Manager Information Technology

FRANCIS C. GERRIS

** ******** ***.

Hawthorne, NJ 07506

SUMMARY

President and General Manager is responsible for the overall administrative

functions of The Hawthorne Caballeros All -Age Drum and Bugle Corps. These

functions include staff selection and supervision, fund raising, finance,

membership and related issues, equipment, travel, bookings, scheduling,

show design and representation to outside organizations .Retired Director

of Information Technology for Deceuninck North America. Retired Director of

Information Systems for Prudential Insurance Company.

EXPERIENCE

1973-Present Hawthorne Caballeros Senior Drum and Bugle Corps,

Hawthorne NJ

President and General Manager 1998-Present

Participate on the Board of Directors

Coordinator 1984-Present

Coordinate all administrative functions that consist of the following:

. Report to the Director regarding all corps issues

. Work with the Fiscal Manager and Business Manager on fund raising and

fiscal issues.

. Select staff and supervise on going instruction.

. Work with the staff on show selection and plan implementation.

. Oversee the performance schedule from conception to execution.

. Membership supervision and related issues.

. Work with the Business Manager on all travel arrangements.

. Represent the Caballeros at the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) meetings.

. Act as liaison for the corps in conjunction with all external groups and

issues.

Drill Designer and Instructor (Caballeros)

1973-1981

Responsible for drill design and instruction of the Caballeros for all

visual program.

1949-1976 Additional Drum and Bugle Corps Background

Drill Designer and Instructor (Hawthorne Muchachos) 1971-1976

Responsible for drill design and instruction of the Muchachos

Drill Designer and Instructor 1967-1995

Wrote drill and taught marching to numerous bugle corps, color guards and

bands in the Northeast

Participant 1949-1964

Participated as a horn player and later drum major for several junior and

senior drum and bugle corps

RELATED ACTIVITIES

Judged drum corps, color guards and bands 1968-Present

Elected to The World Drum Corps Hall of Fame 1992

Chaired and participated on committees that established and maintained

rules for junior and senior groups 1971-present

President of the Tri-State Color Guard Circuit 1969

Acted as director of the Woodsiders Junior Drum and Bugle Corps1995

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Retired as Director of Information Technology for Deceuninck North America

2004 - 2007

Director og Information Technology Vinyl Building Products 200 - 2004

(procured by Deceuninck in 2004)

Prudential Insurance Company 1960-1997

Retired as Director of Information Systems

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Rutgers, Newark, NJ

Setting Organization Behavior - Forum Corp.

Prudential Executive Training Program

Detail

Senior information systems professional with in excess of 20 years

managerial experience in the insurance industry and 7 years in the window

and door manufacturing industry. Involvements include property and

casualty systems, management of a technology organization including

computer operations production processing and control, security, budgeting

and work flow coordination. Skilled in problem resolution, cost savings,

staff development and motivation, technical savvy and getting the job done

in a timely and accurate manner.

EXPERIENCE

2003 - Present Deceuninck North America (acquisition of Vinyl Building

Products)

Director of Information Technology

Responsible for the IT and communications functions in North America. This

includes the following functions:

Coordinate all IT related issues with every segment of Deceunick's

North American Organization

Interact with the Corporate Information Technology group in Belgium

Implement and enforce all standards and security controls

Responsible for all hardware and software and telephone equipment and

services in North America

Implementation, training, and servicing of customer focused software

at all customer locations

Deal directly with customers on online ordering and inventory system.This

included executive buy-in and associate training as well as providing

ongoing support.

Assist with implementation of the corporate global CRM Customer Resource

Management system.

September 2000 - 2003 Vinyl Building Products

Director of Information Technology (direct report to the CEO of the

company)

Established and managed the Information Technology department. Responsible

for computer and commutation functions of the company. Responsibilities and

achievements were as follows:

Interacted with all departments as a member of the Senior Management

Team.

Responsible for the implementation and maintenance of all software

Developed and implemented standards and security systems and controls

Negotiated all contracts for hardware, software, communications equipment

and services

Managed a small programming group and a Network Director

Implemented a national WAN in 3 months

Developed and implemented a bar code tracking system in the same 3 months

Developed and implemented an in-house online order entry and management

system for customer access

Commenced work on the development of window and door fabricator

management system that included a window and door configurator/quoting,

back office information (i.e. order processing and tracking, invoicing,

etc), direct links to manufacturing equipment software, and manufacturing

work flow. Development stopped upon the acquisition of Vinyl Building

Products.

