Ballard & Associates
Contents
Client Services
Strategic Planning
Ballard & Associates uses a straight forward approach to
strategic planning for governance boards and senior management teams. Mission, competitive analysis, strategic
alternatives, measurable goals and monitoring program are all developed and
compiled for use to guide financial and operations planning.
Operations Planning
Ballard and Associates offers clients assistance in the
design and implementation of management systems to achieve planned
results. Ms. Ballard and Mr. Fisher can
draw on many years’ experience in general management to help clients determine
the most effective and efficient approach to annual operations planning,
improving internal control, measuring results and evaluating success.
Regulatory Strategy
Ms. Ballard specializes in the
development of solutions to complex regulatory problems. Ms. Ballard draws on her own regulatory
experience to help clients establish appropriate relationships with regulatory
agencies, and to determine when to use legal services. She reviews technical and legal documents,
and advises clients on the strategic presentation of complicated material. Ms. Ballard is an experienced facilitator at
meetings with regulators, stakeholders and the regulated community where
impartial leadership is required to work through conflict and achieve win/win
solutions. She also has experience in
the development of partnering agreements and other forms of commitment to
cooperation and informal dispute resolution.
Contact Information
E-mail address
consultants@ballardandassociates.net
Web address
www.ballardandassociates.net
Office phone
907.247.9806
Address
705 Main Street, Ketchikan, AK 99901
Representative Projects
Ketchikan Gateway School District
The School Board retained Ms. Ballard to lead the Board in strategic
planning for the District. Ms. Ballard has
worked with the District for several years in the development of a vision for
the community, mission for the District, and goals for improved performance in
key areas. The planning team includes
elected Board members, senior District management and school principals.
Ketchikan Air, Inc.
The family owners of Ketchikan Air retained Mr. Fisher to assist in strategic
planning and annual operations planning.
With Mr. Fisher's assistance the owners reviewed prospects for
reorganization and profit improvement leading to a decision to sell the
company. Mr. Fisher represented the
owners throughout the successful negotiations with a buyer.
Alaska Pulp Corporation
Ms. Ballard was retained by the Alaska Pulp Corporation to assist in gaining
closure to parallel regulatory and judicial proceedings. She worked closely with State regulators and
company management to achieve agreement on a course of action that would
satisfy all outstanding requirements, and allow the company to discharge
remaining responsibilities prior to ceasing business.
URS Greiner Woodward Clyde
Ms. Ballard was retained by URSGWC to assist with implementation of their
responsibilities under the Clean Contract with the United States Navy. She has provided strategic advice to the
Navy (Engineering Facilities, Northwest) regarding the application of CERCLA to
ordnance contamination on Adak Island, and served on the working committee
charged with developing a remedial plan.
This project has involved close cooperation between the Navy, EPA and
the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and the
development of a unique approach to site characterization and risk assessment.
Ernesta Ballard
Biographical Information
Ms. Ballard has
broad and varied experience in management.
Her career has included senior management positions in both the public
and private sectors. She has served as
Budget Director for the University of Washington, and subsequently as Senior Vice
President for Retail Banking at Seattle Trust and Savings Bank. She was Regional Administrator in Region 10
of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from 1983 through 1986. Ms. Ballard moved to Alaska in 1989 to
become CEO of the Cape Fox Corporation.
Ms. Ballard formed Ballard & Associates in 1995 and
serves clients throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Her consulting practice focuses on complex
management and regulatory problems that require long range planning and
creative solutions. She works with clients to:
develop distinctive strategies
designed to achieve planned results;
translate broad strategies into
specific objectives and action plans;
promote ideas and proposals
persuasively;
project a positive image;
resolve conflicts in highly visible,
adversarial situations.
Ms. Ballard holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania,
attended Oxford University on a Thouron Scholarship, and received an MBA from
Harvard University. She was appointed
to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service in 1997. Ms. Ballard is Board Chair of LifeCenter
Northwest, Treasurer of the Alaska Forest Association and a board member of the
Ketchikan General Hospital and the Resource Development Council. She is the former Board Chair of the
University of Washington Hospital.
Wilbur E. Fisher
Mr. Fisher’s long management career has included tenure as
President or Chief Executive Officer of Ketchikan Pulp Company, Burlington Environmental,
Inc. and Northern Air Cargo. He is a
specialist in managing overall financial performance and in using key
indicators to evaluate strategic options and opportunities.
Mr. Fisher’s consulting practice focuses on developing
distinctive strategies to achieve competitive advantage, reducing costs and
translating broad strategies into specific objectives and action plans. He works with clients to:
align the organization to support
strategic priorities;
improve operating margins;
rearrange debt;
seek new capital;
arrange a merger or acquisition;
enter a new market;
negotiate labor contracts.
Mr. Fisher holds a BS from Purdue University in Chemical
Engineering. He is a member of the
board of Wrangell Seafoods, Inc. He is a member of the Technical Association of
the Pulp and Paper Industry, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and
the American Chemical Society. He is
Chairman of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Economic Development Authority, and
on the boards of First City Players and the Ketchikan Yacht Club. He was a member of the Ketchikan Blue
Ribbon Committee for Economic Development, and is a member of the Greater
Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce, Rotary 2000 and the Alaska Forest
Association. He is a former Chairman of
the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Planning Commission.
Last revised: 1/25/02