TMG Leadership Team
Working with you on the path
to mutual success
OUR FOUNDER IN MEMORIAM
Raymond F. Mickus was the founder of several consulting firms that preceded establishment of The Mickus Group, LLC. Known to everyone as “Ray”, he was one of the original pioneers in the late 60s and early 70s to develop services in our unique and specialized field of consulting. Although Ray passed away in 2004, his sincerity, honesty, dynamic personality, and values have not been forgotten by those who knew him — standards that today still represent the best measure of excellence in positive employee and labor relations consulting. Ray’s handshake was a firm commitment that was an honor bound seal with his friends and clients.
At The Mickus Group, our “handshake” and Ray’s standards of service continue to be his legacy and our way of doing business. We continue to provide our clients with service exactly as Ray Mickus intended it to be — fair, ethical, legal, and successful in union avoidance and positive direct employee relations.
Frank S. Merrick is the President, an Owner/Manager, and co-founder of The Mickus Group, co-directing the activities of the Firm from its Corporate Office and delivering consulting services to clients throughout the United States, its territories, and Canada. He has over 30 years of practical experience in all aspects of human resources, employee relations, labor relations management, union avoidance, compensation programs and practices, and training and development with a particular expertise in positive employee relations enhancements, labor negotiations support, communications, and labor related crisis intervention support and assistance.
Mr. Merrick has successfully assisted many employers in resisting union organizing attempts and in labor contract negotiations. His client relationships include family owned, public held corporations, and private, not for profit organizations in virtually every industry, including health care employers throughout the country.
Mr. Merrick has worked on the International Staff of a major labor union, as well as coordinated all industrial relations activities for a multi-facility manufacturing employer. He subsequently served as Vice President, Human Resources for a 424-bed community teaching hospital, and as Corporate Vice President for Human Resources for a leading nationwide warehousing and transportation company. In the early 1980s, Mr. Merrick joined Raymond F. Mickus & Associates as a Manager and Principal, and subsequently as a co-founder and Owner/Manager of The Mickus Group, LLC.
Mr. Merrick earned a Baccalaureate Degree in Personnel Management and a Master’s Degree in Labor Relations both from Loyola University in Chicago. He has lectured in the Advanced Management Institute of Lake Forest College, Morton College, and the Keller Graduate School for Business. He is a frequent speaker before association meetings and at management forums around the country. In addition, he is the author and co-author of a number of topical labor relations articles for TMG Update Newsletters, Workforce Management, the Journal of Nursing Administration, and other management publications.
He has served the community as a member and as President of the Board of Directors of an area YMCA and as a Board Member for the Foundation for Educational Excellence.
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THOMAS C. GRIMES is the Senior Vice-President, an Owner/Manager, and a co-founder of The Mickus Group, co-directing the activities of the Firm from its Scottsdale Regional Office and delivering consulting services to clients throughout the United States, its territories, and Internationally. He has 40 years of practical business and applied consulting experience, with specific expertise in the management of employee/labor relations situations, change, training and organizational development, and all aspects of human relations. Mr. Grimes has supported and assisted many clients in union prevention and crisis intervention situations ranging from organizing activity, decertification efforts, labor/management relationship realignment, and positive employee relations program enhancement.
Mr. Grimes’ practical business and applied consulting experience includes Executive Human Resources Mangement, Chief Operating Officer, and Labor/Employee Relations Consulting and Manager positions. That experience includes Vice President Human Resources for a 5000+ employee community and teaching hospital, executive leadership roles with a major state-wide not-for-profit trade association, and the establishment and operations of a 35 employee regional for-profit consulting and shared services corporation. He has worked with a diverse range of clients in the beverage, distribution, manufacturing, transportation, food service, pharmaceutical, health care and other industries in primary consulting roles on assignments both in the United States and abroad. As a result, he is well versed in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Railway Labor Act (RLA), and the application of various International labor laws.
In the early 1980s, Mr. Grimes joined Raymond F. Mickus & Associates as a Manager and Principal, and subsequently as a co-founder and Owner/Manager of The Mickus Group, LLC. His accomplishments include extensive involvement with a full range of businesses in assisting management to achieve organizational goals through a better understanding of their environment and internal processes, more effective utilization of their human resources, and positive employee relations/labor relations efforts.
A graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Grimes also completed supplemental business, employment and labor studies at the University of Akron (Ohio) College of Law, and earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Arizona State University, W.P. Carey Graduate School of Business with a focus on organization and management development.
He has served as faculty and guest lecturer before numerous management groups, professional associations, Boards, and societies. In addition, he is the author and co-author of a number of topical employee and labor relations articles for TMG Update Newsletters, American Executive — Where Leadership Begins magazine, The Journal of Nursing Administration, Workforce Management (magazine and on-line), and other management publications.
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Thomas A. Powell is an Owner/Manager (Emeritus), former Senior Vice President, and co-founder of The Mickus Group who retired in 2009, but remains a contributor to the Firm and consultant to a few clients with whom he has had a long-standing relationship. Mr. Powell's employee and labor relations experience traces back to the very early days in which he and Ray Mickus worked together to pioneer many of the standards and programs that led to the growth and development of our unique and specialized field of consulting. He has been a frequent, and sought after guest speaker and author/co-author of numerous articles in the TMG Update Newsletter and other management publications, including the Journal of Nursing Administration.
In addition to his almost 40 years of consulting experience, Mr. Powell also taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels of the Wittemore School of Business at the University of New Hampshire, and on the MBA and MPA faculty of Golden State University in California. His classes in Organizational Behavior, Labor Relations, Negotiations, and Human Resource Management were widely known for their practical application of academic principles, an approach he successfully carried into his consulting work.
Mr. Powell holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and a Master's Degree in Industrial Relations from the Labor Institute of Loyola University (Chicago, Illinois).
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Michael W. Chance is a Principal of The Mickus Group who joined the Firm in 1980 and has over 30 years of practical, business, and applied consulting experience. He has particular expertise in human resources, employee relations, employment laws, and labor relations strategic planning, including assistance during collective bargaining, union organizing and other labor crisis situations. Mr. Chance originally designed the Employee Relations Assessment Survey which has been extensively used by the Firm's clients and was subsequently developed into a comprehensive survey for both an employee and labor relations vulnerability assessment.
Prior to his association with The Mickus Group, LLC, Mr. Chance worked in both the public and private sectors, gaining experience in collective bargaining, contract administration, arbitration, equal employment opportunity, and other general personnel areas. As an attorney, he has practiced before Federal and state courts, as well as the National Labor Relations Board.
Mr. Chance also facilitates management training and workshops in a variety of human resource practice areas and has addressed topics such as discrimination in the workplace, sexual harassment and the application of other labor and employment laws. Frequently he trains and the Firm's clients' managers and supervisors regarding union organizing guidelines under the Federal labor laws and positive employee relations practices. In addition, Mr. Chance has spoken before numerous management groups and associations, and has been a faculty member at a Chicago area college.
He received his Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration fro Roosevelt University, his Master of Arts degree in Labor and Industrial Relations from the University of Illinois, and his Juris Doctorate from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago.
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Contact Us — Toll Free: 800.827.7130
847.948.7130 – Corporate Office 630.750.0224 - Frank Merrick Cell 480.734.5132 - Tom Grimes Cell
630.231.7018 – Corporate Office Fax 630.231.7018 – Office Fax 480.951.0205 Regional Office Fax
The Mickus Group Corporate Office — 4320 Winfield Road, Suite 200 — Warrenville, IL 60555
Western Regional Office — Scottsdale, AZ 85258
© Copyright The Mickus Group 2011