Who We Are
About Process Alliance
Our Beginning
In 2018, our President Darren Thompson was presented a unique opportunity. He and about 2,000 other employees of Eli Lilly and Company were offered an early retirement package. Darren wasn't ready to quit working and saw this as a chance to jump-start an idea he had been considering for a while: to start a consulting firm for companies in the pharmaceutical and bio-agricultural industry. Joined by many of his fellow retirees, Darren brought together an expert team and created Process Alliance.
Our Mission
Process Alliance is a problem-solving company. Our Mission is to provide capacity and capability to our clients in order to help them overcome obstacles and navigate change.
Our Purpose
Our Purpose stems from a principle of continuous improvement. At Process Alliance, we strive to be a better model for how problems are solved and solutions are delivered.
Our Values
Our Values guide us in our actions and in our interactions. They align us with one another. We value:
Authentic Integrity
Faithful Stewardship
Courage
Our Team
Darren Thompson
President, Chief Executive Officer
After graduating from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a degree in chemical engineering, he was hired by Eli Lilly and Company, where he worked in pharmaceutical manufacturing. As an engineering leader in pharmaceutical manufacturing, he has led all engineering disciplines including process, project, automation, and maintenance. After retiring from Eli Lilly in 2017, he founded Process Alliance, bringing many of his fellow retirees with him.
Thompson brings to Process Alliance a unique perspective as a former project and program manager from his over 30 years in pharmaceutical manufacturing. His experiences as a project manager, instrument engineer, process engineer, and plant engineer have given him the expertise and knowledge necessary to solve complex problems in the pharmaceutical and bio-agricultural industry. He also brings his experience as a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt to improve the operational excellence of companies by mentoring and coaching leadership and improving their processes.
Chris Jaeger
Vice President of Engineering
Chris Jaeger was destined to be an engineer at a pharma company from the beginning; his father worked at a pharmaceutical company in Michigan. Jaeger got an engineering degree at the University of Michigan and began working for Eli Lilly and Company. He retired from Eli Lilly in 2017.
At Process Alliance, Jaeger fills the role of Director of Parenteral Engineering and Automation. With over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing, Jaeger brings a wealth of practical knowledge in pharmaceutical fill/finish manufacturing and medical
device assembly, including: project management, commissioning and qualification, computer system validation, and medical device assembly line design/delivery.
As a leader in manufacturing, he has led process and process automation engineers as well as information technology professionals. He has extensive experience in risk-based commissioning and qualification.
Steve Ghera
Chief Operating Officer
Steve Ghera’s alma mater, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, had a marketing campaign that included a poster of a child playing with tinker toys. According to Ghera, that perfectly describes him as a child. He never stopped being curious about how things worked and was always drawn to chemistry and math, so it was only fitting that he attended Rose-Hulman to obtain a degree in chemical engineering. He was hired to Eli Lilly right out of school, where he worked as a chemical engineer in manufacturing and in research and development for 31 years. After retiring from Eli Lilly, Ghera joined Process Alliance’s leadership team as Director of Operational Excellence.
For the last third of his career at Eli Lilly, Ghera taught Lean Six Sigma methodologies. He brings this experience to clients of Process Alliance by providing Lean Sixth Sigma learning materials he has developed, coaching leadership in process and operational improvement, and improving people and process capabilities while helping leaders and associates enjoy their work more. His expertise has helped lead many organizational transformations.
John Quatroche
Chief Technical Officer
John Quatroche worked at Eli Lilly and Company for 35 ½ years before he and 2,000 others were offered an early retirement package in 2017. Having greatly enjoyed his role as a consulting engineer for Lilly, Quatroche wasn't quite ready to settle down and stop working in
the industry. When founder Darrren Thompson contacted him about joining Process Alliance, his spiel was quickly interrupted.
“Darren, stop—I’m in,” Quatroche said.
With over 35 years experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, Quatroche provides expertise in process development, equipment design and operations for API manufacturing. He spent 28 years in small molecule development followed by 3 years working at Eli Lilly’s Global Engineering Tech Center. He has extensive experience developing and transferring small molecule processes from bench to full-scale manufacturing as well as troubleshooting existing processes. He also has experience developing and scaling up large molecule unit operations such as disk stack centrifugation clarification, depth filtration, micro, ultra, and nano tangential flow filtration.
Michelle Vander Missen
Vice President of Automation
At Process Alliance, Michelle Vander Missen serves as the Director of Computer Systems and Validation Services, as well as Senior Automation Consultant. She has over 16 years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing. She brings expertise in process automation, computer system validation, commissioning and qualification, and medical device assembly line design.
Vander Missen brings a set of unique skills to Process Alliance. Vander Missen had been consulting part time in the engineering industry while investing a couple of years developing and teaching an engineering program at an Indianapolis high school. When President Darren Thompson heard she was interested in returning full time to the industry, he contacted her immediately to join the team at Process Alliance.
Vander Missen offers a strong focus on value-added innovation. As a leader in validation, she has led automation engineers, and validation engineers and validation support professionals, managing multiple project schedules across customer groups.
Rhonda Bronenberg
Vice President of Manufacturing Services
Bronenberg has a BS in Chemistry from Purdue University.
At Process Alliance, Rhonda Bronenberg serves as the Director of West Coast Operations as well as Senior Consultant for Manufacturing Operations. She has over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical manufacturing and operational leadership. She brings expertise in operations management, process chemistry, Process Safety Management, GMP requirements, project execution, operational excellence, and root cause analysis. As Director of West Coast Operations, Bronenberg will focus on business development activities to continue Process Alliance revenue growth and create a presence on the West Coast.
Bronenberg retired from Lilly in 2017 and worked in the aerospace industry for nearly three years in an operations management role. She and President Darren Thompson stayed in contact and the timing for a move back into pharmaceuticals worked out this year. When Thompson made the call, she was ready to join the team at Process Alliance.
Bronenberg offers a strong focus on practical execution of initiatives. As an operations leader, she is comfortable in a fast paced environment at the point of convergence of multiple agendas.