Bob Ferris founded Ferris Production, Inc. in 1993—which later became VirTra—before becoming the CEO and Chairman in 2008. Since the day he started the company, Mr. Ferris has been pushing the state-of-the-art envelope to achieve the most effective training simulators possible to benefit millions of people throughout 32 countries.
Mr. Ferris has been awarded multiple patents, spoken at numerous trade shows and has written and assisted with ground-breaking articles and studies. In August 2018, Bob Ferris was honored to be the first CEO of a virtual reality/simulation training company to ring the opening bell for NASDAQ.
Mr. Ferris attended the U.S. Air Force Academy followed by the University of Arizona, where he received a degree in Systems Engineering. Outside of work, he is a volunteer mentor for young men at a foster care group home, serves at Redemption Gateway Church and enjoys time with his family.
John Givens has over 20 years of experience as a board member, entrepreneur and corporate executive. He currently services as a military board advisor to Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim), a global developer of advanced military simulation and training software. In 2010, Mr. Givens established the US company of BISim, and as president, took military simulation products from inception to production.
Mr. Givens has achieved numerous awards and honors, including: appointment to the board of directors of the National Center for Simulation (NCS), an association of defense companies, and the “Pioneer Award” for outstanding contributions and innovations to the training and effectiveness of U.S. and overseas soldiers, sailors and airmen.
Mr. Givens graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the Florida Institute of Technology and proudly served in the United States Army.
Matt Burlend is the Chief Operating Officer at VirTra. Prior to joining Ferris Productions, as VirTra was known as pre-merger, Mr. Burlend was a mechanical engineer focused on automated production equipment design. After joining the company as an engineer in 1999, he worked his way up to COO in 2011.
Mr. Burlend helps manage the design, production and support of VirTra’s most successful and innovative simulator products while achieving a highly successful track record in the daily operations of VirTra’s core business. Mr. Burlend prides himself in the company’s growth and takes his responsibility to shareholders, employees and customers seriously. Outside of work, he spends his free time with his wife and sons, church and the outdoors.
Jeffrey Brown has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1993 and a financial planning service provider since 2004, in which he performed financial services for a wide range of companies. Mr. Brown was the CFO and Controller for Gold Canyon Candles, helping increase the annual gross revenue during a period of growth from $8 million to $55 million.
Mr. Brown joined VirTra’s Board of Directors as an independent director in 2011. Previously, he worked for Ernst & Young, performing audits for multiple organizations. Mr. Brown received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from California State University, San Bernardino, and his CPA designation in 1993.
Jim Richardson is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of NaturalPoint Inc., which provides virtual reality and tracking products that are ubiquitous in the simulation industry from major military simulation projects to consumer virtual reality products. Mr. Richardson is responsible for devising its high-level strategy and the engineering, marketing and sales efforts.
Through his effort, NaturalPoint gained significant market share culminating in its sale to Planar Systems, Inc., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of electronic display products and systems. Mr. Richardson studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
