For Mitch Thomas, it was the chance to join one of the nation’s largest employer associations and the opportunity to spend time with his grandchildren that lured the longtime educator back to the Quad Cities. The new regional division executive director of MRA — The Management Association has been at work, along with staff, since […]
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For Mitch Thomas, it was the chance to join one of the nation’s largest employer associations and the opportunity to spend time with his grandchildren that lured the longtime educator back to the Quad Cities.
The new regional division executive director of MRA — The Management Association has been at work, along with staff, since late last year assisting clients in Iowa and Western Illinois out of MRA’s office at King Plaza Crown Center on Moline’s Avenue of the Cities.
“Our members and area organizations will significantly benefit from Mitch’s leadership,” Susan Fronk, MRA’s president and CEO, said in a news release last month about Mr. Thomas’ hiring. “A true leader of leaders, Mitch’s enthusiasm to grow and develop the workforce in this region will be an asset for all.”
The association, whose tagline is “Where HR means business,” is a total human resource (HR) service provider that serves 4,000 organizations and covers more than a million employees.
The nonprofit employer association was founded in 1901 by 23 business leaders who were convinced of the advantages of a united approach to solving business challenges and improving employer-employee relations.
The Moline office has a staff of eight, and the support of more than 200 MRA professionals throughout a four-state region. It provides a variety of membership services with high demand for its HR Hotline, in-person and online training, recruitment and retention, reference and background investigations, and HR Business Partner services, Mr. Thomas said.
The alliance serves organizations “with less than 25 employees up to 1,000+ employees and everywhere in between,” he told the QCBJ.
And providing the services necessary for its members to achieve success is Mr. Thomas’ biggest reward. “As a team we love hearing our members say, ‘I don’t know what I would do without MRA,’” he said.
But members aren’t the only ones who can benefit from MRA’s support. “Our biggest challenge is letting the business community know we are here to help — both members and non-members,” he added.
The road to MRA in the QC
Mr. Thomas, who holds a master of science degree in organizational leadership from Regis University in Denver, came to the Quad Cities after a quarter-century-plus career in on-campus and online higher education. That included as campus executive director at West Coast University in the Greater Los Angeles area.
“Even though I was the one teaching, I learned a lot about the importance of being engaging, as well as leading and inspiring others,” he said.
“I’ve been in a variety of student-facing roles in higher education as well as executive leadership roles at universities,” he added.
His work included business, management and leadership courses on campus and online at the university baccalaureate level. It also included a previous stint in the Quad Cities when he worked at then Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, and lived in LeClaire.
“I was ready for a pivot in my career,” he said. “After 27 years in higher education, I wanted to do something different that would have a similar positive impact on people and organizations. I just love helping people move from their current comfort zone to growth —moving people and organizations from ‘Good to Great’, which happens to be one of my favorite books.”
He opted to join MRA, he said, because of its “breadth and depth of expertise is incredibly impressive, as well as the culture.” The more he heard and saw and the quality of the people he met, the more he wanted to work there, he said.
“The culture at MRA is positive, friendly, authentic, relationship focused, and team oriented. Everyone is focused on ensuring we make member-centric decisions and take actions that positively impact our members,” he said.
Then, of course, there was their Quad Cities family who drew Mr. Thomas and his wife Linda back to the region. The couple have two grown sons, one of whom lives in the Quad Cities. They are the proud grandparents of “three incredibly beautiful granddaughters here in the QC ages 6, 2 and 10 months, and we absolutely love being grandparents!”
Mr. Thomas is originally from central Ohio, where as a teen he worked on a farm and played basketball in high school and, later, in college for the Ohio State Newark Campus.
What can MRA offer business?
“We really can be a one-stop resource for our members due to the extensive nature of our subject matter experts on staff at MRA,” Mr. Thomas said.
MRA’s history in the Quad Cities dates to 2002, when the alliance acquired Associated Employers in Iowa and Western Illinois, an employer association with a long history in the area. The regional office’s name officially became MRA in 2007.
Among Mr. Thomas duties at today’s MRA is up-skilling workforce needs, advocating for area business leaders, building relationships with local business leaders to help organizations build successful workplaces and powerful workforces.
“In today’s highly complex HR world, it’s critical to ensure compliance and stay ahead of the trends and challenges HR professionals and business leaders face every day,” Mr. Thomas said.
These days “MRA is seeing increasing requests for training and we expect this to continue to increase given the workforce shortage facing our region as well as total compensation to help address challenges in workforce churn in our region,” he said.
“We help businesses overcome the challenges with traditional benefits and compensation strategies that are no longer enough to meet the demands of today’s workers,” he added. “We also assist with making employees aware of their total rewards as compensation encompasses more than just base pay. Providing the total picture of an employee’s value to the organization can be invaluable to retaining employees.”