COMPANY MANAGEMENT
Bob Ferris, Chief Executive Officer
Bob Ferris serves as CEO. He is the founder of the pre-merger VirTra company (Ferris Productions, Inc.) since 1993 and in 2008 became CEO of VirTra. Bob attended the US Air Force Academy and received a degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona with a minor in Software. Bob has been awarded multiple patents, spoken at various trade shows, and developed groundbreaking simulation products highlighted in magazines such as TIME, WIRED and Popular Science. Bob has been referred to by journalists as one of the ‘grandfathers’ of virtual reality and simulation.
Matt Burlend, Chief Operating Officer
Matt Burlend serves as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his employment with the former Ferris Productions, Matt was employed from 1996 until 1999 at Panduit Corporation, a designer of automated production equipment, as a machine design engineer. Matt holds a mechanical engineering degree from Olivet Nazarene University.
Aaron DeCorte, Vice President of Sales
Aaron DeCorte serves as Vice President of Sales. Previously Mr. DeCorte served as Director of Sales at Dexis, a provider of innovative digital imaging solutions, where he was responsible for delivering double digit sales growth year-over-year to more than $100 million.
Chris Lawcock, Vice President of Software Development
Chris Lawcock serves as vice-president of software development. Chris has served in many roles throughout his career including general manager of AGT (a gaming company) and CTO of Mobiltrak, Inc. (a radio monitoring service). Chris holds a Bachelor of Science, Business – Information Technology Management from WGU.
Perry Baker, Vice President of Hardware Development
Perry Baker has over 25-years experience in hardware design and management within the department of defense marketplace. Mr. Baker leaves Raytheon Missile Systems, as Senior Principal Mechanical Engineer. Previous to Raytheon, Mr. Baker was the Senior Manager of Mechanical Design & Analysis for Rockwell Collins for 21 years. Throughout his career, Mr. Baker integrated cutting-edge technologies into successful products that met military specification requirements for the US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marines and NATO countries.
Mark Skidmore, Director of Finance, Corporate Controller
Mr. Skidmore brings more than 20 years of accounting and financial control experience from his time spent in Big 4 accounting and with public and private companies from the start-up to Fortune 100 level. Mr. Skidmore joins VirTra from his previous position of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Accounting at Boon Inc. and Keen Distribution LLC, a privately held children’s products company, which he joined as a start-up in 2005 and helped grow to more than $30 million in annual global revenues.
Mr. Skidmore began his career as a Senior Auditor with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP and passed the CPA exam during this time. He graduated from Brigham Young University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Accounting with a minor in Business degree.
Jason Mulcahy, Director of Department of Defense Sales
Prior to joining VirTra, Mr. Mulcahy was Director of Sales for Reality Engineering, a visual interactivity technology company. In this position he designed and implemented a sales model that led the small startup company from a distribution sales model to a direct sales force with 20 regional territories.
Previously Mr. Mulcahy served as Vice President of Sales with Danaher Corporation, a Fortune 200, NYSE-listed, science and technology company. He was selected to create a new sales organization to capitalize on the synergistic relationship between seven Danaher subsidiaries. In this capacity Mr. Mulcahy hired, trained and directed a sales organization that sold directly to U.S. and international governments at the federal, state and local levels. In three years Mr. Mulcahy grew the business to more than $53 million in annual sales.
Mr. Mulcahy graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in business.