2009-08-26 15:04:56 - Courseware development company founder (Lisa Toenniges) honored by CORP! Magazine as an "Entrepreneur of Distinction". Celebrates company growth and stability despite uncertain economy.

CORP! Magazine Honors Innovative Learning Group President and Founder
Lisa Toenniges Recognized as a Michigan “Entrepreneur of Distinction”

Royal Oak, Michigan - Lisa Toenniges, founder and president of Innovative Learning Group (www.innovativeLG.com), was recently honored, with a 2009 CORP! Magazine “Entrepreneur of Distinction” award for her vision in building the successful company, specializing in outsourced custom courseware and learning strategy development.

Included in an elite group of regional leaders, Toenniges also participated in the four-person panel that highlighted the award ceremony. The panel fielded lively questions about the challenges faced by small businesses in a year of economic upheaval and retrenchment.

“Strong emphasis on our clients’ individual needs has been key to our success,” stated Toenniges, when asked how ILG has managed

to consistently grow over its five-year history. “It’s all about responsiveness, flexibility and offering options to our customers.”

Toenniges enthusiastically described how she, and her team, diligently worked over five years to build Innovative Learning Group. “We originally began as a team of six, housed in my basement, with a small cadre of clients. We worked hard; we had fun. And we persevered and stayed attuned to what our customers needed and wanted,” she said. “We built a client-centered culture, together.”

Now working in a 3900 square foot headquarters in Royal Oak, Michigan, and boasting a formidable customer list that includes numerous Fortune 500 companies, Toenniges is justifiably proud that ILG has been profitable from day one. She and her expanded team still live by the precepts that the core group learned in ILG’s early history.

“To this day, we carefully tailor our proposals specifically to each of our customers, seeing what they value and delivering only the pieces that they need, at any given time. We ensure that what we propose complements each client’s internal skill sets; and we always deliver what we promise, often ahead of schedule,” Toenniges said.

Toenniges credits ILG’s culture of transparent communication and data-sharing for maintaining high team morale and productivity, even in hard situations. “We share a lot of dynamic information, among all our staff members. Everyone knows what’s happening, at any time,” she stated. “Additionally, we stay crystal clear about the role each person needs to play, on any given project or for any particular customer, in order to ensure our collective success.”

Does Toenniges ever have set-backs or struggles? “The main thing with which I used to struggle was adopting each new approach, or taking on very new challenges with which we were unfamiliar,” she admitted. “But I have learned to achieve the right balance between collecting and analyzing data, then trusting my ‘gut’ and sometimes taking a leap of faith. You have to rely on your instincts, as well as your brain, to make the right decisions.”

Toenniges also counseled other entrepreneurs to strive for personal equilibrium. “It’s important to remember that you are in this game for the long haul. Make sure you rest, eat well, exercise, occasionally pick up a new hobby, and make that all-important time for your kids and your spouse. A positive attitude and personal balance are paramount,” she declared.

What would Toenniges change about the last 5 years?

“Not much,” she said. “We have had some great fun, along the way. The best companies support their employees’ talent development.. They invest a minimum of 3% of their gross revenue, annually, on developing people and their skills. That’s the business we’re in. It’s a great business!”

About Innovative Learning Group (www.innovativeLG.com)
Celebrating its fifth year anniversary in 2009, Innovative Learning Group is a private WBEN-certified enterprise, providing outstanding outsourced learning and performance support services for both public and private companies and non-profits. Its client list includes such notable corporations/organizations as The Dow Chemical Company, Trinity Health, Brasscraft, Alticor Inc./Amway Global, R.L. Polk & Co., Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital & Medical Center and numerous others. ILG staff is comprised of learning industry veterans, supplemented by highly-experienced subcontractors, with expertise in instructional design, human performance technology, and related skills and competencies.

In a recent client survey, 92% of Innovative Learning Group’s extensive client base gave the company the highest possible ratings for customer satisfaction.

About Lisa Toenniges
Lisa Toenniges has more than 20 years of experience in the performance improvement industry and has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies about their learning strategies and solutions.
A dynamic leader and nationally recognized expert in project management for learning initiatives, Toenniges is the author of How to Manage a Large-Scale Learning Initiative: Tools and Templates Based on 20 Years of Award-Winning Programs, published by brandon-hall.com. She is also the co-author of Managing Training Projects, an “Infoline” report for the American Society for Training and Development.
Over the years, Toenniges has received international awards for outstanding work and has made presentations for colleges and at conferences of well-respected professional organizations. She is a past president of the Michigan chapter of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) and is currently serving as the chair for the 2010 ISPI International conference. Toenniges holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a master's degree in instructional technology, and is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) endorsed by ISPI.

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