Bill Dann
Professional Growth Systems - President, CEO, Founder, Consultant
Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration (with major in government)
College of Arts and Sciences
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Master of Arts in Public Administration
Sloan School of Business and Public Administration
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Founded PGS in 1981
When it comes to performance improvement, “You’re successful when your clients are successful.”
That’s the attitude of president, CEO, and founder, Bill Dann. It underscores the difference between the PGS approach to performance improvement and that of its competitors. He continues:
"Other consultants focus on making presentations, and then they’re gone. Our presentations encourage learning, and they produce results — in a phenomenally short time. What’s even more important for performance improvement is that our focus is on showing our clients how to use what we teach them, so they get results. We don’t just give them the hammer; we make sure they know how to use it."
Bill founded PGS in 1981 and originally named it Dann and Associates. In 1984, it was renamed Professional Growth Systems and the company moved from Nome to Anchorage.
Partial list of PGS activities:
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The Kuskokwim Corporation
Alaska
Ongoing
Bill serves as a governing board development and strategic planning resource for TKC and its subsidiaries. During his engagement, he has helped the company successfully manage rapid expansion and growth in revenue, as well as subsequent challenges. In addition, he has helped the company reorganize and he coaches its leadership. - Sprouts Farmers Market
Arizona
Faced with the challenge of phenomenal growth and the opening of new stores, this company’s management sought to assess its systems and structure to support growth, re-examine its pace of growth and develop a successful pathway to the future. Using the PGS Vision Navigation® planning system, and through work with the company’s board of trustees, Bill helped identify and deal with many underlying issues. As a result, the company has been re-structured to meet the future, and its growth and profitability has been sustained without interruption. - Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
State of Alaska
The Alaska Department of Transportation, facing growing public and legislative concern about its permit system for the state’s highways, turned to Bill and PGS to re-design and implement a new, uniform, and streamlined permit system. A group, made up of Bill, other people with PGS, and six state design and implementation people, tackled the project. The resulting system saved millions of dollars for the state, and it produced happy permit holders. The system served as a model that was later adopted by the State of California. - Denaina Family Clinic
Alaska
Bill and PGS are working with employee teams to design and implement a revolutionary new model for primary care delivery. The model is based on the Clinical Microsystems model developed by faculty at the Dartmouth Medical College. - Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Seattle, WA
Bill and PGS helped to create a strategic planning methodology and set of plans to position this $300 million-dollar-a-year comprehensive cancer center for continued rapid growth. This work involves defining clear strategies, targets, and measures of success for the cancer center, itself, and for each of its research/treatment programs. - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, WA
Seven planning projects, some for the organization as a whole, and some for discrete projects within the expansive alliance, have been completed thus far. Ongoing work includes planning, coaching and organizational structure design. - Northern Air Cargo
Anchorage, Alaska
Facing major transitions in its business, Northern Air Cargo turned to PGS to:- Help develop a short-term strategic plan
- Help design and implement major process changes in the receipt and handling of cargo at its hub
- Help in the recruitment and hiring of personnel.
Partial list of non-PGS activities
- Executive Director
Norton Sound Health Corporation
Bill spent two separate terms as the executive director of the Norton Sound Health Corporation. During his tenure, the corporation became the first native group in the country to contract with the Indian Health Service; the first to have its own physicians, and the first and only one to design and build its own hospital. With this direction, the corporation grew to be accepted throughout Alaska, and has grown into a nearly one-billion-dollar concern. It’s a comprehensive and high-quality healthcare system now run entirely by native people. - Consultant
Suez Canal University Medical School
Community Health Department
Ismailia, Egypt
Working under a USAID grant through Boston University, Bill was involved in working with the Community Health Department to plan and structure its outpatient services delivery and teaching program. -
Professor of Management
Boston University School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts
Bill taught a certificate program in management for health managers from around the world, and a principles of management course for masters students. The latter course was twice voted the best course in the school. -
Deputy Commissioner of Health
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
Began the second health planning regulatory program, which later became a national model (known as the Certificate of Need). Its purpose was to control healthcare spending by controlling the growth of facilities.