Board of Directors

Mr. Jim Schulte – President

Jim Schulte received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Creighton University in 1983.  As an accredited teacher, Mr. Schulte spent a number of years teaching mathematics, physics and computer science at the high school level.  Mr. Schulte’s professional career then extended to over 20 years in various roles within the Information Technology Department of ConAgra Foods, a Fortune 500 Company. 

In 2006 Mr. Schulte left his position as Vice-President of Information Technology, ConAgra Trade Group to pursue entrepreneurial interests.  Currently Mr. Schulte is a principal and partner in three separate companies involved with manufacturing, technology and long term care.  Mr. Schulte, along with Mr. Snawerdt, are the founding members of the CREATE Foundation.

Mr. Peter (Rocky) Snawerdt – Vice President

Peter (Rocky) Snawerdt assumed leadership of the Electro-Optics and Electronic Warfare activities at Harris Corppration in 1996.  In 1999, Mr. Snawerdt founded a high tech company which he ran as President and CEO until selling the company to one of the top three defense contractors in 2005. 

Mr. Snawerdt has also held numerous executive management positions (CEO, CTO or CEO) within technology start-up companies.  Mr. Snawerdt currently holds eight patents for technical innovations, with other patents currently pending.  Mr. Snawerdt has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Tulane University and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Texas – Arlingtion.

Mr. Ted Bridges - Director & Investment Advisor

Ted Bridges approaches life and work with joyful passion. He enjoys everything about investing: developing portfolio strategy, doing company research and portfolio management, and communicating with clients. Ted loves to connect people. As head of the Firm’s investment team, Ted is responsible for leading the Firm’s investment strategy, security research, and portfolio management efforts, and he is also active in new business development.

Education/Licenses & Credentials
BA in Government and Economics, Dartmouth College
J.D., University of Nebraska College of Law
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

Community Involvement
·         CFA Society Nebraska, Past President
·         Omaha-Lincoln Society of Financial Analysts, Past President
·         Investment Council of America, Member
·         Nebraska Bar Association, Member
·         Abide Network, Board Member
·         Dundee Presbyterian Church, Elder
·         Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition, Chairman of the Board
·         Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, Board Member
·         Nebraska Humane Society, Past Board Member and Chairman
·         Business Ethics Alliance Trustee

Mr. Timothy Connolly - Director

Tim Connolly is the Director of Risk and Compliance at HDR, an engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services firm with nearly 10,000 employees in 225 offices worldwide. He oversees several functional groups including project management, quality, risk management and technology. He is also responsible for the company’s compliance program, ensuring adherence with external laws and regulations, as well as developing and enforcing internal policies and procedures.

Connolly started with HDR in 1990 as a structural engineer in the firm’s architecture division. He later moved to the engineering company, where he managed rail design services for the Omaha location and served as client manager for a top railroad client. He was then named Central Region Director for HDR’s Environmental & Resource Management business group, during which time he worked closely with the engineering company president to identify, assess and implement plans for the improvement of at-risk projects and operations.

In 2007, Connolly was named Director of International, where he was responsible for start-up operations in countries outside the United States. Under his leadership, HDR’s non-U.S. locations quadrupled in number to solidify the firm’s position as a global company.
Prior to his current role, Connolly served as Professional Services Director, overseeing nearly 1,100 employees in the areas of environmental science and planning, economics, real estate, geotechnical, sustainability, facility design, geospatial, public involvement construction services, survey and value engineering.
Tim is a graduate of the University of Kansas and a registered professional engineer. He is also a Director on HDR’s Board, a position he has held since 2016.

Mr. William Fleissner - Director

William Fleissner is the Founder and President of Avionics Interface Technologies, a Division of Teradyne Inc's Defense and Aerospace Group.  Mr. Fleissner is now an employee of Teradyne following the acquisition by Teradyne, and is now able to focus primarily on IR&D direction for future products, and major customers such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman.  Under his directions, AIT has developed a reputation for providing the highest technology and feature rich products with outstanding customer satisfaction, making AIT a leader in the avionics industry.

Mr. Fleissner has designed and installed a wide variety of military test and simulation systems for the Department of Defense (DOD) and its contractors, including telemetry monitoring and launch control systems for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile Program; Atlas, Centaur, Titan, and Delta ELVs (Expendable Launch Vehicle - Rockets); the Consolidated Communications Facility at Johnson Space Center for the Shuttle and Space Station Freedom Programs; and many flight test applications for NASA and DOD programs, including missiles, rockets, military aircraft, and satellite programs. Separately, many of these products and systems have also been used to test and simulate avionics on commercial airline development programs.

Mr. Fleissner has previously held Design Engineering, Systems Integration, Program Management, Sales, Marketing, and Corporate Executive Management positions at General Instrument, General Dynamics, L3-Com (formerly Loral Instrumentation), and SBS Technologies. He has authored articles and taught avionics bus standards at many technical conferences as he continues to research and architect products for embedded flight computer applications.

Mr. Fleissner holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electronics Engineering from the University of Nebraska, and has pursued subsequent post graduate studies at UCSD (Univ. of California at San Diego), UCLA, MIT, and Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. 

Mr. Dan Myers - Director & Director of Accounting

Dan Myers graduated with a BA degree in Accounting from Briar Cliff University and passed the examination to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Mr. Myers career began in public accounting which then led him to a position as Chief Accounting Officer for a community based bank before becoming the CFO for a multifaceted company that owned and operated long-term care facilities, restaurants and commercial real estate. Mr. Myers then became a consultant in the long-term care profession before becoming the President/CEO and managing partner of Careage Management, LLC. Careage owned and operated long-term care facilities in Iowa and Nebraska. Mr. Myers was responsible for the operations of the company and which also included oversight of the accounting and financial functions of the company.

Careage sold its assets in 2011 and since then Mr. Myers has been involved as an owner/operator of a single long-term care facility, and restuarants in both the fine dining and fast casual dining industry segments.