Steve Knudson, Chief Executive Officer

Steve co-founded FORTRUST in 2000 and is the Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the company. He drives FORTRUST's success through strategic positioning, strong financial management and keen instinct to establish the company as a premier high-availability facility for businesses seeking world-class colocation and data center services. Supporting his tactical oversight role at FORTRUST, Steve has significant experience in managing complex business dealings and has negotiated multi-billion dollar business deals in real estate, oil and gas, securities, finance and technology. In addition to his business acumen, he is a licensed attorney and also currently serves as General Counsel, Vice President and Director at FORTRUST's private parent company. Steve is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Business and the University of Colorado School of Law.

 

Rob McClary, General Manager

Rob joined FORTRUST at its founding in 2001 and built FORTRUST into the premier data center services provider and colocation facility that it is today. In his role as General Manager, he is responsible for the overall supervision of the business, daily business operations, multi-million dollar construction projects and future technical direction. Rob developed and implemented the process controls and procedures that provide the continuous uptime and reliability that FORTRUST's clients seek. Prior to FORTRUST, Rob worked in the medical industry managing manufacturing projects and a large team of supervisors and engineers. He developed and honed his management philosophy, attention to detail and strict process standards during his 16 year tenure in the United States Navy where he served in both enlisted and officer roles such as Main Propulsion Assistant and Electrical and Auxiliaries Division Officer. Rob is a graduate of Southern Illinois University.

 

Bryon Miller, DC Operations Manager

Bryon brings more than 25 years of management and supervisory experience to his role at FORTRUST and is the longest tenured employee at the company. He provides oversight for and manages all aspects of the facilities operations at the physical layer, all NOC operations, systems implementation and monitoring. Bryon also helps manage construction projects, purchases equipment and oversees the installation of equipment. Bryon serves as liaison on client/FORTRUST projects and ensures the completion of client requests. Bryon is heavily involved in developing the data center's processes and procedures.

 

Beth Prochazka, Controller

Beth brings more than a decade of experience in financial and operational management in public accounting and business operations to FORTRUST where she is responsible for finance, accounting and administration. She earned her bachelor's degree in accounting from Metro State after spending three years pursuing a degree in chemical engineering at Colorado School of Mines. Her extensive professional experience in finance combined with her academic engineering background makes her uniquely qualified to work at FORTRUST and understand the needs of the business. Beth oversees all financial activities for the company and works in coordination with company leadership regarding financial forecasting and cost projections. In addition to her role at FORTRUST, she is an active member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Colorado Society of CPAs.

 

Bill Black, Senior Network Engineer

With more than 20 years of experience in critical engineering and data networking positions, Bill is a valuable member of the FORTRUST team. In his senior network engineer role, he has oversight and responsibility for FORTRUST's entire production network and services. He is tasked with researching custom client solutions and supporting the provisioning team. In addition, he assists in facility and networking monitoring activities and addresses technical issues. Prior to joining FORTRUST, Bill held a number of positions at leading national companies where he became seasoned in data center technology management.

 

Kira McManus, Sales Operations Manager

Kira developed her expertise through nearly 15 years in technology, telecommunications and data center sales and marketing roles. She is responsible for developing FORTRUST's strategic marketing programs, increasing awareness of FORTRUST's world-class facility offerings and driving the company's growth through a consultative, collaborative approach and solution-based sales methodology. Prior to joining FORTRUST, Kira was successful in aligning organizations and programs with sales goals for high-profile companies such as National Cinemedia.

 

Tim Pierce, Business Development Manager

Tim is a seasoned veteran of the data center industry and brings deep experience in engineering, product development and solution architecture to his role at FORTRUST. He possesses a keen ability to assess customers' needs and assists FORTRUST clients in creating custom, scalable and reliable solutions for their critical applications. Prior to joining the organization, Tim served in a similar capacity at another Denver data center where he architected solutions for major high-profile accounts. He also worked as a Lead Systems Engineer for Raytheon on major federal government programs, building next-generation weather satellite systems for use by NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense.

 

Michael Piers, Facilities, Critical Systems Manager

Michael brings vast experience in managing critical data center systems to his role at FORTRUST. In his position, he is responsible for testing, maintenance and planning for the systems that provide FORTRUST's high-availability data center services as well as all aspects of physical security and facilities management. He also supports customer provisioning and installation. Prior to joining FORTRUST, Michael was a Manager at another Denver data center where he planned and implemented customer migration plans, designed network infrastructure including structured wiring, fiber connect and cabling as well as communicated with customers to ensure that service level agreements were established and delivered. He is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor's degree in network and telecommunications IT.