Tracy Metzger, President

Tracy Metzger helped develop T-Gate's business strategy and innovative product line before formally joining the company as president in June of 2010. Prior to T-Gate, Mr. Metzger held various management positions in Information Technology with a Chicago-based consulting firm. In 1991, he joined BankCard America Corporation as the Director of Management Information Systems until the company was acquired by Concord EFS, currently First Data Corporation, in 1998. Following the acquisition Mr. Metzger was promoted to vice president of technology strategy for Concord EFS where he participated in a number of acquisitions. He focused on post-merger management activities and consolidation of technical resources within the growing organization. In 2000, Mr. Metzger joined Gate Gourmet/Dobbs International Services as CIO having global responsibility for information systems in over 30 countries. In 2002, Mr. Metzger co-founded Abanco International, LLC as President and CTO. In 2007 Abanco successfully sold its merchant acquiring business and in late 2009 successfully sold its airline and railway technology division to Gate Gourmet based in Zurich Switzerland. Mr. Metzger holds a degree in Telecommunications Management from DeVry University.

 

James Becker, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing

James Becker brings over 15 years of senior-level business development, sales management, marketing, and strategic partnership development experience to T-Gate. Mr. Becker has held various management positions in sales and business development at technology companies in both the U.S. and Canada. For the past eight years, Mr. Becker’s experience has been focused on the payments industry. Prior to joining T-Gate, Mr. Becker served as Vice President of North American Sales at Ernex, A Division of Moneris. During that time, Mr. Becker oversaw all sales, business development, and strategic partnerships of the prepaid card, gift card, and loyalty card products in both US and Canada. From 2003 - 2007 Mr. Becker held the position of Director of Business Development at Chockstone. During that time, Mr. Becker was responsible for all aspects of business development, sales, and strategic partnerships related to Chockstone’s credit/debit gateway, gift card, loyalty card, and frequency marketing products. Mr. Becker graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a BA in History and Philosophy.

 

Tom Byrnes, Chief Marketing Officer

Tom Byrnes is responsible for directing the T-Gate brand and all marketing operations. With nearly 20 years of hand-on experience in developing brand identity, positioning, and integration strategies for companies in B2B, environments, Mr. Byrnes brings a results-driven approach to the process of integrated brand development. Prior to joining T-Gate, Mr. Byrnes held a number of executive leadership positions. He was a senior strategy consultant at the International Data Corporation, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Vesta, a provider of innovative electronic payment solutions, Vice President of Marketing for Chockstone, a leading loyalty service provider, and Chief Marketing Officer for Evanta, the primary provider of executive leadership networks in the F1000. He also founded Spark Brand marketing, a strategic brand consultancy whose clients have included Sony, IBM, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, MBNA Bank, First USA Bank, Diners Club, United and American airlines, among many others. Mr. Byrnes holds degrees in Philosophy and History from Antioch College.

 

David Andrew, Chief Operating Officer

David Andrew brings over 18 years of management and consulting experience along with the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute to T-Gate. Mr. Andrew has most recently served as CTO at Bostrom Corporation, a leading professional services company providing management, consulting and outsourcing services to professional societies, trade associations and charitable organizations. He is an expert in business operations management, e-business application integration, systems architecture, and business process improvement. He has a solid track record in analyzing operational and information system needs, recommending solutions, and implementing successful organization-appropriate outcomes. Prior to joining Bostrom, Mr. Andrew worked at Abanco International with roles that included management of the information systems group, mobile channel product management, and corporate business process improvement. Mr. Andrew was also the VP/Director of Operations at Giant Step Productions, a former e-business and advertising subsidiary of Leo Burnett USA, where he re-architected the agency's development methodologies and business processes. Mr. Andrew also served as a Principal Consultant and Project Management Advisor for the technology consulting company, The Revere Group, and as a resource to the Instructional Technology Group at Northwestern University. Mr. Andrew is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he earned a B.A. in Cognitive Science.

 

Leslie Kessler, Chief Financial Officer

Leslie Kessler is T-Gate's Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Kessler has over 30 years of experience in financial management, including ten years in the public accounting sector. He is a member of the executive committee and leads the company's financial and accounting operations. Prior to joining T-Gate, Mr. Kessler was Chief Financial officer for Abanco International, LLC, and an independent Sales Organization that marketed POS equipment, credit and check card processing services. He held the CFO position for a period of eight years.

 

Ken Freedman, Director of Sales

Ken is a highly accomplished Business Development Professional with 25+ years of Sales and Sales Management Experience. He helped develop and expanded the Wireless Point-of-Sale market while working for Motient Corporation, developing key channel partners US Wireless Data and Apriva Technology. He also assisted in the development of the sales channels for Precidia Technologies, specifically in the Petroleum and Integrated POS markets. He recently joined T-Gate, LLC directing their efforts in expanding their relationships with key Integrated POS vendors and other strategic partners. Mr. Freedman holds a BA from University of Illinois.

 

Ashoor Youmara, Product Manager

Ashoor Youmara brings over 12 years of experience in product management and project management experience to T-Gate. Prior to T-Gate, he held the position of Global Product Manager with Molex where he managed their entire line of Network Media Products. In this role, Mr. Youmara also became an active member of the PTO trade group. He is an expert in product development, marketing strategies, customer management and market analysis. He has a solid track record of successful product launches, revenue growth, stock/pricing management and relationship management. Prior to Molex, Mr. Youmara was the Manager of all software products for Mitsubishi Electric Automation. At Mitsubishi, he successfully launched an initiative to generate revenue for software products that were otherwise provided free of charge. His responsibilities included but were not limited to full product management, website management, deployment of products via web, management of software maintenance program, and full software development. Additionally, he led an effort for software consolidation and reconstruction, working with engineers and designers in Japan. Mr. Youmara is a graduate of Devry University with a BS in EET. He recently joined T-Gate, LLC as the Product Manager covering all existing and developing products.