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Involta Leadership and Board of Directors

Involta Management Team

Bruce Lehrman

Bruce Lehrman

Founder, Chief Executive Officer

Bruce Lehrman, Founder, Chief Executive Officer is best known for his entrepreneurial spirit and ability to build world-class technology organizations. He has been involved in three greenfield business start-ups and has also worked with large, nationally recognized brands. In 2007 he founded Involta LLC, a privately held multi-tenant data center and IT services company headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Involta builds, owns and operates world-class, multi-tenant data centers throughout the Country.

Involta was named the second fastest growing IT Company in the country in 2010, according to Inc. Magazine 500 Fastest Growing Companies (#40 overall). Involta was selected Company of the Year by the Technology Association of Iowa, and Lehrman was named CEO of the Year at the same event. Lehrman was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010 by the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce. In 2012, Involta was awarded Fastest Growing Company by CBJ as well as winning the Prometheus Award for IT Service Company of the Year. Lehrman was recognized as the Entrepreneur of the Year by Corridor Business Journal.

Lehrman is on the Board of the Entrepreneurial Development Center, Technology Association of Iowa (as 2013 Chairman), Iowa Seed Fund, MEDCO, Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance and Van Meter Industrial. Prior to Involta, Lehrman was CIO of RuffaloCODY.

Michelle Bates

Michelle Bates

Chief Innovation Officer

Michelle Bates, Chief Innovation Officer, joined Involta with more than 20 years of experience in Fortune 500 and start-up companies. Prior to joining Involta, Bates served as owner and CEO of an IT cloud consulting firm, BluPrairie Technologies, and also held the position as former Director of IT Architecture Services for a Fortune 500 Aerospace and Defense leader. Throughout her career, Bates has had extensive experience working with cloud service providers, such as Google and Amazon Web Services™. She holds degrees from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and is Prosci certified.
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James Buie

Chief Financial Officer

James Buie, Chief Financial Officer, joined Involta with more than 25 years of executive experience leading finance, operations and sales within technology companies such as ViaWest, Comcast and AT&T. In previous roles, Buie has built a unique reputation for scaling businesses and delivering industry-leading results. Buie’s leadership has been distinguished in the industry from his track record of delivering growth organically and by acquisition. In addition to his own credentials, Buie is very committed to developing finance and technology professionals through leadership in organizations like the Association for Corporate Growth, Financial Executives International and AFCOM.

Annalea Ilg

Chief Information Security Officer

Annalea Ilg, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), joined Involta with more than 15 years of information security and compliance experience. As CISO, Ilg is responsible for all security and compliance initiatives along with leading the development of Involta’s security related services and products, as well as the administration of compliance and assurance activities. Before joining Involta, Ilg provided leadership and management of security and compliance at Flexential in the roles of Vice President of Security and Compliance and CISO.
Ken Kremer

Ken Kremer

Chief Operating Officer

Ken Kremer, Chief Operations Officer has been with Involta since 2007 and has worked in the information technology industry since 1987. He has previously held leadership positions in high tech companies focusing on operational efficiencies, innovated solution engineering and regulatory compliancy issues. Kremer’s career has been focused on data center operations and managed services since 1997.
Mike Meloy

Michael Meloy

Regional Vice President and General Manager

Michael Meloy, Regional Vice President and General Manager, has IT expertise across multiple verticals, including manufacturing and healthcare. Prior to joining Involta, he founded NSI Group, which transitioned to DRS, LLC. As CEO of DRS, he led the company’s growth in Ohio and Pennsylvania and spearheaded a strategic partnership to build the nation’s first municipal data center. He has been on boards of Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, South Range Merchant Board, South Range Foundation (President), Ingram’s VTN Council, and DRUND.com. He has been honored as an Ohio Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year, Ohio Commodore appointed by Governor Kasich, and inductee of MSPMentor 250 Global Hall of Fame.
Randy Rings

