you step into the office, it's a completely different world.  The staff has an entirely new attitude towards work and service, and VQI contributed significantly to that."
• Historically, greater responsiveness to the community leads to growth in the utilization of Lutheran Family Services' resources.  The organization expects to see the same results in this situation.