Please click the links below to download and read alt.Consulting's publications.
Linking Business support and Capital for Business Growth and Success
2011
2010
Business Retention & Expansion Guide
Executive Director
Ms. Polonius is a founding member and Executive Director of alt.Consulting, an innovative non-profit organization that provides customized, managerial assistance to rural-based and minority-owned businesses throughout the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta Region. Ms. Polonius leads a team of eight management consultants and has personally worked with over 200 small businesses in manufacturing, distribution, service and retail. She has conducted organizational and financial audits, facilitated planning sessions and customized management systems for these businesses. Ms. Polonius and her team are working on small business financing models for businesses in low-wealth communities that utilize managerial assistance as a means to reduce risk. She has developed and taught numerous seminars on financial management and strategic planning.
As a Business Development Consultant at the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development she served more than 30 clients through an intensive management consulting process. Ms. Polonius earned an MBA and a Masters of Economics at Boston University. Prior to pursuing her graduate work, she worked for three years with rural micro-enterprise development projects in Chile and the Dominican Republic. She has also worked as a financial manager for a manufacturer and a distribution company in Hamburg, Germany. Ms. Polonius received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.
Ms. Polonius serves on the following boards:
Mr. Auker has 25 years of Management, Sales and Marketing experience working for a variety of companies in the food industry. Areas of expertise include staff management, customer service, distribution, sales and merchandising, training and planning.
Mr. Auker has a B.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. He also earned his Masters in Business Adminstration from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville.
As a Management Consultant, Mr. Branch is responsible for providing technical assistance for small businesses and entrepreneurs to improve operations and cash flow. Mr. Branch's specialities are Financial Management, Business Planning, Loan Planning and Financial Analysis.
Mr. Branch holds a Bachelors degree in Communications from Bowie State University; a Masters in Business Administration in Entrepreneurship (sum cum laude) and is currently a doctorate candidate in Business Administration at Jones International University.
Mr. Fullen received his B.S. in Accounting and and MBE from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Mr. Fullen has experience in banking and served 30 years as Chief Financial Officer for a local company.
Mr. Fullen has been an active volunteer in many non-profits and helped launch a successful scholarship fund in his home county.
B.S. in both accounting and finance. With emphasis in both banking and corporate.
Strong background in economic development. Former Empowerment Zone Director for Downtown Little Rock Partnership. Bachelor of Business Administration.
Ms. Norwood has a diverse background of experience in the areas of general management, human resources, and legal services. Prior to working with alt.Consulting she worked 4 years in retail management as an assistant manager of operations and a personnel manager for a large retail conglomerate. As an assistant manager Ms. Norwood gained valuable management experience including managing a staff of over 50 employees, retail merchandising, customer services, and risk management experience. As a personnel manager she gained human resources experience in benefits administration, recruitment, hiring and training.
Ms. Norwood earned her Masters in Business Administration and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. She is a licensed attorney in the State of Tennessee. While working for alt.Consulting as a management consultant and managing director, Ms. Norwood also practices law on a part-time basis.
She has been with alt.Consulting since June 2004 working with clients throughout the West Tennessee area, Northern Mississippi and Eastern Arkansas.
Loan Officer
Ms. Powis-Dow rejoined alt.Consulting in 2011. Her expertise is in financial management, strategy development and training. Tina is a veteran of the banking, consumer credit and waste management industries.
Tina spent 8 years providing consulting and training to small businesses. Prior to joining alt.Consulting Ms. Powis-Dow held mid-management level roles in audit, accounting, marketing and training with small businesses in the Arkansas Delta and Fortune 500 companies in major markets on the West Coast.
Ms. Powis-Dow holds an MBA in Accounting from the University of Phoenix and a BA in Social Science and Management Studies with a concentration in Economics from Antioch College.
Program Associate
Responsible for accounting, quality control and all administrative support for consultants in the field. Notary Public.
Mr. Ritchie graduated from Arkansas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He received a double major in Economics/Finance and Management/Marketing. He also earned his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas in Little Rock.
Mr. Ritchie's experience consists of six years in the banking, lending and financial services industry. He has also held sales, advertising, and marketing roles with several small businesses in Arkansas. He has served on the Arkansas Tech University School of Business Advisory Council and the Fayetteville Metro Kiwanis Board of Directors. He currently serves on the Arkansas Tech University Young Alumni Board of Directors.
Before joining alt.Consulting, Mr. Ritchie gained invaluable experience in marketing and advertising when he was part of a small group that successfully introduced and marketed the Northwest Arkansas Naturals Professional Baseball Team.
Loan Fund Manager and Development Director
Ms. Slayton's experience covers fifteen years of business lending and an additional ten years in banking, including banking operations, personal and business lending and management. She is a graduate of the School of Banking of the South, the National Development Council, the Commercial and Consumer Lending School and management program of the Arkansas Bankers Association.
