Ron Lehman Named Kuder, Inc. Executive Vice President

ADEL, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kuder, Inc., the nation’s premier provider of Internet-based tools and resources for education and career planning, announces the appointment of Ron Lehman as Executive Vice President. Lehman joins Kuder after recently retiring from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), where he served as the Commissioner Representing Employers, for the past 10 years.

“His history of leadership, innovation, advocacy, and outstanding dedication to working with the citizens of Texas, perfectly positions him to help grow Kuder’s presence across the state. He will be a tremendous asset to our customers and our organization.”

In this pivotal new role, Lehman will direct all business development efforts in Texas for Kuder’s extensive suite of Internet-based career and educational solutions designed to meet the planning and development needs of students, adults, educators, business and industry leaders, and government agencies. He will also oversee efforts for launching the company’s newest initiative, Kuder^® Connect 2 Business^®, a unique solution that establishes collaborative partnerships between education and business and industry with the goal of helping students and adults better connect with employers and career opportunities across the state.

“We are extremely pleased that Ron has joined the Kuder team as he brings invaluable expertise and experience in working with educators, the business community, and workforce development agencies across the state,” said Phil Harrington, president, Kuder, Inc. “His history of leadership, innovation, advocacy, and outstanding dedication to working with the citizens of Texas, perfectly positions him to help grow Kuder’s presence across the state. He will be a tremendous asset to our customers and our organization.”

Lehman began his career with IBM in 1967 as a member of the start-up team for two IBM plants in Austin, Texas. While with the organization, he’s held leadership and management positions in manufacturing, personnel, finance, engineering, customer engineering, management development, and technical education in Austin and New York. In 1983, he was appointed engineering and manufacturing technical education manager for IBM North America, responsible for the technical education for more than 70,000 engineers, managers, and manufacturing staff at thirty-one IBM plants and labs and customer and supplier locations. In 1989, as part of the IBM chairman’s reinventing education initiatives, Lehman became executive on-loan to the Austin community to help create a world-class education system. The role was expanded in 1995 to include workforce development.

In July 1998, he was appointed by Governor George W. Bush as the Commissioner Representing Employers at the Texas Workforce Commission and then reappointed by Governor Rick Perry in February, 2003. While at the Texas Workforce Commission, Lehman led the adoption of policies that elevated employers as primary customers of the state’s workforce system, meeting with over 8,000 employers annually to listen to their business and workforce challenges. He served as the executive sponsor for the implementation of the WorkInTexas.com job matching system that now has over 260,000 employer subscribers, and has resulted in the hiring of over 1.5 million workers.

He succeeded in putting new measurements on the workforce system that resulted in saving employers hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and helping workers earn millions more in wages each year. In 2003, he was recognized by the National Federation of Independent Business for his advocacy and support to employers in Texas. Lehman was awarded the Manufacturing Mainspring Award for his support to the Texas manufacturing industry in 2006.

As a member of the Governor’s economic development team, he was involved with and supported dozens of business expansion and recruitment efforts in Texas. After completing service as a member of the Governor’s Competitiveness Council and supporting the employers of Texas for over 10 years, Lehman resigned his commission appointment to re-enter the private sector and begin his work with Kuder, Inc.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in management from St. Edward’s University, and is a graduate of The President’s Class-Advanced Business Institute, Harvard University and the Systems Approach to Education-Corporate Learning Institute, Vanderbilt University.

For more information about how students, schools, or business and industry can participate in the Kuder Career Planning System, Kuder^® 4 Adults or Kuder^® Connect 2 Business^®, please contact Kuder, Inc. at 800-314-8972 or [e-mail].

About Kuder, Inc.

Kuder, Inc. (www.kuder.com) is the industry’s premier provider of comprehensive, Internet-based education and career planning tools that allow students and adults to access the educational, postsecondary and career planning resources necessary to create a roadmap for a lifetime of success. Backed by a world renowned faculty and staff, Kuder continues to pioneer innovative products and services for the educational and career assessment marketplace. This year alone, over three million Kuder assessments have been completed. Kuder is the exclusive publisher of the Kuder^® Career Planning System, Visions systems, Develop Your Future^®, Take Hold of Your Future, and the Iowa Career Learning Assessment^®.