executive biographies
Tom Mrva
Chief Executive Officer
Founder of Lighthouse Computer Services, Tom Mrva has over twenty years experience designing and implementing technology solutions for major US companies. His extensive background includes technical consulting, system design and implementation, and post installation support.
Tom spent thirteen years at IBM in development and technical marketing support roles. While at IBM, Tom worked as an applications programmer, mainframe developer, and senior systems engineer consultant. In fact, Tom was named the youngest senior systems engineer in New England during his tenure at IBM.
Deciding that he wanted more control of his own destiny, Tom left IBM and founded Lighthouse Computer Services in 1995. His vision was to be New England’s most technically skilled computer services organization providing high availability solutions for information systems.
A graduate of the SUNY in Delhi, New York, and the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, Tom holds a degree in Computer Science.
Ernie Yenke
President
Ernie, was promoted to the role of President in December 2008. He has a proven record of growing successful startups, as well as stimulating double-digit growth for industry giant IBM. Adept at developing and implementing innovative processes, he has consistently increased revenues while reducing expenses. Ernie has extensive experience in service, sales and support for the computer hardware, software and Information Technology industries.
Prior to Lighthouse, Ernie was recruited to run the startup IT services company, Brave River Solutions. Not only did he achieve revenue targets in year one, he grew revenues 350% in year two, and 300% in year three. He also demonstrated his operations acumen early in his career by successfully re-engineering the general business market at IBM, a segment responsible for $500 million in revenue.
While at IBM, Ernie participated in the IBM President’s Class, as well as IBM’s Executive Education Program conducted by Harvard. He received his Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts.
Anthony N. Fiore, Jr.
Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer for Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc., Tony oversees the development of budgets, financials, fiscal policy and investments and holds management responsibilities for several of the company’s departmental teams. Tony is an attorney, acts as in-house legal counsel for Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc. and has been instrumental in the establishment of special research and development opportunities with the State of Rhode Island and other prominent Rhode Island entities. Tony reports directly to Thomas Mvra, Lighthouse Computer Services’ chief executive officer.
He brings to our team experience in developing strategy and business modeling, personnel recruitment, obtaining working capital financing, developing partnerships and networking opportunities as well as analyzing business opportunities for seed and early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to joining Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc. in October, 2006, Tony spent eight years with Rosse Enterprises, Limited, an early-stage venture firm in the medical device and life science space, where he held the position of Vice President and was a member of the Board of Directors of the firms portfolio companies and worked with senior management as a counselor and advisor in support of the development of strategy and business models, market segmentation and customer focus, recruiting, securing working capital financing and business development. He was responsible for the negotiation of a $6 million combined equity investment and development agreement with a large US medical device company and a $10 million development agreement with a large Japanese medical device company. In addition, Tony spent fourteen years with Prime Computer, Inc/Computervision Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts where he was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. At Prime, he was responsible for legal, facilities and business development on a world- wide basis.
Michael A. Mespelli
Vice President, Services
As Vice President, Services for Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc., Mike manages the strategies and direction of our Professional Services group. He oversees the day to day operations, with a focus on customer satisfaction, of our Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Security Solutions, Infrastructure Services, IT Compliance, Project Management Office and Virtualization teams. Mike works to grow services deliverables to meet customer demand and ensure industry standards. In addition, he strategically plans for the future needs of our customers, company and industry through the use of customer feedback as well as input from engineers and senior management.
With over twenty-three years of experience in Sales, Technical Sales, Support, Consulting and Information Technology, Mike has a thorough understanding of numerous industries including retail, insurance, banking, financial and manufacturing verticals. He also brings to our team a deep knowledge of the Information Technology landscape including IBM’s Information management and Content Management family of products and a good understanding of all five brands within IBM’s software group.
Prior to joining Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc. in November, 2007, Mike spent thirteen years with IBM Corporation where he led a variety of Technical Sales and Support teams. He was the Technical Sales Business Unit Executive for New England/UNY where he led a team of seventy Technical Sales professionals, Architects and Managers across all software brands for IBM Software group providing leadership and business direction for all aspects of Technical Sales for a $380M software business.
