About Thornton & Associates

Thornton & Associates, a human resources management consulting firm located in Scarborough, Maine, was established in 1998.  The firm is dedicated to providing professional, technical and management support services to municipalities, schools, for profit and not for profit organizations throughout the Northeast.   All of Thornton & Associates’ senior consultants and affiliates have substantial experience working with government and private sector employers and are professional, experienced subject matter experts.

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Managing Principal

Gary R. Thornton

Gary R. Thornton, MBA, SPHR, CEBS, GBA, RPA has held human resources leadership roles with for profit and not for profit companies for over twenty five years.  He currently offers “Total Rewards” consulting for many clients throughout the Northeast.

 

Thornton is a MBA graduate of the College of St. Rose and also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Husson College.  He is credentialed by the Human Resource Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and the Wharton School of Business as a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Group Benefits Associate (GBA) and as a Retirement Plan Associate (RPA). 

He has served as a Special Expertise Panel Member, Total Rewards-Compensation and Benefits for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  The panel is comprised of senior HR professionals dealing with issues that impact the HR profession on a daily basis. In this role, Thornton served as a subject matter expert and resource to SHRM and its 225,000 members, identifying emerging trends in Total Rewards, Compensation and Employee Benefits, providing expert advice on matters of professional significance and providing guidance on matters of public policy.

He is an instructor at the University of Southern Maine, preparing candidates for professional certification in Human Resources, Compensation and Employee Benefits.  His volunteer and community involvement includes leadership roles in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) as well as many civic and professional boards.

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Senior Associates

R. Michael Butler

Kurt K. Ganter

Katie Weber

 

R. Michael Butler, MBA, SPHR, has over thirty years experience in the field of Human Resources. He has held leadership roles for many of the country's finest manufacturing organizations.  His strengths include organizational and leadership assessments, compliance with government contracting,  employee relations, dispute resolution,  labor relations, collective bargaining, arbitration proceedings and discrimination charge Investigation/defense/resolution.  He earned an MBA from Thomas College and, a BS in Secondary Education from the University of Maine Farmington.

Kurt Ganter, Ed .D,  SPHR has over twenty-five years of experience in HR systems development, including compensation, benefits, recruitment and retention, competency development, leadership development and employee relations.  His strengths include systems analysis, strategic planning, project management, executive leadership development, workplace communications and conflict resolution.  He is a former CEO, COO and Corporate HR Vice President for the largest not-for-profit Protestant healthcare system in the world.  He holds an Ed .D. from Boston University, a Masters from Andrews University and Bachelors from Atlantic Union College.

Katie Weber, Client Services Manager has over 20 years experience as a professional Administrative and Client Services Manager.   She has held management roles in the financial services, banking and insurance fields.  Katie is responsible for our quality assurance and client satisfaction processes.

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Affiliates

Thornton & Associates has strategic alliances with many of the top Management Consulting

firms in the country.  Our Staff and Affiliates are capable of delivering solutions tailored to your

needs.