Utah Business And Government Leader Launches Private Practice

Online, April 29, 2010 (Newswire.com) - SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - January 20, 2010 - Utah business executive, attorney and government leader Bob Gross today announced the launch of Robert C. Gross Associates, a private mediation, arbitration and corporate governance counseling firm in Salt Lake City. The launch follows three decades of leadership, dispute resolution and consulting experience in Utah and abroad, including service as Department of Workforce Services executive director and as chief of staff for former Utah governor Michael O. Leavitt.

"Bob has unique gift for wading through complexity and detecting what is most important to the success of an enterprise," said Lee Tom Perry, a professor in the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. "Since his professional life has offered him a wealth of varied, high-level experience in both business and government, he is in a unique position to coach, mentor, and advise senior executives on a variety of issues. There are few people who can effectively provide the range of services Bob offers."

As a corporate executive, Gross served as president, chief executive officer and board director of First Interstate Bank of Utah and Blue Healthcare Bank. He acted as general counsel for two banks and was a senior attorney at Jones Waldo, one of Salt Lake City's oldest and most reputable law firms.

As executive director of the Department of Workforce Services, Gross led the consolidation and integration of six separate state organizations into a single agency, an effort Leavitt called "the biggest change in state government since Statehood."

More recently, he was tapped by President George W. Bush to serve as senior advisor to the interim Iraqi government, working both to re-establish Iraq's social services infrastructure and to register nearly 500,000 former Iraqi soldiers for employment services. He is an adjunct faculty member at Westminster College, where he teaches corporate governance and conflict resolution.

"The creation of Robert C. Gross Associates is a natural progression of my career," Gross said. "Through various experiences in business and government-locally and internationally-I've been mediating and providing corporate governance counseling for more than 30 years. I've been on all sides on the boardroom table so I can speak to clients from a perspective they understand, which is a rare quality in a neutral and consultant."

A certified mediator and arbitrator, Gross' approach to corporate governance consulting is unique: he trains executives, board members and committees to use mediative techniques to communicate and negotiate more effectively.

"I've found that many of the techniques we use in mediation are valuable in the boardroom," Gross said. "By encouraging collaboration, self-awareness and constructive skepticism in our corporations, we're able to increase effectiveness and become powerful, strategic leaders."

About Robert C. Gross Associates
Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Robert C. Gross Associates is a commercial mediation and corporate governance counseling firm specializing in conflict management, board evaluations, executive consulting and strategic planning. Led by Bob Gross, a consensus-building leader and mediator, the firm increases effectiveness and improves communication for corporations around the globe. For more information, visit www.RobertCGross.com.