President: Mark Powell - Sidus Group

Mark L. Powell is one of the principal founders of Sidus Group, LLC, a data and web services firm in Anne Arundel County in 1999.  In 1992, Mr. Powell founded and was the Managing Partner of Chesapeake Marketing Group, based in Edgewater, Maryland. Recently, Sidus Group was selected to be a Partner and Sponsor of the Chesapeake Innovation Center.  Sidus operates a full services Commercial Data Center in Annapolis and the AlwaysOnline.net network provides the infrastructure to many firms in Anne Arundel County.

Mr. Powell, is a 1983 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds an MBA (Information Systems) from the University of Maryland, where he was the William F. Holin Scholar. The Holin Scholarship is awarded annually by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Vice President:  Skip Blackburn - Bit Solutions

Skip Blackburn is the founder, President & CEO of BIT Solutions, LLC.  Prior to founding his company, Mr. Blackburn was the General Manager for a $600MM/year desktop and network integrator.  He was then asked to be a Managing Principal for a startup that generated $20MM/year providing high-end network consulting that was created when the parent company elected to split into four companies. Mr. Blackburn was part of the team that envisioned, designed and created the spin-off company.

Secretary: Julie Snyder - Anne Arundel Economic Development Co.

Julie Snyder is the Special Projects Manager at the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC). Ms. Snyder was a key member of the team that developed the Chesapeake Innovation Center, the nation’s first homeland security technology incubator, which is located in Annapolis. Ms. Snyder also serves as the legislative liaison for AAEDC.

Ms. Snyder is a member of the National Business Incubation Association and the Maryland Business Incubation Association. She is also a member of the Legislative Committee of the Greater Severna Park Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to joining the AAEDC, Ms. Snyder held a position in Capital Projects at the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She is also a licensed commodities trader and has held positions at the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Ms. Snyder has a BA in History/English from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Treasurer: Louise Ridgely - J. Parks & Company, Inc.

Louise Ridgely is a partner in J. Parks & Company, Inc., a strategic search, recruitment, and consulting firm specializing in Information Technology, and Finance/Accounting. She has been applying her technical background to the recruiting field since 1996.

Previously, Ms. Ridgely was Vice President of Data Systems Analysts, Inc., an IT solutions provider to businesses and government agencies around the world. Her primary area of expertise was software development for large-scale military messaging systems.

Ms. Ridgely earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Drexel University. She attended the Dynamics of Organization Graduate Program at University of Pennsylvania.

David Croghan is the Dean for Workforce Development and Business Services at Anne Arundel Community College. He has worked in the field of Adult Education and Training in a variety of settings since 1983. Since joining the College in 1989, Dean Croghan has served by instructing in technical skills programs; coordinating and facilitating instruction for adult education programs; and managing contractual training relationships for Anne Arundel Community College. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from The University of Maryland, College Park, and a Master of Arts in Instructional Systems Design from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Mr. Garcia served as the Chief of Telecommunication and Chief of Network Management divisions under the U.S. Army MEDCOM Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine civilian workforce at Aberdeen Proving Grounds Maryland. He was directly responsible for the planning, maintenance and continuity of IT operations for its global domain spanning from the Far-East, North America and Europe.  In addition, Mr. Garcia is a veteran and was on military active duty during the Persian Gulf War as an Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army and served for a total of 5 years.  He holds a B.S. Political Science University of the State New York (Albany 

Al Saxon

Al Saxon is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Vision Technologies, a network integration and systems services company headquartered in Glen Burnie, MD. He’s been with the firm nearly from the beginning, joining six months after its inception.

Prior to Vision Technologies, Mr. Saxon worked in the network integration field as a Microsoft Solutions Provider for Nova Technologies. Microsoft named Saxon’s network solutions as the Best Networking Solutions (1996 and 1997) in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Microsoft award was for Mr. Saxon’s network designs, installation and implementation services of the networks for the YMCA, Sidwell Friends School and Winchester Homes. Previously, Mr. Saxon owned and operated a local retail business from 1976 through 1989.

Dave Troy - popvox, LLCt

David Troy is the president and CEO of PopVox, LLC, a provider of VoIP (Voice-Over-Internet Protocol) consulting and network services. He is the founder of ToadNet, one of the region's largest Internet Service Providers, based in Severna Park. He started Toad Computers, which later became ToadNet, in 1986 at age 14, while a sophomore at Severn School in Severna Park. Mr. Troy currently serves in an advisory capacity to ToadNet and has entered a partnership with the company.

David is a frequent guest on Maryland Public Television's "Business Connection" as well as on WYPR's "The Marc Steiner Show." David has served on the Board of Directors of the Anne Arundel Technology Council since 1997 and is involved with the Greater Baltimore Technology Council and the Technology Council of Maryland. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Anne Arundel Technology Council. He lives in Arnold with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Richard Young - TeleCommunications Systems, Inc.

Richard Young is Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for TeleCommunication Systems.  Mr. Young directs all day-to-day activities in the Company including goal setting, performance monitoring, and deployment of key personnel. Mr. Young joined TCS in 1992. He has over twenty-five years of experience in technology management, with in-depth technical experience in hardware and software life cycle program management. Prior to TCS, Mr. Young worked as Senior Manager for ICF Information Technology, Inc. where he was responsible for managing over thirty technical staff in designing and developing applications to customer specifications. From 1986 to 1989, Mr. Young was the Director of the Information Systems Department of the Navy Recruiting Command where he managed over seventy technical employees and was responsible for the information management requirements of the nationwide recruiting force. Mr. Young holds a B.S. degree in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a Master of Science degree in Information Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School.