April 2000 - September 2000 Ramer Associates - Vinyl Building Products,

Oakland, NJ

MIS Consultant

Establish Vinyl Building Products' MIS Department. Advise Senior Management

regarding organization, hiring, IT approach, and tactical and strategic

directions. Provide guidance on the implementation of project management

and IT controls and standards..

1998-2000 Retired (Administration of the Hawthorne Caballeros Sr. Drum &

Bugle Corps)

1960-1998 PRUDENTIAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Holmdel, NJ & Newark, NJ

Director, Information Systems (Technical Support Group) 1995-1998

Responsible for day to day processing and controls of all property and

casualty computer systems, external and internal systems interfaces and the

research and implementation of all hardware and software within property

and casualty organization. Budget of $12,000,000 with a staff of 25.

Reduced annual D.P. running costs by $857,000 during last fiscal year

through improved space unitization, processing improvements and

elimination of unnecessary process.

Achieved a 98.4% service level exceeding the established goal by

revamping processing.

Director, Information Systems (Data Administration Group) 1994-1995

Directed Data Administration of the Property & Casualty organization. This

included overall data identification and definition as well as program

manager for the year 2000 compliance project.

Responsible for the initial planning and implementations of

converting the property and casualty system to conform to year 2000.

Charter member of the Prudential's Enterprise year 2000

Committee.Established data administration in PRUPAC through the selection

and implementation of case tools and a data repository (Brownstone).

Director, Information Systems (Management Information Systems Group)

1992-1994

Total responsibility for M.I.S. group for internal and external reporting

systems for the property and casualty organization. Supervised a staff of

120 and managed a budget in excess of $7 million.

Achieved a 56% staff reduction (120 to 52) through organization

change, staff deployment and consolidation of processes.

Produced a cost savings of $1,000,000 + a year by replacing an

obsolete PRIME processing system with a RISC base system.

Introduced a customer based testing scheme that provided more

efficient implementation of new systems and maintenance.

Implemented a matrix organization for programmer, tester and system

analyst. As a result, staffing was based on a priority basis and

individual development was achieved through cross section exposure.

Brought relational technology to the P&C organization through the

creation and implementation of Data and Data Base Administration

organizations.

Manager, MIS

1981-1992

Responsible for the overseeing of several of Prudential's P&C management

reporting system, a staff of 20-30 associates reported to me during this

period.

Implemented a "Premium" reporting system that provided a $5,000,000

positive impact on the company's bottom line. Re-definition of data and

formulas made this possible.

Reduced the monthly "Loss" system processing time by 14 hour (21 to

7) through efficiencies and processing restructuring.

Senior Computer System Analyst 1974-1981

In charge of the systems support area for statistical and management

reports. Also, responsible for the training needs of the entire systems

staff.

Eliminated the potential loss of $1,000,000 +/year by designing and

implementing an automated reporting system for New Hampshire and South

Carolina (through) the Automobile Insurance Plan Service Officer-AIPSO).

This benefit was extended to other insurance companies.

Developed, implemented and administered an in-house EDP Training

Program that included formal classroom presentations, supplementary

audio/visual aids and selected outside programs.

Systems Operations to Computer System Analyst

1960-1971 Rose

through the organization holding many different positions from Operator to

Manager

Established and manage the Technical Service Group to support Prudential's'

Eastern Home Office.

Managed the computer operational aspects of Prudential's P&C system

organization start-up.

EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Rutgers, Newark, NJ

Setting Organization Behavior - Forum Corp.

Prudential Executive Training Program

TECHNICAL SKILLS & TRAINING

PC Skills Training

Assembler and Operating System Concepts

PC - M/S Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

PC - M/S Project

PC - Adobe Photoshop, Harvard Graphics and other graphic applications

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Insurance Accounting and Systems Accounting (IASA) Co-Chairman System

Committee 1994-1997

Total Quality Process (TQP): Served as a member of PRUPAC's

Quality 1991-1993

Improvement Team

NY Data Administration Management Association (Data) 1991-1996

Management Practices Workshop Conducted Prudential's premier management

1978-1992

training program to over 600 students.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

Manage the World and National Champion Hawthorne Caballeros Drum & Bugle

Corps.

Member World Drum & Bugle Corp. Hall of Fame

Adjudicator of Drum & Bugle Corps, Color Guard, College & High School Bands

1968-2000

Active in various ministries and services as a member of St. Anthony's RC

Church

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