CORPORATE BIOS

William "Howie" Olund is a founding partner of SSCS.  His leadership has been instrumental to SSCS’s evolution into a premier global IT service company.  Since 1988, William has provided executive leadership and guidance to the commercial branch of SSCS.  His philosophy calls for unparalleled customer service combined with significant cost reduction for our clients.  The result of his vision has positioned SSCS as the best value in the IT service industry.

Throughout his career, William has developed relationships with executives from numerous Fortune 100 companies.  He studied business at Purdue University, and quickly established himself professionally in IT sales.  William holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Gahlen Carpenter is a founding partner of SSCS. Gahlen has been the driving force behind the technical aspects of SSCS’ offering. His vision has been to employ highly skilled and versatile technical staff and to empower these persons to make on-the-spot decisions with the client’s interest in mind.  And further, to utilize cutting edge technology to add efficiency to service delivery and reporting.

Having earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979, Gahlen received additional training with the General Electric Company on sophisticated satellite technology. Mr. Carpenter then entered the world of the small business owner with the concept of delivering high quality technical service to sophisticated computer systems to the business community.

Gahlen is an avid supporter of Young Life ministries and has been a Rotarian for 20+ years. Gahlen resides in Houston.

VP of Sales and Marketing

Mark Havens has proven his dedication to SSCS and its mission to be an industry leader. After 16 years as a top sales executive, Mark was appointed to National Sales Manager in 2010. As the company expanded, he was promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing to manage the growth of SSCS’ global sales force.

Prior to joining SSCS, Mark spent several years working for a five star hotel company where world class customer service practices were deeply instilled. At SSCS, Mark continues to promote client satisfaction and superior customer service, “Everything we do as a company is geared toward providing a high level of service and a better experience for our clients” is a comment Mark frequently makes to prospects and clients alike.

Mark is a graduate of the University Of Houston Collage Of Humanities with a BA in Literature. A lifelong Houston resident, Mark is married with two children and has a deep appreciation for music and the arts.

Global Service Delivery Director

For more than two decades, John Kolkmeier has offered dedicated service to SSCS.  His strong technical background has been significant in building the company into a global service provider.  As a result, he was appointed Global Services Director in March 2011. 

From 2002 to 2011, John served as a “Major Account” Service Delivery Manager as well as Regional Service Delivery Manager at SSCS.  He also worked as Field Service Delivery Manager and Senior Field Service Engineer for more than 17 years and holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Houston.

Director of IT Services and Development

In 2011, Cory Bloodworth was appointed Director of IT Services and Development at SSCS. He is responsible for the internal and external infrastructure for the company’s operations. Cory also oversees the development and design of new applications and procedures for streamlining the ever growing business of SSCS in the global marketplace.

Cory joined SSCS in 2001 as a Field Engineer. His career advanced quickly as a systems administrator and developer, and then to manager. Today Cory serves SSCS as the Director of Information Support & Development. Cory lives by the motto “Good enough is NOT good enough”.

Vice President of Operations

A twenty three year veteran of SSCS, Lindsey’s managerial skills, professionalism and dedication to helping establish SSCS as the premium service provider led to his promotion as National Service Manager in 2005, Director of Services in 2009 and General Manager in 2010. As the company expanded, Lindsey was promoted to Vice President of Operations in 2011.

Prior to joining SSCS in February of 1990, Lindsey received extensive technical and management training while serving nine years as a member of the United States Air Force and seven years with Intergraph Corporation as a Branch Service Manager over the Ohio Region.

Director of Operations - EMEA

Phil Williamson joins SSCS bringing more than 20 years’ experience of global outsourcing in the technology and support services market. Phil is based in Europe and manages both our EMEA business interests and our major corporate accounts. His experience in commercial and customer service management further strengthens our capability to support global customers.

Phil has a B.Sc. degree in Engineering, is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the U.K.’s Institute of Engineering and Technology. In addition to these technical qualifications, Phil also has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Director of Operations

A native of Germany, Patrick has an excellent technical grasp of IT infrastructure, as well as understanding the business aspect of providing customer focused IT services (according to ITIL) in a global environment. More than a decade of work in the Financial Services industry, and later in the IT Services industry (both in an international environment) have equipped him with a clear view of the needs of highly demanding global customers.

He is part of SSCS’ European large account management team, and maintains relations with Customers in Germany and across the regions, as well as caring for Asia Pacific, where he was based for many years. His focus lies mainly on engaging with customers on operational and process related matters on a management level.

Patrick holds a B.Sc. in Management Science from Stirling University (U.K.), as well as an MBA in International Business from Tsukuba University (Japan).

Controller

Katherine Wilson joined SSCS in 2013 as Controller. She has 20+ years’ experience in Accounting, Human Resource Management, Compliance Management and strong administrative skills covering various industries; domestically as well as internationally.

Katherine offers a unique combination of hands-on administration that maximizes organizational effectiveness, operations-oriented leadership that ensures efficiency and people oriented guidance that yields productivity while motivating and inspiring others to achieve the best results. She believes in embracing change and its positive effect on successful organizations; fostering commitment, team work, pride, trust, and most importantly, integrity. Her mantra is a “Can Do -- Positive Attitude”. She is a firm believer of the “Secret”.

Katherine is a native Texan and a military brat. She believes in giving back; “charity activities are the force which gives our life meaning.” She has served in and/or supported such groups as Wounded Warrior Project, Brookwood Community, Huntsman Foundation, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and various other organizations over the years.

Chief Financial Officer

Brink is a native of Houston, Texas, and over the past 20 years has held finance and accounting leadership positions with Hewlett-Packard Co., United Airlines, Washington Mutual, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. Brink brings a breadth of experience to SSCS, Inc., including Financial Reporting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Financial Systems Implementations. He is also committed to continuous process improvement and brings experience in methodologies such as LEAN and Six Sigma.

Brink has a BBA degree from Baylor University, an MBA degree from the University of Houston, and is a licensed CPA. He is married with 5 children, and enjoys coaching little league, cooking, and running in his spare time.