Rod Baxter

Rod Baxter writes stories about place, memory, and the quiet forces that shape people and communities over time.

After a long career in operational excellence and process improvement, he turned more fully toward storytelling. His fiction often explores the intersection of history, stewardship, and human connection—where landscapes carry memory and ordinary people uncover extraordinary truths.

He lives in Florida with his wife, Kelli. Together they enjoy walking, biking, volunteering in their community, and continuing their shared adventure side by side.

His stories—including the Wren Alder Mysteries—explore how the past leaves its marks on the present, and how patient observation can reveal truths long buried.

Fiction and Narrative Books by Rod Baxter

• Lattes and Libraries

• Ashes in the Archive

• Echoes in the Harbor

• Patterns on the Water

• Secrets at Rock Point

• What the Land Endures

• The Boy Who Swam with Alligators

• Side by Side, A Life Built in Partnership

You can find our handbooks and workbooks by searching Value Generation Partners on Amazon:

Problem Solving Handbook

Project Management Handbook

Strategy Deployment Handbook

Workshop Facilitation Handbook

Operational Excellence Handbook

Lean Six Sigma DMAIC Workbook

Discover Your Inner Leader Workbook

Rod Baxter, principal of Value Generation Partners. In his career, he has led transformation and enterprise excellence engagements for employee owned to fortune 500 organizations in nearly every type of business and industry. He has conducted training workshops and consulted with clients of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW), and Kent State University (KSU). Through these experiences, he traveled around the globe, consulting and facilitating workshops in Asia, Europe, Middle East, and the Americas.

Rod has earned a BS from Kent State University and an MBA from the University of Akron; and he holds the following professional certifications: PMP, MBB, CSSBB, CMQ/OE, CQE, CQA. He is a distinguished alumni of Kent State University's College of Technology, published guest writer to Quality Progress magazine, and has served as a member of the board of examiners for Ohio Award for Excellence and Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.