Executive Bios

Oliver 'Newt' Newman III — President

Newt Newman is President and Founder of Solid IT Networks, Inc., responsible for all of the company's operating activities. With 30 years in high-technology sales, marketing and executive leadership experience, he founded the company in 2001. Solid IT Networks exclusively supports technology in South Central USA. As an IT executive, Newt has successful record of supporting customers and developing organizations.

Prior to founding Solid IT, Newt was in executive management for Enterasys Networks and Cabletron Systems, Enterasys' parent company. He was Regional Director of Southern United States and had a territory of 5 states including Texas and Florida. Based in Dallas, his office was the top producing office in the Southwest Region for 3 years.

Before joining Cabletron, Newt worked as Director of Sales and Marketing for Southwestern Bell Services in Houston, TX. Here he developed and implemented Southwestern Bell's first 'One Stop Shop' operation and was responsible for all aspects of sales operations including leasing, hiring, and management of all stores, kiosks, and agents. Prior to this he was Branch Manager for Houston Cellular Telephone Company and for 15 years previous, was District Manager for various business units of Harris/Lanier.

Newt graduated from North Texas State University in Denton, TX where he holds a B.S. in Education, Political Science and Government. He currently resides in Argyle, TX.

J. Dee Flamming — Vice President and Director of Sales

J. Dee Flamming joined Solid IT Networks as Director of Sales in September 2005. In May of 2007 he also assumed the position of Vice President. J. Dee is responsible for all sales activities, researching the viability of new technologies from a sales perspective, and mapping out company strategy for expansion into new business verticals and geographies. In addition to his leadership position in Marketing and Sales, J. Dee is also responsible for negotiating and executing contracts both with Vendors and Customers.

A networking veteran of over 25 years, J. Dee began his career with Lanier Business Products. While at Lanier he achieved success in both sales and management and for over a decade helped Lanier enter new types of business such as word processing, voice recognition, and telephony. In 1991 he joined Cabletron Systems as Regional Sales Manager, was promoted to Regional Director, and as Cabletron's revenues exceeded a billion dollars he was promoted to Regional Vice President and General Manager. As Vice President, he was responsible for over 20 states and specialized in turning around underperforming territories.

When Cabletron decided to spin off Enterasys Networks in an IPO J. Dee was part of the management team that was responsible for creating the sales business plan for the new company. This entailed developing a process and sales strategy to change Enterasys Networks into a channel and distribution sales company instead of their previous direct sales model. After the Enterasys IPO J. Dee stepped down from his Vice Presidents position and went back into a sales role in order to spend more time with his family. It was a successful move and in 2003 he was Enterasys top sales person in North America.

J. Dee sits on several community and technology advisory boards and holds a BA in Telecommunications from Texas Tech University. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, all types of outdoor activities, Harleys, and cooking.

Lance A. Donnelly — Director of Technology

Lance Donnelly joined Solid IT Networks in 2003, serving as Director of Technology and brings over twenty years of experience in the technology field. He directs all Solution and Professional Services related to technology and has been at the forefront of developing the Technology programs for Solid IT Networks. Over the years Lance has achieved technical certifications from Microsoft (MCSA/MCSE), Cisco (CCNA), Juniper Networks (JNCIA-IDP, JNCIA-FWV, and JNCIA-SSL), Enterasys Networks (ESSE), HP (MASE), and Aventail (ACP).

Chris Gatchell — Director of Sales Support

Chris Gatchell joined Solid IT Networks in 2002. Now the Director of Sales Support, Chris heads up the Inside Sales group for Solid IT. With the focus on the customer, Inside Sales is both proactive and reactive to customers needs: delivering timely quotes; providing prompt customer service; facilitating smooth order processes; and responding to Bids and RFPs. In addition, developing and strengthening relationships with both the customer and manufacturer enables Solid IT to provide first-rate support.

Chris has a technology background spanning more than a decade with such companies as Cabletron, Enterasys, and Avaya. She has a wealth of experience in the Government and Education arenas and has worked extensively with programs including E-rate and the RFP process.

Marylee Grasso, CPA — Controller

Marylee Grasso joined Solid IT in 2005. She is responsible for financial and tax reporting, cash flow projections, and project analysis. Prior to joining Solid IT, she worked in industries where she gained Fortune 500 experience as an analyst, and in Public Accounting specializing in income tax and financial statement preparation.

Marylee is a Certified Public Accountant holding licenses in both Texas and Oklahoma. She graduated from the University of North Texas with a BBA in Corporate Finance and an MBA in Administrative Management. She enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, and currently lives in rural Southeastern Oklahoma.

Mike Cline — Director of Operations

Mike has thirty five years of industry experience covering all facets of Information Technology and has extensive experience with large scale infrastructure installations and project management. He started his career as an entry level applications programmer, followed by various project management roles, eventually becoming the Manager of the Applications Services Department for a large Fortune 500 chemical and oil services company. He later moved into an operational role as manager of the Technical Services Department where he was responsible for network and datacenter operations in a large dual IBM mainframe environment. Just prior to joining Solid IT Networks, Mike was Director of Telecommunications for CenterPoint Energy (previously Reliant Energy) headquartered in Houston Texas. As Telecom Director, he was responsible for all aspects of planning, engineering, installation, and day to day management of the company's extensive communications network serving 15,000 employees located in 200 offices in seven states.