Management

Michael O. Ryan – Chief Executive Officer

Mike is the Majority Owner and Managing Member of SpiceCSM parent, Fused Solutions, LLC.  A successful and growing technical support and IT services contact center based in Potsdam, NY.  He is also founder of North Bay Technology Development the “qualified business develop firm” of Seaway Private Equity Corp (www.specinvest.org).

Mike has developed significant expertise leveraging the cloud to solve significant business issues.  Mike’s successful career started in 1985 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.  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.  After spotting what proved to be the imminent downturn in the electronics industry as a whole and in subsequent to 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 a well recognized national provider of  managed network security services 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.

Pete Blackmer – Chief Technology Officer

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 was previously the Technical Operations Manager for Fused Solutions. His experience in both the call center and the development of call center applications ensures SpiceCSM continuing ability to meet our clients demands and maintain our high level of support standards.

Jessica Zuhlsdorf – Director of Business Development

Jessica Zuhlsdorf came to us in 2010 from Stream Global Services where she managed client specific training. Her duties included, conducting a six week training course in the classroom. This included but was not limited to product knowledge, customer service, problem resolution and effective communication skills. She continuously developed recursive training in collaboration with the client. She also assisted the sites in Makati City, Philippines and Dublin, Ireland with their training efforts and managed associate trainers at these locations. Other responsibilities were logging and billing of training hours, time management and coordinating and delivering certification exams. She has a background in Sales and Account Management from Shaw Industries Inc. a Berkshire Hathaway Co. Here, she was responsible for 103 accounts from Western Connecticut to Eastern New York. Her duties included increasing market share and building specialized packages for her customers based on their needs and uses. This was especially important in this territory because of its location and vast differences of that particular region. Jessica graduated in 2005 from Utica College of Syracuse University with a Bachelors of Business Management. She is also a Salesforce Certified Administrator. Jessica has spent her time in Central New York, Georgia, Connecticut and now has returned back to Upstate New York. She currently resides in Star Lake, NY and is the mother of a 2 year old little girl.

April Gilbert – Director of  Finance

April graduated college from SUNY Potsdam in 1995 with a BA in Psychology. She started working for SpiceCSM’s parent company Fused Solutions in October 1999 as a dispatcher. This department was shut down in June 2000. In August of 2000 April was asked to return as a Customer Service Representative. April currently holds the position of Human Resource and Financial Director.

Jason Fregoe – Director of Process Architecture

Jason Fregoe joined us in 2007 as a Level 1 Support Technician. He worked through the ranks quickly being promoted to Supervisor, Manager Of Content Development and most recently Director of Process Architecture. He has a background in network administration and computer repair from Ethereal Technologies, LLC. Jason has spent his life in Upstate New York.