Experience Matters

Fred A. Brown - Founder/CEO
With over 20 years of engineering experience and entrepreneurial leadership in the software industry, Fred founded Next IT in July 2002. Prior to Next IT, he was founder, President and CEO of LineSoft Corporation in Spokane, WA from 1989 to 2002, when that company completed a successful merger with Itron, Inc. At LineSoft, Fred and his team developed and created an innovative and unique way to enable line-design engineering for utilities. Under his leadership, LineSoft attracted $26 Million in venture funding, at that time the largest-ever VC placement in Spokane County. Fred is actively involved in a variety of organizations serving the northwest educational and scientific communities, including serving on the Board of Trustees at Gonzaga University. In addition, he is the founder of WIN Partners LLC, a private investment fund for aspiring technology entrepreneurs in Spokane.

Johnny Humphreys - Board Chairman
Johnny Humphreys is Chairman and CEO of Gen Prime. He was the CEO of Itron, a public Spokane-based company from 1987 to 1999, and was Chairman of the Board there until January of 2000. Johnny served as Board Chairman of LineSoft Corporation for 2 years. Prior to serving at Itron, he was the President of Datachecker, a $250 million subsidiary of National Semiconductor. Datachecker pioneered the development of scanning systems used in retail sales. Previously he was the founder and President of Telxon, a manufacturer of handheld computer systems for supermarkets.

David Kelley - Director
An executive with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Dave has held a number of senior management roles in operations, finance, risk, and technology. He has a highly successful record for developing and growing businesses, building high performance executive teams, and leading organizations with P&L responsibilities over $1 billion, revenues over $4 billion, and workforces of 3,000. He most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of TD Ameritrade, where he was responsible for all operations, technology, and strategic project management initiatives, including back-office support for retail client service, institutional, and clearing business units. Prior to TD Ameritrade, Dave spent 20 years at Merrill Lynch, where he held the positions of Controller of their National Sales Division, Chief Operating Officer for the Private Client Financial Services Division, Head of Private Client Technology and Strategy, and Chief Technology Officer for the Corporate Division and U.S. Data Centers.

Richard Denenny - Director
Richard Denenny joined Next IT in January 2011 and is the company's Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Prior to joining Next IT, Richard practiced law in the Seattle office of K&L Gates, focusing on securities law matters, business transactions, and general corporate matters. He also represented both private and public companies as general outside counsel, including three years representing Next IT. Richard received his J.D. and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona College of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Arizona Law Review, and has been named a Rising Star by Washington Law and Politics.

Jeff Hamilton - Director
Jeff Hamilton retired from Accenture, one of the world's largest consulting and outsourcing firms, in 2001, after more than 30 years. During his career with Accenture, Jeff specialized in operational and technology management issues and held a variety of management positions within Accenture in addition to management and oversight responsibility for a wide variety of client projects. Jeff served as a U.S. Air Force officer from 1967 to 1971. He is actively involved in the Spokane community and currently serves on board of directors for the Spokane Airport and Mobius Spokane, in addition to others.

Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D - Director
Father Robert Spitzer, former President of Gonzaga University, was elected to the Next IT Board of Directors in 2003. Father Spitzer is a writer, professor, and speaker involved with community boards and projects. Since 1999, Father Spitzer has published two books and twelve articles. His two books are: The Spirit of Leadership: Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations (Provo UT: Executive Excellence Publishers, June 2000) and Healing the Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness, Freedom, and Life Issues (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, October 2000). His twelve articles concern leadership, ethics, metaphysics, the ontology of physics, and higher education. He received his B.B.A. from Gonzaga University in 1974, his M.A. in philosophy from St. Louis University in 1978, his M.Div. in Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1983, his Th.M. in scripture from the Weston School (Cambridge) in 1984, and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 1988.

John L. Gilbert - Director
John joined the Next IT Board of Directors in January, 2005. He was President and CEO of Bank of Latah, a community bank in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, until it was merged with AmericanWest Bank in 2002. He remained with AmericanWest Bank as a Regional President and then Investment Manager of the bank's investment portfolio through 2004. He is presently a special projects manager for the bank. His banking career has spanned 30 years with the same organization. During that time John served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Washington Bankers Association, Board of Directors of Western Independent Bankers, and Chairman of the American Bankers Association Agriculture and Rural Bankers association as well as other industry and community committees and associations.

Dave Remington - Director
Dave Remington joins Next IT's board of directors following eight years serving as SVP and CFO of Spokane tech firm Itron, Inc. He brings 35 years of experience in corporate finance, treasury, and commercial investment banking and has completed $2 billion in financings, investments, and M&A. Prior to Itron, Remington spent eight years as an investment banker and Managing Director at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, where he specialized in highly structured private debt and equity transactions. During his ten years at Steiner Financial Corporation, a "large-ticket" equipment leasing company, he held the positions of EVP, VP of Finance, and President. While there, he was founding President of Steiner Real Estate Corporation, a broker of, and investor in, commercial and industrial property credit sale-leasebacks. Currently, Mr. Remington serves on the board of Mobius, a non-profit that established a science center in eastern Washington; WIN Partners, an angel fund; and CAI International, a container leasing company where he chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He is also a gubernatorial appointee to the Executive Board of Energy Northwest - a state municipal entity that owns and operates a nuclear utility and renewable energy resources - where he chairs the Compensation Committee. Dave holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

John J. Luger - Director
John Luger is presently the Manager of JDL Enterprises, LLC. JDL Enterprises is involved in the purchase and development of real estate and various other investments. John is the former CEO/President of Data Base, Inc. John was directly responsible for the corporate culture of Data Base, Inc. and oversaw the entire operation with direct involvement in strategic direction, growth strategies, and new product lines for twenty-three years. The growth of the company was largely due to expansion in targeted locations throughout the United States through new startups as well as mergers and acquisitions. John is a graduate of Gonzaga Preparatory School and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Marketing at the University of Oregon. After two years as an Army officer, he started in the data processing field at Electronic Data Systems. He was the Data Processing Manager with EDS before joining Washington Trust Bank in 1975 as a Data Processing Operations Manager. He founded Data Base, Inc. one year later. Since the sale of his company, John has been involved in philanthropic causes, mostly in the area of private education. He currently serves on the following boards: Foundation Board President, Eastside Catholic High School; Board of Trustees, Gonzaga University; Business Advisory Council; Charles Lundquist College of Business - University of Oregon; and Board of Directors, MedData Inc.

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is technology that understands people