| Management Team |
Mike BallardChairman and CEO Mike brings more than 20 years of experience in information technology and communications industries to 1Velocity. With strong leadership roles in sales, marketing, finance and executive management, his cross-functional business approach is key to successfully driving the strategic direction of 1Velocity and building a customer-driven company. Prior to joining 1Velocity, Mike was CFO and a board member of Switch Communications Group, a leading colocation company. He helped Switch and three related companies grow from five to more than 30 employees and revenues grow seven-fold in less than three years. Mike led the recapitalization of the company and managed the development of the first S+S, Tier 4 Data Center in Nevada. Prior to Switch, Mike was chief operating officer of Systems Research & Development. In his three years involved with the company, first as a consultant and eventually as COO, he helped grow revenues six-fold and the staff by 300 percent. The company was initially funded by the CIA's venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel, as well as SAIC Venture Capital Corporation and Reed Elseveir Investments. The company sold to IBM in January of 2005. In 1992, he founded Ballard Communications, one of the most successful and award-winning Public Relations firms in Nevada and the West. For the better part of a decade, it was the largest independent PR firm in Nevada. Mike is the immediate past chairman of the Vegas Valley Angels and a past president of the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada. Mike also sits on the board of the local chapter of Communities in Schools. He is also an active member of the Las Vegas Rotary. Frank KostelacSVP, Construction & EngineeringFrank brings more than 28 years of senior telecommunications engineering and management experience to 1Velocity. He is responsible for overseeing the deployment of all of 1Velocity's network solutions. Prior to joining 1Velocity, Frank was CTO of Virginia Communications, a Wireless Internet Service Provider headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. He did the backhaul design, path analysis, hardware selection and project management of the implementation effort. Frank also served as National Deployment and Construction Manager for Clearwire (a Wireless Broadband provider). Frank had various positions of increasing responsibility at XO Communications such as Senior Manager New Business, Outside Plant Manager, Inside Plant Manager, Technology Deployment Manager, and Senior Technical Consultant. He also held positions with Sprint as Senior Architectural Engineer, Frame Relay and ATM Networking coordinator. Additionally, Frank is currently serving on the engineering committee of the Wireless Communications Association, a committee that is working on coordinating changes with the U.S. band plan with Mexico. He has been tasked with ensuring their VoIP offering complies with all the soon-to-be-required CALEA rules and regulations. Jean NicolasManager, Network OperationsJean is responsible for designing and maintaining all components of the 1Velocity network. |