Debbie Ferry Email & Phone Number

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Avivo, formerly RESOURCE, Inc. - Minneapolis, MNA Minneapolis based non-profit organization that provides Employment, Career Training and Chemical and Mental Health services.Interim Vice President of Employment Services 2015 to presentProvides leadership for the Employment Services division, including operating 16 youth and adult programs at multiple locations and oversees property management operations. Administers contracts and oversees program management to meet funder’s requirements. • Participates on executive leadership team on various matters, including annual planning, financial performance and service delivery. • Manages $8 million in grants for local and national initiatives that impact disadvantaged populations.• Manages all aspect of Avivo’s Real Estate portfolio, including lease negotiations.• Leads Facilities team in quality maintenance of Avivo owned properties.• Leads a team of four program managers to execute all operations of Avivo Youth, Women’s and Welfare to Work programs that meet or exceeds outcome goals.• Coordinates all aspects of budgeting and financial management exceeding budgeted goals annually.• Overhauled youth programs to tighten focus on participant goals, streamline operations and foster an atmosphere of change and positivity resulting in reduced financial loss for the organization.• Facilitates connections of external stakeholders to Avivo, resulting in new advocates for the organization.• Leads revamped Training Committee to bring internal training opportunities to all staff in a streamlined process.• Leads cross divisional director team meeting to advance intra-divisional collaboration and communication.• Connects outside groups to Avivo to volunteer for multiple pro-bono and service learning initiatives.• Sourced and leads team in development of new Client Management System to improve data accuracy and reporting functions.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Goodwill/Easter Seals is a local organization with a national presence. It is known for its work in the community and provides comprehensive, proven employment, education and independence services. Last year, the 95-year-old nonprofit served nearly 30,000 people and helped 1249 people with barriers to employment find jobs or advance in their careers. Goodwill retail stores funded 86% of these services.• Identified and managed real estate acquisitions and negotiations of a $110M commercial real estate portfolio consisting of office buildings, industrial and retail locations within Minnesota and Wisconsin.• Partnered with architect/engineering firm to develop a Goodwill retail store design prototype which maximized sales dollars per square foot and provided an exceptional customer service experience.• Partnered with advertising and architect/engineering to create an upscale boutique.• Negotiated favorable CAM terms in leases which resulted in annual CAM management fee savings of $189,354.• Reduced energy consumption in cost effective ways that delivered value to customers and communities, through internal operations and by consciously providing buildings with energy efficient solutions.

Goodwill/Easter Seals is a local organization with a national presence. It is known for its work in the community and provides comprehensive, proven employment, education and independence services. Last year, the 95-year-old nonprofit served nearly 30,000 people and helped 1249 people with barriers to employment find jobs or advance in their careers. Goodwill retail stores funded 86% of these services. Provided leadership for the design, operation, direction and achievement of all functions and activities relating to the organization’s revenue producing venues, including Retail Stores, E-commerce, Car Donation Program and Salvage Operation. Responsible for Real Estate activity, Facilities Management, and Asset Protection for the organization. • Increased annual retail sales volume from $19 million in 2006 to $67 million in 2013 by improving the customer shopping experience. • Increased revenues by 25.1% in 2011, achieving Goodwill International’s “Growing the Business Award” which recognizes Goodwill agencies with the highest rate of growth in total donated goods retail revenue over the previous year. • Expanded the number of commodities recycled over and above textile baling operation, increasing annual revenues by 235.8% since 2006. Reduced the amount of trash from donated goods sent to landfill by 17.3% compared to prior year.• Built, coached and developed directors to inspire employee teams to deliver exceptional customer service while achieving strong operational controls.• Created a divisional excellence program recognizing performance utilizing scorecard and benchmarking based on defined metrics, creating a positive impact for the customer.• Created incentive plan that rewarded managers based on sales, net revenues and expense control that drove sales.• Developed and refined retail policies, procedures and processes resulting in a consistent customer experience and reducing redundancies to assist employees in achieving organization goals.

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area

Leading national specialty retailer of fabrics, crafts and novelty products. Formerly operated under Fabri-Centers of America, Inc. until August of 1998.Held full P&L responsibility for up to 146 stores producing $136 million dollars in sales in a twelve-state territory. Demonstrated effective leadership by successfully managing nine district managers to meet and exceed annual sales and profit goals.• Improved Midwest region budget (1996 to 1998) by 21.9% by increasing sales and margins, while reducing expenses.• Achieved first place in regional rankings for comparable sales with an increase of 5.8% in 1997.• Improved shrink loss by 37.9% for nine targeted Jo-Ann stores, by developing and presenting a shrink awareness program.• Reduced shrink 0.4% of sales through associate education programs, achieving #1 status at Jo-Ann stores three years in a row.• Increased sublease revenue by 57.2% by marketing space to sewing machine dealers.• Recruited and trained several district managers, two of whom were promoted to regional positions.• Created a District Manager Training Manual used during a two-week orientation of former House of Fabrics district managers in preparation to manage Jo-Ann stores.• Managed the transition and retrofit process during the acquisition and integration of House of Fabrics.