--- title: "QUALITY CORNER: Officer Training and CLASS Certifications" description: "QUALITY CORNER: Officer Training and CLASS Certifications" image: https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Quality%20Corner%20Logo-1.png --- [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Engauge/engauge-logo.jpg)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge) [![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Backgrounds/search-mobile.png)](https://www.citizensenergygroup.com/Search) # QUALITY CORNER: Officer Training and CLASS Certifications By Susan Harris on 4/9/20 11:26 AM ![](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hubfs/Quality%20Corner%20Logo-1.png) Several employees have recently completed CLASS training and earned certifications.  **Officer Training** On February 24 and 25, the entire Officer team completed Lean Leadership training and became certified Blue Belts. The Lean Leadership course is based on the book, “People: A Leader's Day-to-Day Guide to Building, Managing and Sustaining Lean Organizations" by Robert Martichenko, Roger Pearce, Steve Gran and Walt Miller.  Citizens’ Lean Leadership training and certification program provides leaders the opportunity to discuss leadership tools, struggles, and ideas while creating a common approach for supporting and leading lean thinking. Prior to this, 89 leaders in the organization have also become certified Blue Belts.     ![QUALITY-officers](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-officers.jpg?width=5676&name=QUALITY-officers.jpg) The Officer team also completed Gemba Walk training, further illustrating their commitment to a lean culture and Citizens’ Lean and Six Sigma (CLASS) initiatives.  **Mark Jacob**, Vice President, Capital Programs & Engineering / Quality, said, “Our continuous improvement culture has been evident for decades. But, as our CLASS program evolves, it takes continuous improvement to a new level not seen before at Citizens. It is transforming how we all do our everyday work. It truly prepares us for today’s competitive and evolving business environment and positions us well for the future. The program supports each of our four Pillars: Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, Financial Integrity, and Performance Excellence.”   **CLASS Certifications** Several employees completed training on the use of Continuous Improvement tools and documentation and completed a project to receive certification.  **Beth Smith** (Market Development) – Green Belt, **Justin Redman** (Water Quality) – Yellow Belt, **Jamie Burks** (Legal) – Yellow Belt, **Jeff Brown** (Corporate Affairs) – Yellow Belt, **John Harz** (Wastewater Operations) – Yellow Belt, **Chris Kennedy** (Wastewater Operations) – Advanced Yellow Belt and **Keesha Garner** (UE&C) – Yellow Belt            **Ed Bukovac** (Westfield) – Yellow Belt          **Vicky Anderson** (Supply Chain) – Yellow Belt Not pictured: **Joni Staten** (Wastewater Operations) – Advanced Yellow Belt ![QUALITY-CLASS certifications](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-CLASS%20certifications.jpg?width=1428&name=QUALITY-CLASS%20certifications.jpg) ![QUALITY-Anderson-1](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-Anderson-1.jpg?width=229&name=QUALITY-Anderson-1.jpg)   ![QUALITY-Bukovac](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-Bukovac.png?width=250&name=QUALITY-Bukovac.png)   **Yellow Belt Training** Ten employees completed the two-day CLASS Yellow Belt Training on March 12. They will now work on Continuous Improvement projects for certification.  **Mike Bartone** (Gas Supply), **Mandy Saucerman** (Corporate Affairs), **Gary Kyle** (IT Ops & Infrastructure), **Nick Polley** (Gas Transmission & Distribution), **John Scott** (Gas Transmission & Distribution), **Robert Edwards** (Water Distribution), **Jim McLaughlin** (Billing & Customer Services), **Latasha Stewart** (Supply Chain), **Todd Fuller** (Thermal) and **Mike Elliott** (Water Distribution) ![QUALITY-YB Training](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-YB%20Training.jpg?width=1430&name=QUALITY-YB%20Training.jpg)   **Blue Belt (Lean Leadership) Certifications ** Seventeen employees completed the eight-week Lean Leadership Training on March 3. This training is designed for Supervisors, Managers, and Directors and focuses on leadership skills in a lean organization.  **John Trypus** (UE&C), **Ryan Taylor** (Plant Engineering), **Gary Young** (Shared Field Services), **Alana Gessert** (Energy Distribution Engineering), **Paula Birdsong (**Shared Field Services), **Jennifer Bailey** (Program & Technical Services), **Joel Gallagher** (Billing & Customer Services), **Jim Allen** (Water Distribution), **Christina Nigh** (Shared Field Services), **Crit Crabtree** (Facilities), **Breann Cooper** (Water Quality), **Rich Newell** (UE&C), **Jeff Guinn** (Environmental Stewardship), **Mike Elliott** (Water Distribution), **Tony Taylor** (Wastewater Collections), **Dan Considine** (Corporate Affairs) and **Joe Anthis** (Shared Field Services) ![QUALITY-Blue Belt-Lean Leadership](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/QUALITY-Blue%20Belt-Lean%20Leadership.jpg?width=1430&name=QUALITY-Blue%20Belt-Lean%20Leadership.jpg)   ### Current Articles ### Recent Issues - [November 2019 (23)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/11) - [November 2018 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/11) - [January 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/01) - [October 2021 (21)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/10) - [February 2020 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/02) - [December 2021 (20)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/12) - [October 2018 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/10) - [January 2019 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/01) - [June 2020 (19)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/06) - [August 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/08) - [October 2019 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/10) - [April 2020 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/04) - [September 2022 (18)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/09) - [July 2019 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/07) - [July 2020 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/07) - [June 2021 (17)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/06) - [April 2019 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/04) - [January 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/01) - [October 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/10) - [December 2020 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/12) - [April 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/04) - [July 2021 (16)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/07) - [September 2020 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2020/09) - [March 2021 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/03) - [June 2022 (15)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/06) - [February 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/02) - [May 2019 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2019/05) - [May 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/05) - [July 2022 (14)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/07) - [October 2023 (13)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/10) - [September 2021 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2021/09) - [March 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/03) - [May 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/05) - [June 2023 (12)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/06) - [February 2022 (11)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/02) - [August 2018 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2018/08) - [August 2023 (10)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2023/08) - [March 2022 (9)](https://blog.citizensenergygroup.com/engauge/archive/2022/03) [![PDF Archives](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2545024/33b9e93c-8f43-4101-9b48-7e78154731f5) **Engauge** is published by Citizens Energy Group, Corporate Affairs Department, under the direction of Shannon Stahley, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs. 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