The Cincinnati Business Courier has announced Grant Mitchell as a finalist in the CEO category in their 7th annual C-Suite Award. This award celebrates the city’s top echelon of business leaders for their contribution and commitment to the community and their outstanding professional performance. The Cincinnati Business Courier will spotlight Greater Cincinnati’s top leaders in a virtual celebration on Thursday, September 2nd at 10 am and in their feature publication on Friday, September 3rd.
Get to know our CEO a little better through his interview questions below.
Please describe how the nominees work has impacted the company’s results over time
Grant joined Process Plus in 1998 and has served as a Principal at the firm for over 16 years. He has over 32 years of professional experience in the operation, design, and management of processing facilities within the Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Food & Beverage Industries.
Since joining Plus Group, Grant has surrounded himself with diverse leaders that have disrupted the engineering, automation, and construction industry. With the vision of being the firm of choice, delivering exceptional service, Plus Group grew under Grant’s leadership and was listed in Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing companies in 2018 and 2019.
The simple model for this growth is emphasizing building satisfied and enthused customers by tracking the company’s Net Promoter Score. This predictive indicator has become a driver for determining the company’s priorities annually during its strategic planning process. To be the firm of choice, Plus Group begins with the end in mind. Each year customers and employees are surveyed, results are compiled, and the information and is used to make adjustments in the business to achieve the desired results.
He graduated from Tri-State University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and obtained his MBA from Strayer University in 2016. Grant is a Professional Engineer in Ohio and many other states. He is a member of the American Oil Chemists’ Society and is presently on the organization’s governing board. He is also on the board for Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Southern Ohio region. Starting out Plus Group, formerly known as Process Plus, was Grant’s first Engineering job after graduation. He worked under Brian Speicher, the original founder who coined the Process Plus tagline; Our Process Revolves Around You. Under Brian, Grant learned the importance of investing in your employees. Grant was and is to this day invested in building a reputation of excellence in quality of work, business practices, and creating a work environment in which employees can flourish. Grant was elected CEO of Plus Group in 2015 and has done a phenomenal job of growing this company into today’s successful business
Detail the nominee’s career history and significant achievements (awards, publications, etc.)
Grant was elected CEO of Plus Group in 2015. Since, Plus Group has been the recipient of some major awards including System Integrator Giants the past nine years presented by CFE Media, Largest Engineering Firm in the Greater Cincinnati area as reported by Cincinnati Business Courier, ENR (Engineering News Record) Midwest Top Design firm, Inc. 5000’s Fastest growing Private Companies list two years in a row, Deal Maker Award Finalist for the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), and most notable winning System Integrator of the Year by Control Engineering Magazine that recognizes one Industry leader a year for it’s Business Skills, Technical Competence and Customer Satisfaction.
How has the nominee made contributions outside the company (such as social, non-profit, community)?
Process Plus and the Plus Group contribute a percentage of the fees collected towards our annual campaigns and events benefiting local charities and Make-A-Wish® Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Grant presently serves on the Governing Board of Make-A-Wish Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana and is the Chair of the Make-A-Wish Southern Ohio Advisory Board. Grant also serves on the Governing Board of the American Oil and Chemist Society presently as Treasurer. He has served on the Governance Board for the past 5 years. AOCS advances the science and technology of oils, fats, proteins, surfactants and related materials, enriching the lives of people everywhere. Grant is a Sunday School teacher for a college and career class, Music director and Deacon at Bethel Baptist Church in West Carrollton, Ohio.
2020 has been a year like no other that most of us can remember. C-suite leaders have had to make hard decisions to keep their companies in business, decisions that would affect employees, customers, and the economy. If you had a leader who demonstrated a unique approach during the pandemic answer this question to be considered for a special award. We are looking for those who led boldly for the future, those who took risks to put their companies or their customers in safer places, those who aggressively led through this pandemic. Explain the processes, the moves, or the approaches that they initiated to find success, to remain open, or to ensure the fact that they could reopen when it was over.
In March of 2020, when business across the country closed their doors and the entire Plus Group community became remote, Grant kicked our work culture into overdrive—creating what is known at Plus Group as “Community Engagement.” Every Monday, Plus Group has a company-wide call where Grant covers our business happenings; he also opens the floor to talk about the impacts of the Covid-19 virus. He opened up a segment to talk about how employees help their local community by donating food, clothes, and some by sewing masks. Each week Grant gives appreciation to those first responders and recognizes those in the Plus Group community for doing their part in a time of uncertainty. In addition to talking about the effects of Covid-19 each week, the Community Engagement consisted of virtual happy hours, weekly brackets voting on things like Best Bands, Tv shows and games to play, all to keep the Plus Group spirit alive and to connect us all while staying socially distant. In these difficult times, our Process Plus and Automation Plus companies saw significant uptake in business. With Major consumer product, pharmaceutical, and food and beverage companies switching their lines over to help better meet the demands of a pandemic driven economy, our Process Plus and Automation companies were there on overtime to meet changing Hygienic design standards and regulations to keep struggling business afloat and keep facilities clean and safe for its employees.