Greg Berard
Vice President, Software
Greg is the newest member of our senior management team. He is a proven, sales professional with experience in technology and services within the corporate marketplace and possesses a successful track record of growing revenue through prospecting and consultative selling. He has demonstrated effective management skills and the ability to motivate others through leading by example while contributing to all levels of the business. As Vice President, Software, Greg is responsible for growing software revenues, developing effective relationships with executives, partners and solution providers, leading the software team, and partnering with our services practices in support of software sales while still managing a handful of his own customers.
Greg joins us from IBM where he progressed through the ranks of the software group – beginning as a Brand Software Sales Specialist in 2003 and progressing to Lotus Regional Business Manager only three years later. Greg achieved many accolades and praise while at IBM for consistently demonstrating cross-industry revenue growth in the New England and NY areas - growing net new transactional business 59% year over year as Lotus Regional Business Manager and growing software business in white space territory 338% . These accomplishments led to Greg earning the America’s Leadership Award in 2007 as well as the Lotus Rep of the Americas distinction in 2005.
Greg earned a Bachelor of Science in Business, Finance and Accounting from Babson College where in 2002 he was named the Top Accounting Student, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Team Captain for his varsity ice hockey team.
Dave Sylvestre
Vice President, Marketing
Dave leads the branding and marketing programs for Lighthouse and its seven practice areas. His team works closely with the executive leadership team, the practice leaders, and the sales team to develop marketing strategies that mesh with the company’s growth objectives.
Joining Lighthouse in 2005, Dave has created a wide range of demand generation programs such as the Lighthouse Learning Series, sales literature, presentations, trade show programs, websites, advertising and e-marketing promotions. His focus on results-oriented marketing campaigns is based on more than 20 years experience in the business-to-business marketing field, with emphasis on technology services companies. In recent years, Lighthouse’s marketing effectiveness has been recognized by IBM and VARBusiness Magazine.
Prior to joining Lighthouse, he served in marketing management positions at Textron and GTECH, and was a senior writer at advertising and PR firms including Fern-Hanaway, Chaffee Case & Partners, and Marquis Bennett. Dave has a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston University (1985), and holds marketing certifications and memberships with the Direct Marketing Association of America, American Marketing Association, the Public Relations Society of America, and the IBM Business Partner Marketing Advisory Council.
Kellie-Ann Heenan
Director of HR
Kellie-Ann Heenan, our Director of Human Resources, joined Lighthouse Computer Services, Inc (LCS) in September 1999. Following the “try before you buy” mentality, Kellie started her career at LCS as an independent contractor creating a strong structural foundation for the management of our human capital. In 2003, Kellie transitioned to regular employment where she continued to develop programs and initiatives to attract, retain and motivate our employees. In recognition of her ability to create programs that support LCS values and corporate philosophy, Kellie was promoted to Director of Human Resources in 2008.
Since joining LCS more than a decade ago, Kellie has assisted LCS in growing the company from 25 employees to over 100 today. With a focus on fostering our “inch wide, mile deep” philosophy she has been instrumental in structuring our practice areas, integrating new organizations, and leveraging talent throughout all areas of the company.
Kellie is a graduate of Stonehill College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. In 2007 Kellie earned a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification, one of the highest honors an HR professional can earn to demonstrate her mastery of the human resource body of knowledge. Much of her experience was obtain working with start-ups or high-growth organizations. Kellie has developed knowledge and experience in a number of industries including healthcare, event management, technology, consulting services, non-profit, financial, manufacturing and education. Kellie is an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the ISDA committee for the Tech Collective.
Kellie operates from our Lincoln, RI office. One of her proudest accomplishments is that of adoptive parent, wife and mother. She resides in Smithfield, RI with her husband Tom and her two children Joshuah and Kathryn.