Ally's World-Class Experts

Ally Business Developers is a consortium of world-class business, organizational and professional development experts. Ally aligns itself with other world-class professionals to provide our clients with a broad spectrum of expertise. Below are just some of the experts allied with Ally.

Michael B. Bender, PMP
Richard T. Balog, CPA, CIA, CGFM, DACFE
Kathleen G. Robbins

Michael B. Bender, PMP Founder and CEO Mr. Bender’s project and program management experience spans over 30 years and several continents. In 1996, Mr. Bender founded Ally Business Developers for the purpose of helping companies, as well as non-profit, religious, and government organizations improve the way they work and achieve their goals. Since that time, Mr. Bender has helped thousands of people and hundreds of organizations grow involving: manufacturing, medical equipment, research, pharmaceutical, information technology, and marketing. Mr. Bender’s unique ability to understand unique situations has allowed him to develop specialized methodologies and training for research, museums, world-wide religious organizations, city and state governments, publishing companies, and many others. Mr. Bender started his professional career in high-technology computer-based systems. Mr. Bender has applied his technical, leadership, and managerial skills to such projects as: The Hubbell Space Telescope; NEXRAD (Next Generation Weather Radar); several air traffic control systems for the United States, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan; telecommunications; aircraft simulation; cable television automation systems; and many others.

Mr. Bender is a proud member and frequent speaker for the American Management Association (AMA) and has authored or co-authored many of their project management seminars. With the cooperation of the AMA, Mr. Bender recently completed a study of best practices in multi-project management. This study resulted in new concepts for balancing resources across multiple projects, prioritizing and managing multiple projects in both project-oriented and non-project oriented organizations. Mr. Bender is also a proud member of and has spoken for the Project Management Institute. Mr. Bender is currently authoring a series of book on project management entitled, The How To Project Manager Series. The first book, “Setting Goals and Expectations” is available online at Barnes and Nobel, Amazon and other distributors. Mr. Bender has also spoken for the Project Management Institute and has also been featured in International Who’s Who, and National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals. Mr. Bender holds a BS in Biomedical-Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University; completing the 5-year curriculum in 3 1/2 years. Mr. Bender has been an elected public official and served both school boards and township committees.

Download Mr. Bender’s complete..
E-Mail: MBender@AllyBusiness.com

Richard T. Balog, CIA, CPA, CGFM, DACFE is President and Chief Executive Officer of The ARC Consulting Group, Inc., a multi-faceted profit-enhancement firm, providing educational and consultative services to the international business community.

Mr. Balog manages the conduct of ARC's consulting engagements, specializing in strategic vision development, post-acquisition integration, forensic accounting, due diligence, strategic outsourcing management, operational auditing, and Activity-Based Cost Management consulting. He is also internationally recognized in the development and presentation of a wide range of professional development programs. He is a recognized leader in providing competency-based training to the professional community. He has won awards from The Institute of Internal Auditors and is currently one of the American Management Association’s (AMA) highest rated speakers in AMA's Finance World-Practice.

A partial client list serviced by Mr. Balog includes FedEx Corp., Verizon Communications, Inc., Sony Electronics, Mitel Corporation, Entact Ventures, Inc., The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Times-Mirror Corporation, The FDIC, National Bank of Greece, Euro-Merchant Bank, The Inter-American Development Bank, The National Center for Toxilogical Research, The Inter-American Development Corporation, The United States Customs Service, Bank Administration Institute, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, ABB, Air Products and Chemicals, The United States Department of Agriculture - Graduate School, Saudi-Aramco, The Metropolitan Insurance Company and NASDAQ.

An internationally recognized educator and consultant, Mr. Balog is an associate of Management Centre Europe, The Middle East Management Center, and The Far East Management Centre. He is an advisor to The United Nations, providing counsel and direction in their worldwide effort to ensure the proper and effective use of relief funds. In addition, Mr. Balog is an Associate of The Oxford Management Institute and EuroMaTech, both London-based professional development providers, for whom he provides training in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

He is the highest rated speaker for the Finance Practice of the American Management Association International. He also is a frequent speaker for Executive Enterprises, Inc., The Institute of Industrial Engineers, Institute of Internal Auditors, American Institute of CPA's, and various other professional and educational associations and foundations. He has managed consulting engagements and led executive development programs in 25 countries, and has trained over 70,000 business executives. He is associated with The Value Creation Group, Inc., and has extensive experience in the design and implementation of activity-based cost management systems and managing the strategic outsourcing process.

