For almost every Friday from Jan. 26 until May 4, six employees of the Firestone Industrial Products facility in Williamsburg made the hour-long trek up Interstate 75 to Eastern Kentucky University’s Business and Technology Center.

It’s what they took back with them that made the long days worthwhile.

The Firestone representatives were among 20 individuals from six different industries throughout the region participating in the Leadership Excellence for Middle Managers course offered through EKU’s Center for Career and Workforce Development.

Other participants came from industries in Winchester, Paris, Berea and Richmond.

The Leadership Excellence for Middle Managers course was established in 2007 based on a need expressed by local employers. Since then, 121 managers from 12 manufacturing organizations and the EKU campus have completed the program.

Most of the program’s students arrive with supervisory experience, ranging from a few years to more than 20 years.

A variety of active-learning strategies are employed, including in-class discussions, exercises, case projects, role-playing and electronic postings and discussions. Topics include principles of human behavior, performance management, goal setting, communications, teams and groups, organizing, decision making, presentations, and assessing the costs and benefit deductions.

Participants this semester were: Mary Perry, Chris Brock, Deaon Douglas, Stephen Roerich, Darren Smith, Aaron Taylor, Firestone Industrial Products; Donald Carpenter, Amy Carpenter, Jeff Cromer, Dustin Lainhart, Hyster-Yale; Deanne B. Cottengim, Andrew Parsons, James Powell, Nikki Powell, AGC Automotive Industries, Richmond; Scott Cates, Jason Ingram, Mikron Industries, Richmond; Tamara Daily, Hidehisa “Hisa” Nagai, Kentucky Smelting Technology, Paris; Sandeep Dambla and Benjamin Lepage, Catalent Pharma Solutions, Winchester. All earned a certificate of completion, with corresponding CEU credits.

The Leadership Excellence for Middle Managers course is offered on an as-needed basis, with the next iteration planned for January-May 2019. For more information, or to reserve a slot, contact Dani Gift at dani.gift@eku.edu