In 2005, the Kentucky World Trade Center (KWTC) co-organized a trade mission to Louisville's new sister city in Leeds, England that resulted in an exciting new joint venture project. Louisville-based Goldmark Consultants Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in Six Sigma business training, recently reached an agreement with Leeds-based MCS Management Consultancy, founded by John Porter. The joint venture marks the establishment of Goldmark UK. Mark Goldstein, president and founder of Goldmark Consultants Inc., credited the KWTC with paving the way for the new partnership.

Goldmark Consultants Inc. is an industry leader in training organizations to apply more effective business practices. Goldmark specifically utilizes Six Sigma business training, a quality improvement methodology that instructs clients on cost reduction, enhanced operational performance, employee satisfaction, and profit expansion. The Six Sigma program has shown a 7 to 1 return over the cost of implementation by companies throughout the USA.

Its president, Mark Goldstein, a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, has helped lead clients through the creation of Six Sigma deployment plans, developed customized training material, delivered Six Sigma Black Belt and Green Belt training and provided project coaching and mentoring. He has extensive experience supporting both domestic and international clients. Prior to establishing his own consulting firm in November of 1996, Mark was employed by General Electric for over seventeen years where he held assignments in Production Supervision, Quality Control, Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, and Sourcing.

John Porter, Director and Lead Consultant of Goldmark UK, originally trained in Accountancy at City of London College, and then made a career move into Marketing. He formed MCS Management, a management consultancy business in 1996. Prior to establishing MCS Management, he was employed by Oce UK as Business Unit Director with responsibility for a turnover in excess of 120mGBP. He represented this company at international level in business management, marketing and logistics and also held several directorships of subsidiary companies. Later he became Managing Director for Craftec an SME in the paper converting business.

The new Goldmark UK joint venture will offer introductory workshops and a full program of Six Sigma training to small and mid-sized companies in Leeds and the surrounding area, and will be directed by John Porter. According to John, "bringing the Goldmark practices over to the UK, and focusing solely on promoting this revolutionary methodology will give both large and small businesses in the area an opportunity to reap the full benefits of Six Sigma. We will train client's staff not only to focus on key performance areas, but also to develop and understand their company's strategies and to champion ongoing improvement in performance and profits."

For more information about Goldmark UK, please contact:

Mark D. Goldstein
President, Goldmark Consultants Inc.
Telephone: 502-931-2792
Email: mgoldstein@goldmarkconsultants.com
Website: www.goldmarkconsultants.com; www.goldmark-uk.com