In observance of our 35th anniversary year, this feature is one of a series of tribute articles acknowledging five seminal figures in IVES’ history whose contributions to the company were critical in its creation and continuing success. Each of these notable figures provided vital elements to IVES’ recipe for success and it is upon the shoulders of these five giants that the company was built and still stands today.
Ron Elliott
When Ron Elliott and Colin Ives met in the early-1980s, an immediate and what would prove to be long lasting bond was formed. At the time Ron was working as a consultant with the National Safety Council (NSC) after spending many years as a Florida State Trooper. Colin was speaking at an NSC safety symposium on behalf of his relatively young company, Ives & Associates while Ron was there as a representative of the NSC. The two men were mutually impressed by each other. Ron with Colin’s raw passion and honest desire to make a difference in the equipment safety training world and Colin with Ron’s vast knowledge of all things safety and his obvious abilities as a brilliantly effective communicator.
They stayed in touch with one another after their initial meeting, exchanging thoughts and ideas, each of them gaining the other’s respect, admiration and friendship. Then, when Colin decided he needed another trainer to help him service his growing client list, Ron Elliott was his first and only choice.
Ron’s effect within IVES & Associates was immediate and significant. He took a huge training load off of Colin and brought fresh, new methods and information to the programs and materials. This added greater depth and detail to the training programs and materials provided Colin with the time and space he desperately needed to promote the company and form a strategy for its continued development.
Ron’s voluminous knowledge and uncanny ability to communicate with anyone on any level served him and his trainees well and it wasn’t long before his reputation grew to rival that of Colin’s. He could coax participation from the shyest trainee and instill confidence in the most anxious then turn around and assert his indisputable control of the class over those that were foolish enough to test him.
As the years passed, Ron’s capabilities and contributions continued to bolster the now well-established Ives & Associates as Colin wisely passed a large portion of the delivery and development of the training programs to him. Every new field trainer that joined the Ives crew was personally mentored by Ron and he was as effective a mentor with IVES’ Master Trainers as he was with regular operator trainers.
Ron’s legacy of knowledge and integrity has withstood the test of time as his name within the IVES companies and among its clients is remembered with reverence and respect to this day. He retired from Ives in 2001 and sadly, we lost Ron in February of 2012.
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