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Born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, Jay has been in the technology industry for over 20 years. He started his career working for IBM Global Services out of their Minneapolis office, traveling to large client accounts across the country. IBM eventually sent him to the Akron area to work on the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company account. Jay fell in love with Northeast Ohio and moved to the area permanently in 1997. After gaining valuable experience in large corporate environments, Jay (along with co-founder Jim Laber) followed their entrepreneurial calling and started AtNetPlus in 1998. Before IBM and AtNetPlus, Jay worked as a carpenter and attended North Dakota State University studying Construction Management.

Becoming a business owner was likely inevitable for Jay. His father has owned and operated several businesses for over 50 years and continues to be an inspiration and mentor for Jay. When first contemplating leaving the security of a job at IBM and starting his own business, Jay asked his father for advice. His father told him “If you don’t try, you will always wonder ‘what if?’”. That spirit continues to drive his overall outlook, pushing him to search for new ways to assist clients in solving their business challenges with technology.

An additional philosophy that drives Jay’s approach comes from a plaque that hangs over the desk in his father’s office. It reads “He who really wants to do something finds a way. He who doesn’t finds an excuse.” That statement serves as a great reminder of what it takes to succeed, and Jay now has a similar plaque with the same quote hanging in his office.

Outside of the office, Jay and his wife, Jill, live in Solon, OH, and loves spending time with his 3 kids. Family adventures in the camper and visits to parks in the area are a must! And, as you might expect of someone in the technology service business, Jay is a fan of gadgets. Indulging in too many of the latest and greatest tech toys is his favorite guilty pleasure.