Originally uploaded December 15th.
Faces of Manufacturing is a new show to Michigan Business Network. Cindy Kangas, Executive Director, CAMC, Capital Area Manufacturing Council, Lansing, Michigan, co-hosts with Joy Wagner, HR Manager of Granger Waste Services, also Lansing.

Cindy and Joy strive to share the corporate culture, personal stories, and unique personalities of those making a living in manufacturing today, in Michigan. With that in mind, this month they connected with Jerry Norris, who obtained a B.S. in Statistics from the University of Michigan, with a focus on Computer Science. He began his career with the Unisys Corporation as a Quality Engineer and ISO 9000 Lead Auditor in 1988. Throughout the years, he moved up through the ranks of the quality profession (i.e. Quality Manager, Director of Quality, and VP of Quality).

In 1988 as a Quality Engineer and Lead Auditor, he began developing a software product to help manage compliance activities. Jerry developed software for ISO standards and related compliance systems for all industries, before he decided to start his own company, jadian incorporated in 1998. In 2014 jadian was sold. The next logical step was to start a new software company developing a member directory of compliance professionals. He served as the CEO of GAIA, LLC, which operate globally with customers in over 50 countries helping members connect based on expertise and vicinity. GAIA has evolved into a software company supporting start-ups with an emphasis on mapping.

Jerry now serves as the CEO of the Fledge, a radically inclusive ideation and maker space, incubator and accelerator located in Lansing, MI. He also serves as the Chairman for the GAIA Solutions, and the Fledge Music Group. He spent 5 years as a “Gatekeeper” for the Business Acceleration Fund working with the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) and has a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the community at large.

Jerry’s expertise includes software development, quality management, food safety management, automotive and aerospace related quality management, environmental protection and management, safety systems, regenerative economies, LEAN communities, blockchain, smart contracts and WEB3.

He has worked in the following fields: telecommunications, automotive, furniture, food safety, environmental management, economic development, human rights, labor law, life sciences, advance manufacturing, plastics, consulting, organizational development, systems theory / thinking, sustainability, regenerative economies, crypto ecosystems and more.


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Faces of Manufacturing | Episode 11 - The Fledge, Jerry Norris -ENERGY JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY

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