From 1992 to 2004, Ms. Slayton worked in numerous capacities at Southern Financial Partners. From 1997 to 2003, she served as its Executive Director, managing a loan portfolio of $14 million. In this position Ms. Slayton has been a champion of small businesses, rural communities and the underprivileged in the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta and has worked tirelessly in these efforts.
Small businesses in the Arkansas/Mississippi Delta and western Tennessee struggle to survive. They often lack access to management expertise, business networks, and capital, and grapple with market inequities, and racial and gender discrimination.
We're providing affordable management consulting services to the people and communities who need it most and can afford it least.
William L. Zoccola is a licensed Attorney and a Certified Public Accountant in Memphis, TN and owns Zoccola & Associates, PLLC, Zoccola Law Firm, PC and Zoccola Investment Advisors, LLC. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the Memphis Bar Association, the Tennessee Society of CPAs, the Shelby County Republican Party, University of Notre Dame Monogram Club, and the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association Memphis Club.
Jonathan Harrison is the Director, National Social Innovations for Rubicon Programs, Inc. Mr. Harrison is the Co-Founder of alt.Consulting and remains involved through Board membership. Prior to his work with alt.Consulting, Mr. Harrison was a fellow of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and Business Consultant with the North Caroline Institute of Minority Economic Development. In addition to starting and operating his own entrepreneurial ventures including two food coops and a non-profit bakery-apprenticeship program, Mr. Harrison has years of hands-on experience in strategic planning, marketing strategy, and fundraising/financing for organizations such as Carnegie Hall Corporation and Northeast Savings Bank.
Mr. Herman Strickland has been with Fist Tennessee Bank since June 1981. He manages the Memphis Commercial Banking Division and recently became Manager of First Tennessee Bank’s Mid-South Diversity Banking Group, a new initiative focused on providing financial services to the area’s minority community. Mr. Strickland earned his Bachelor’s of Science, Business Management from Arkansas State University and he earned his Masters of Business Administration, Finance from the University of Memphis.
Mr. Torres is the Director of the Interactive Teaching & Technology Center at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro where the focus is to create and provide professional training and development for faculty in the areas of online and classroom technologies. Prior to this, he was Senior Lecturer of Computer & Information Technology in the College of Business where he also was the key member of a startup software outsourcing company helping build it to over $1.2 million of annual sales by employing ASU graduates.
Mr. Torres received a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University and a Masters in Business Administration from Henderson State University. He has served on the Board of several non-profit organizations including Accelerate Arkansas, Arkansas Capital Commerce Development Corporation, Hispanic Community Services, Bancorp South Bank Community Board and the United Way.
Donna Kay Yeargan is a native Arkansan born and reared in Howard County. She has been actively engaged in political and social issues throughout her life. Donna Kay lives in her state as many of us live in our communities. After graduating from the University of Arkansas, where she was a campus leader, she married and moved to Foreman, Arkansas, where she was involved in civic and church activities and became active in local, regional and state activities. During that time, Donna Kay earned a Masters Degree from East Texas State University, now affiliated with Texas A&M.
Donna Kay has served on the University of Arkansas Alumni Board of Directors, the Natural State Committee, and has been Chairman of the State Parks Commission and the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, along with a multitude of community and civic organizations.
In 1999, Donna Kay joined newly-elected Blanche Lincoln as the Director of Economic Development. She held the post until 1997 when she was named State Director for Senator Lincoln, overseeing the state operations of Senator Lincoln’s offices in Arkansas. She continued in that post until January, 2011.
Donna Kay and her husband, Circuit Judge Charles Yeargan, live in Glenwood, Arkansas. They have three children and six-year-old twin grandsons.
Ms. Cowan is the Senior Community Development Specialist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Memphis Branch. In her role there she works community based organizations, financial institutions, elected officials, academic institutions and professionals to address community development needs.
Ms. Cowan has an extensive background in community and economic development. Before taking her current position, she served four years as President/CEO of The Works, Inc. a non-profit in Memphis, TN growing the organization from a staff of one to a staff of seven and raising more than $7 million in grants and tax credits.
Ms. Cowan received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/Sociology from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN and completed a Master of Science in Planning at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN.
Arkansas and the Arkansas/Mississippi Delta are known as one of the poorest regions of the country. But we see things differently.
We see people rich with determination and a willingness to work. They take risks and start businesses that help them meet the basic needs of their families. Thanks to the financial support of generous individuals, foundations and corporations, alt.Consulting worked with 190 businesses in 2004 including:Their spirit of hope and determination is what motivates us. This has been a good year for alt.Consulting and our work has had a real impact on people's lives.
Only through your financial support can we continue to assist people in sustaining their families and creating jobs.
If you'd like to give us a donation, please click here to donate online through JustGive.org, or click here if you'd like someone from alt.Consulting to contact you.
