“The Amazing Transformation of American Eagle Federal Credit Union”

This true story begins about two years ago, when the American Eagle Federal Credit Union, a rapidly growing financial institution in East Hartford, Connecticut, made a commitment to dramatically improve their approach to project management. What followed was the design and installation of an entire project management infrastructure, suited to their unique business needs.

Every aspect of the project management process was addressed, developing procedures for identifying and approving projects, selecting project management software, implementing individualized skill-building programs, developing a project process manual, and installing a modestly sized PMO, to name a few.

The result was a dramatic transformation of their project portfolio -- from a financial liability to a strategic weapon. This presentation chronicles the company's journey, describing each step they took to accomplish their amazing transformation. This is an actual, true-life case study that is information-rich, comprehensive, and practical.

Gary Heerkens Bio:

Gary R. Heerkens, PMP, CPM, CBM, PE, a consultant, trainer, lecturer, and author, is the president of Management Solutions Group, a company that provides innovative project management educational solutions and enterprise-wide project management development support.  Mr. Heerkens managed a wide variety of projects for the Eastman Kodak Company for more than 20 years.  He also served as staff assistant to Kodak's Director of Project Management.

In addition to teaching and consulting, Mr. Heerkens is a contributing editor to the Center for Business Practices' newsletter, People on Projects, He is a long-standing training provider for the PMI SeminarsWorld series and ProjectWorld events, and is a frequent speaker at international project management conferences.  Mr. Heerkens has published several articles and papers on a variety of project management topics, and recently authored a book on project management, due to be published in early 2005. 

Mr. Heerkens holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is very active within PMI; he served three terms as President of the PMI Rochester Chapter (1998-2001), and was just recently re-elected to the Rochester Board of Directors as President-Elect.