Mike is currently the CEO of Broad Ops. He completed his B.S. in Psychology and M.S. in Counseling at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Mike spent the early part of his career as a counselor in Higher Ed working predominantly with computer science majors. While working at Illinois State, Mike was in the forefront of developing strategies to use new computer technology to help in the career development and curriculum planning areas.
Mike is also the President of Connectivityu, a Managed Service Provider (MSP), providing design, installation and management of Internet networks for multiple dwelling units (MDU) specifically for student and non-student apartments in central Illinois. He was involved in some of the first installations of off-campus Internet network installations at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana starting in the late 1990s.
Mike’s experience in managing Internet bandwidth in the high intensity off-campus student apartment arena led to the formation of BroadOps. BroadOps was born from the frustration of not being able to find a cost effective solution that specifically addressed the needs of MDU operators. BroadOps provides sophisticated yet easy to use Internet bandwidth management and tenant communication tools for property owners, managers, ISPs and MSPs.
Darren is the President of SAMI. Darren, 50, was raised in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1985 at Illinois State University with an honors degree in Accounting and minors in Business and Economics.
After successfully passing the CPA exam in May, 1985, Darren began his career with McGladrey & Pullen specializing in the audit and systems analysis of large multifamily rental real estate partnerships. Darren started Student Apartment Mart Inc (SAMI) in February, 1989 with Harold Hoeferle. Darren quickly completed the education necessary to become a Broker, and has been the Managing Broker at SAMI ever since. From inception, SAMI has consistently been ranked as the #1 student property management company by the students of Illinois State University. SAMI currently manages approximately 1000 student apartments around the Illinois State campus, most of which are owned by Darren and partners.
Darren has been integral in the design and construction of over 2000 MDU units in Central Illinois, with at least 1000 of those units being student apartments.
Several years ago SAMI adopted the slogan “Responding to the Changing Needs of Students”. Darren was the first property manager/developer serving the students at ISU to include high speed internet service in his apartment complexes. In 2000, Darren started ConnectivityU after recognizing the need for expert management of the internet networks being installed and maintained in the SAMI apartment communities. ConnectivityU now offers “Managed Network Services” to property owners and managers throughout Central Illinois including sites at ISU, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Bradley University.
Eric co-founded the company with Mike and Darren and acts as the CTO/COO of BroadOps. Eric grew up in Decatur, IL and graduated from SIU-Carbondale in 1993. Since then Eric’s been involved in IT operations and sales for Tiger Direct, Fujitsu General, Internet Commerce & Communications and A5.com.
Starting in 1994 Eric worked for one of the first commercial Internet Service Providers in Illinois managing operations, high-value projects and strategy. After helping grow that company to over 15,000 business and residential subscribers, he moved into the same capacity with the buyer, Internet Commerce & Communications.
Eric is involved in both technical development and management, along with client and partner relationships. He has an extensive background in IP networks and product development, including in managed IT security, and hosting services.