Calvin A. Lyons

President/COO

Mr. Lyons has extensive professional management experience, and a distinguished track record with companies such as Andersen Consulting and Square D/Schneider North America. Calvin's expertise lies in the areas of Corporate Finance and Cost Reduction Initiatives, Customer Relationship / Account Management, Supply Chain Channel Management, and Operations and Procurement Management. He received his Master of Management degree in Management Strategy and Finance from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School Of Management – Northwestern University. He also received his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University Of Illinois. As Chief Operating Officer of the Abraham Lincoln Center in Chicago, Illinois, he planned and directed all aspects of the organization's operational policies, objectives, and initiatives. He was responsible for the attainment of short and long-term financial and operational goals. Scope of influence included, but was not limited to Technology, Operations, Facilities, Fleet, Program Development, Human Capital Initiatives, Financial Planning, and Strategy. The management environment consists of 241 employees, 28 locations and an annual operating budget of approximately $13 million dollars. Calvin’s other career experiences included Principal Consultant at CALA Management Group in Chicago, Ill. and Minority Business Development Director at Square D/Schneider North America in Palatine, Illinois.

Ralph E. Brown

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Brown is a Florida native and retired employee of BellSouth Telecommunications. During his thirty-six years with the telecom company, he held several key leadership positions throughout the Network Operations and Supply Chain Services organizations. He served on the Atlanta Georgia HQ Staff, responsible for Long Range Plans, Economic Studies and Engineering Design/Administration. Mr. Brown led a $500 million effort to mechanize BellSouth Network’s legacy-based systems with an Oracle Off-The-Shelf product, which later was adopted by BellSouth’s Finance organization. He formulated and directed the creation of a centralized Supply Chain Services Operations Center in Louisiana responsible for providing electronic component parts for internal customers. During this assignment, he successfully managed the organization which had an annual budget in excess of $550 million and an employee base of 200 employees. Mr. Brown and his family currently reside in Atlanta Georgia. He completed his college education in Florida. His Master of Business Administration degree was received from Nova Southeastern University – Miami Florida. He's had extensive training and expertise in Supply Chain Management, and was selected by BellSouth to participate in several Executive Management sessions at Penn State University and Babson College – Boston, Mass. He continues to volunteer in his community. While in Florida, he held many positions on Boards of United Way organizations, City/ County Commissions and Chambers of Commerce. He was involved in the re-structure of Florida’s Department of Children and Family Services, which serves underprivileged children, homeless families and mentally challenged residents.

Rudolph Christian, Sr.

Chairman of the Board

Mr. Christian is a Georgia native currently residing in Florida following his retirement from BellSouth in 2003. He served most recently as Senior Network VP Operations for Georgia and South Carolina where he directed all network operations with responsibility for provisioning and repair centers, installation and maintenance, central office operations, system support, network reliability, new product implementation, emergency preparedness, construction, and engineering, switch and circuit capacity management, as well as, support for corporate and external affairs. His organization consisted of 7200 employees with a capital and expense budget of $1.01 billion. He founded SYDUR, Inc. in 2004, providing consultation including direct collaboration with company officers and key corporate leaders regarding the growth and well being of their respective companies and provides experienced based one on one coaching and mentoring to members of various organizations. Mr. Christian received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Savannah State College, and completed further studies at The Aspen Institute, and the University of Southern California’s Middle Management Program for Telecommunications. Throughout his career he has been involved in assisting youth through organizations such as Cities in Schools of Jacksonville, Florida (co-founder), the YMCA, and the Black Executive Exchange Program. Professional affiliations with the Urban League, the Police Athletic League, the Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way have been most rewarding means of giving back to the communities in which he has lived. Mr. Christian is married and has two adult children.