Randy Rings

Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Counsel

Randy Rings, Founder, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel specializes in developing effective solutions to complicated business issues and transactions. He has served as General Counsel for public and private high-growth technology, telecommunications, insurance and financial services, publishing and telemarketing companies, and as Corporate Counsel for electric and telephone cooperatives. Rings has managed, structured, or directed numerous complex telecommunications and technology transactions, financing and capitalization activities and other business and legal arrangements.
Sue Sedrel, Director of Human Resources

Sue Sedrel

Director of Human Resources

Sue Sedrel, Director of Human Resources, has been part of the Involta team since the company’s inception in 2007. She came to Involta from McLeod with finance and telecom industry experience and holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Iowa. In her position, Sedrel continually builds Involta’s world-class team through talent acquisition, recognition and development. Her efforts contribute to Involta’s local and national recognition as a leading IT services company. Sedrel prioritizes employee development and organizational effectiveness initiatives for Involta through her deep experience with color training and personality inventory.

Jeff Szymanski

Executive Vice President of Strategic Markets

Jeff Szymanski is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Markets. He joined Involta in 2014 to develop a healthcare vertical and has increased Involta’s overall healthcare business. Jeff has successfully grown the healthcare revenue and the service offerings have matured through new business opportunities. Szymanski also provides consulting for new opportunities and business development, helping clients align IT infrastructure to support business needs and objectives. Jeff has more than 35 years of experience in information technology, strategic and business development. Jeff has formulated IT advisory boards for clients across industries to innovate and develop solutions to further promote growth. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree of applied science in business administration and management from Robert Morris University. Jeff is currently a member of the Pittsburgh International Airport IT Advisory Board.
Thomas Wilcox

Thomas Wilcox

Chief Technical Officer

Thomas Wilcox, Chief Technical Officer, has over 20 years of experience leading technical operations teams and building high performing groups. He has worked in multiple industries including financial, manufacturing and telecommunications. Wilcox specializes in assisting companies with regulatory compliance, ITIL implementation, achieving operational excellence and managing outsource resources.

Involta Leadership

Inge Corlis

Vice President of Finance

Inge Corlis, Vice President of Finance, has been involved with Involta since 2007, first as an independent contractor and then joining the company full-time in October 2015. Corlis began her career in public accounting and then worked in the private industry specializing in technology, telecom, real estate and hospitality. She has held many finance leadership roles including financial planning and analysis, business development and assisted with numerous mergers and acquisitions. Corlis holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from Luther College.

Carl Gordulic

Vice President of Integration and Continuous Improvements

Carl Gordulic, Vice President of Integrations and Continuous Improvement, has over 20 years of experience in the IT and manufacturing industries. He joined DRS, now part of Involta, in 2008 where he served as both President and Chief Operations Officer. He focused on the operating and financial performance supporting the company’s growth through 2015. Gordulic’s career has focused on operational and financial performance optimization for companies across multiple industries.

David Kramer

Vice President of Cloud Technology Services

David Kramer is credited with expanding Involta’s cloud offering through software development and public/private cloud professional services. He specializes in the design and deployment of hybrid cloud solutions. Kramer holds a degree in computer science and engineering from Southern Methodist University Lyle School of engineering, and has worked on the engineering side of IT for most of his career. He has been in the IT industry for more than 30 years and prior to joining the Involta team, Kramer was the Chief Executive Officer of Kadium, a cloud solutions and software development company. Kramer holds an AI patent for “Social Card networks” for use in understanding how subscribers share and connect information in social networks.

Chris Massey

Director of Marketing and Product Management

Chris Massey, Director of Marketing and Product Management, has more than 15 years of experience in information technology, product development and marketing. Massey has successfully grown the company’s service offerings and product strategy through the development of a cohesive, market-driven approach. As the Director of Marketing, he has been able to implement a unified strategy that aligns product development and sales. Prior to joining Involta, Massey was the Director of Sales Engineering at a Washington-based tech firm and the Director of Cloud Services for DRS. Massey holds a bachelor’s degree of applied science in technology from Kent State University.