He has successfully completed numerous international consulting engagements in the areas of Acquisition Integration, Due Diligence, Strategic Planning, Cost Management, and Internal Auditing. A partial list of his clients include The National Bank of Greece, Pamukbank in Türkiye, The National Electric Company of Italy (ENEL), EuroMerchant Bank of Greece, Air Products PLC, ABB, Saudi Aramco, The General Audit Bureau of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Shanghai-Singapore Banking Company, The American National Standards Institute, and The Victoria Power Commission, Melbourne, Australia.

Prior to forming ARC, Mr. Balog successfully established KPMG Peat Marwick's Executive Education Department. Mr. Balog was responsible for the overall administration, marketing, design, development and presentation of the Firm’s client training programs. Additionally, Mr. Balog served as Manager of Program Development for The Institute of Internal Auditors, where he developed the course development framework and many of the training programs for the IIA's professional development programs. Mr. Balog was named Outstanding Staff Faculty Member for the IIA. In addition, he was awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award for his extraordinary contribution to the audit profession. He served as Manager of Internal Audit for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland, and began his career with an international professional services firm.

A graduate of Loyola, he holds degrees in accounting and management. In addition, he holds an M.S. in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Florida. He has served on the faculties of The University of Central Florida - Graduate Division, Orlando College, and serves the faculty of Florida Community College at Jacksonville and the adjunct faculty of The George Mason University - School of International Studies in Arlington, VA.

Mr. Balog is a contributing author and past contributing editor for Internal Auditing Journal and Cost Management Digest. He has written more than 70 professional development programs for various companies, professional associations and educational foundations. He is listed in Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in American Finance and Industry, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who In The World. Mr. Balog is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Institute of Internal Auditors, and National Association of Accountants. He is a Charter Member of The Institute for Financial Crime Prevention, and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Balog is a Certified Internal Auditor, a Certified Government Financial Manager, A Distinguished Member of the American Collage of Forensic Examiners, and is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in Maryland and Florida.

Email: RickBalog@AllyBusiness.com

Ms. Robbins is Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of The ARC Consulting Group, Inc., a multifaceted, international professional services firm, providing educational and consultative services to the business community. She has overall responsibility for the management of ARC's financial operations, information technology activities, and the management of consulting engagements.

As an internationally known consultant, Ms. Robbins specializes in the areas of corporate cost management, treasury functions, financial management, investments portfolio activities, employee benefits administration, and taxation. She is also a recognized authority in the design, development, and control of application systems for a wide range of platforms and architectures. Her expertise includes benefit accounting, product costing, foreign investment and exchange, the strategic and tactical applications of information technology, and strategic financial management.

She has successfully completed several international consulting engagements in the areas of Cost Management, Cost System Development and Operational Auditing. A partial listing of her clients includes: ABB, The Swiss Institute of Internal Auditors, Wal-Mart, Buckman Laboratories, Balchem Corp., FedEx, The National Bank of Greece, Pamukbank in Türkiye, The National Electric Company of Italy (ENEL), and Air Products PLC. She is also an American Management Association Faculty Member and an On-Site Associate for Management Centre Europe and The Middle East Management Center specializing in financial accounting, cost accounting, internal audit, operational audit, PC and mainframe systems development and product cost management programs.

Prior to joining ARC in 1992, Ms. Robbins served as Chief Financial Officer for an international manufacturing company with operations in both the United States and Japan. As an officer of the company, she was accountable for the fiscal management of the organization. In this position, Ms. Robbins developed the cost management systems for this multi-national manufacturing organization. Ms. Robbins holds a B.S. with honors in accounting and finance from Indiana University,. She earned her MBA in Corporate Finance from Purdue University.

Ms. Robbins has contributed to a number of published journals and reference guides in the areas of fiscal management, internal controls, internal audit. She has assisted in the development of several financial management and internal audit professional development programs. She is listed in Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in American Finance, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World.

Email: KateRobbins@AllyBusiness.com