Management Team
Michael O. Ryan - Chief Executive Officer
Mike is the Managing Member of Fused Solutions, LLC a successful and growing technology call center based in Potsdam, NY. He is founder of both North Bay Technology Development, and North Bay Associates, a technology business development firm based in Marlborough Massachusetts. Mike has developed an expertise in SaaS computing and Cloud technology. Mike’s successful career started upon graduating with a BS in Engineering and Management from Clarkson University. In 1995, he received the Woodstock Award which honors young alumni who have demonstrated outstanding loyalty and service to Clarkson University and the Alumni Association, and who have used their Clarkson experience to make a notable contribution to their careers. He and his family have a deep connection with northern NY as both his and his wife’s family hale form Rome and Massena respectively.
Since graduating from Clarkson in 1985, Mike served in senior sales and business development roles at Rogers Corp. Aero DDL and Cuplex, Inc a commodity printed circuit board manufacturer. At Cuplex, after a very successful tenure as VP Sales - East, he proposed and established the contract assembly and backplane/system assembly business. This diversification ultimately allowed Cuplex to strategically merge with Dynamic Circuits. This set the stage for a successful roll-up with several other entities creating DDI, a fast growing and profitable contract manufacturer. After spotting what proved to be the imminent downturn in the electronics industry as a whole and in conjunction with DDI’s successful public offering, Mike then joined Message Secure Corp in Lowell Massachusetts as Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing and a principle of the firm. At Message Secure, Mike worked closely with the company founder to take the business from a startup in the fledgling Managed Network Security market, to one of largest and well recognized national providers of network security to several hundred banks across the US. Mike is well versed in the coaching of young companies as they grow to compete in emerging business sectors. He is married and the proud father of 3 children.
Mark Cornett -
Chief Operating Officer
Mark Cornett has leveraged over a quarter century of practical and instructional business experience to guide SpiceCSM through a significant and positive approach to market since co-founding the company. In addition to general oversight of company operations, his focus on effective organizational development has established a strong foundation for continued growth and success.
Prior to SpiceCSM, Mark spent more than a decade as a member of the business faculty, and director of several programs, at Clarkson University. In 1979 he began his career with the Hewlett-Packard Company, where he spent nearly a decade in various sales and marketing management roles. Mark has spent the past 8 years running Fused Solutions, an advanced technical call center and SpiceCSM’s beta customer. A 1979 graduate of Clarkson University (IE&M Program), Mark also holds an MBA degree from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.
David Katz - Chief Financial Officer
David received his BA in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Rochester in 1978. His first post-college job was a Research Assistant position with the National Bureau of Economic Research in Palo Alto, California, where he analyzed a lot of numbers and wrote a lot of computer programs. He returned to upstate New York after a couple of years, even though his California friends repeatedly tried to convince him he was nuts to leave the perfect climate there for the less reliable weather here. He moved to his present home in suburban North Russell in 1982.
From 1982 to 1996, he co-operated Meadowsweet Yogurt, New York State's smallest licensed dairy processing facility and manufacturer of the state's best commercially available yogurt. He enrolled in graduate school after selling the business, receiving his MBA from Clarkson University in 1998. Since then he has developed software, built websites, and analyzed business opportunities for a variety of north country clients, and helped run WorkRight Staffing in Canton from 2000 to 2003. He has also found time to pursue a secondary career as a string bassist.
Business Development
Justin Groden - Managing Director, Business Development
After brief stints with Xerox and Accenture, Justin joined the SpiceCSM team in May of 2008. Brought on as head of Business Development, Justin was a key author in the writing of the business plan. After a successful first round of funding, he has been in charge of all business development activities. Justin is an entrepreneurship graduate of Clarkson University.
Product Development
Pete Blackmer -
Senior Product Developer
A native to the area, Pete is a prime example of the north country’s ability to produce and maintain technically advanced individuals. Beginning his career at Fused Solutions as a Technical Support Representative, Pete quickly utilized his several years of General Manager experience in the food service industry to eventually become the Technical Support Manager for the call center. His experience with volume based labor demands and high level of customer service was a perfect fit for the call center.
Realizing the need for better tools in the call center, Pete made a lateral move to software development. Leveraging his experience and knowledge Pete has led the development of workforce management, CRM/trouble ticket, and custom billing applications for Fused Solutions. Through these and other projects Pete has expanded his own knowledge base to become fluent in nearly a dozen programming languages as well as database design and administration.
Continuing his growth Pete is currently the Technical Operations Manager for Fused Solutions. His experience in both the call center and the development of call center applications ensures Fused Solutions continuing ability to meet our clients demands and maintain our high level of support standards.
Andrew Thompson -
Managing Platform Director
Joe Caswell -
IT Manager
Joe Caswell has leveraged over 15 years of IT systems administration experience in the US Army to provision a robust, stable, and highly available infrastructure to support the operational needs of Fused Solutions. An accomplished technician and administrator, he holds full MCSE/MCSA certification and enjoys proficiency in all elements of the Microsoft platforms. Starting with Fused Solutions in 2006, Joe is also responsible for all workstation, server, and network administration for Fused Solutions.