Lucas Mistelske

Vice President of Strategic Accounts

Lucas Mistelske has been with Involta since 2012 as the Manager of Operational Activity for the company’s two Minnesota data centers and as the Director of Data Center Operations for the company’s entire fleet of 15 data centers. Now, as the Vice President of Strategic Accounts, Mistelske has operational responsibility for critical accounts for Involta. He oversees aspects of governance, performance, executive engagement, financial performance, and compliance for services being delivered to Involta’s strategic partners and clients. He also led the deployment of Involta’s Managed Services offering, specifically leading the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) development team and product platform. Mistelske attended the University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth Business University and Connecting Point ITS. He has also earned certifications in CompTia A+, MCP, MCDBA, and Cisco CCNA. He currently serves as the board president of Greater Minnesota AFCOM Chapter and board member of Northland Technology Professionals.

Michelle Moran

Vice President of Sales, Eastern Region

Michelle Moran has been in IT sales and at the forefront of the technology industry’s evolution for more than 30 years. She has led teams that have successfully deployed new technologies, cutting-edge IT solutions and opened data centers. As the Vice President of Sales for East Region, Moran is responsible for the sales and support of client relationships and eight of Involta’s data centers. Moran holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and marketing from Bowling Green State University. She currently sits on the Workforce Development Board of Medina and Summit Counties and works with local high schools to support education initiatives and jobs in IT.

Involta Board of Directors

Involta is a privately held company that operates its dynamic and innovative information technology services from enterprise-class company-owned data center facilities. Involta's board of directors provide insight from their various backgrounds and expertise of electrical power, healthcare, telecommunications, technology, finance and corporate governance to help guide the management team regarding company direction. Also serving on the Board of Directors is Bruce Lehrman, Involta CEO.

Stephen Gray

Chairman

Stephen Gray is the Founder of Gray Venture Partners, LLC. He is also a Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s premiere and most successful private equity firms. Gray previously served as President of McLeodUSA Inc., VP of Business Services at MCI and Senior VP of National Accounts and Carrier Services for TelecomUSA as well as a variety of other management positions. Mr. Gray earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee.

Jeffrey Benjamin

Jeffrey Benjamin has nearly 25 years of experience in the investment industry and has extensive experience serving on the boards of directors of other public and private companies, including Mandalay Resort Group. He has been senior advisor to Cyrus Capital Partners since June 2008 and serves as a consultant to Apollo Global Management, LLC with respect to investments in the gaming industry. He was senior advisor to Apollo Global Management, LLC from 2002 to 2008. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

Gillis Cashman

Gillis Cashman is a Managing Partner of M/C Partners and is focused on the wireline broadband infrastructure and services portion of the firm's portfolio. Cashman joined M/C Partners after a career with Salomon Smith Barney in the Global Telecommunications Corporate Finance Group where, he concentrated on mergers and acquisitions in the wireline and wireless segments of the telecommunications industry.

Ed Vilandrie

Ed Vilandrie is a Founder of Altman Vilandrie and Company where he assists clients with industry topics while advising CEO’s and Boards in complex strategic situations. He has previously served as Principal and management team member at CSMG and as an Analyst at Cambridge Economics, Inc., a M.I.T.-based economic consulting firm specializing in patent infringement and anti-trust litigation. He holds a Sc.B. in Applied Mathematics & Economics from Brown University.

James Wade

James Wade is currently a Managing Partner of M/C Partners. He is responsible for developing the firm’s involvement in the telecom service sectors, including mobile wireless, broadband wireless, CLEC, fiber and residential broadband providers. Wade also leads the investment process for M/C Partners, including determining sector focus, seeking out management teams, founding new companies and working with financial sources that provide debt and equity capital. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Open Mobile and Melita Cable. Wade graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s degree in finance and received a master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School.

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