Wren's leadership consists of some of the best and the brightest in information technology, software development and business development. See the links below to read bios of our impressive executive team.
ANDREW WREN
President & CEO
CLIFF WREN
Founder
ERIK BECKER
Vice President of Sales
AMELIA FUSARO
Vice President of Marketing
JAMES MCCORD
Director of Development
JEFF FLORENO
Director of Operations and Security Strategy
GREG GROTE
Director of Operations
MARK KUNZE
Director of Finance
ERIC C. WHITE
Director of Retail Strategy
CARLA DOWDEN
Director of Human Resources
Andrew Wren - President
Andrew Wren is President of Wren. With more than a decade of retail security expertise, Wren's vision and leadership have contributed to the company's successful growth. Wren is credited with growing the company's annual sales by more than 850 percent by expanding the sales model and extending the product line. Due to his efforts, Wren's products are used by some of the world's most innovative and respected retailers including Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target.
Wren actively participates in the retail security industry and serves on the Security Industry Association's Advisory Council. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Auburn University.
Cliff Wren - Founder
Clifford Wren, an inventor and entrepreneur, founded Wren in 1983 and built it into a leading provider of video surveillance solutions. But the company history has even deeper roots in the Wren family and in central Missouri manufacturing.
A native of Jefferson City, Missouri, Cliff started in the family business early, working in his father's machine shop, which produced exhaust fans.
After studying business at the University of Missouri and working two years for the National Guard, Wren returned to work with his father in 1960 and they reinvented the business, specializing in custom manufacturing.
In 1980, Cliff and his father were approached by a friend who worked for Wal-Mart. He asked if they could create an enclosure to cover a surveillance camera. The first camera housing was rounded on the bottom and square on the top, which made for easy installation in ceiling tile. Wal-Mart liked the prototype and ordered one hundred. As Cliff and his father tooled up to run the order, they received a phone call from Wal-Mart's Loss Prevention office canceling the order. Cliff recalls the conversation, "Cancel that order for a hundred.... We need to place an order for a thousand!" That was Wren's beginning in video surveillance products.
After his father passed away in 1983, Cliff officially established the company that is Wren today. He began with himself and two other employees working to make housings for Wal-Mart. From there, the company began receiving calls from other retailers asking if they were the ones who made the domes for the cameras. Cliff has grown that business he established in 1983 from a three-employee firm to a multi-million dollar video surveillance solutions company with more than 50 employees and customers that include many of the top retailers as well as businesses in other industries such as government, education, hospitality and healthcare.
Turning the business over to his son, Andrew, Cliff continues to focus on new product design and development and provides general oversight and leadership to the company.
Erik Becker - Vice President of Sales
Erik Becker serves as Vice President of Sales at Wren, where he is responsible for direct sales as well as alliance and channel development. With more than 18 years of software industry experience, Becker brings a wealth of knowledge for developing and implementing sales strategies for start-ups, as well as aggressive growth plans for public companies.
Becker started his career in 1987 as a consultant for The Saddlebrook Corporation, an application software company focused on large financial services firms. While at Saddlebrook, Becker was responsible for consulting projects with some of the largest lending institutions in the country.
In 1989, Becker joined software startup, XcelleNet, where he served in various sales and sales management roles, and was instrumental in accelerating the company's revenue that led to its successful IPO in 1994. In 1998, XcelleNet was sold to Sterling Commerce, a $500M e-commerce firm, where Becker assumed the role of Director of Eastern Operations.
As part of the management team that led the buyout of XcelleNet in 2000, Becker rejoined XcelleNet as Vice President of North America Sales, where he was responsible for all sales activities including direct sales, channel sales and OEM business development.
Becker received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester.
Amelia Fusaro - Vice President of Marketing
With more than 14 years of experience providing market development strategies to emerging technology companies, Amelia Fusaro serves as Vice President of Marketing for Wren. Fusaro directs the marketing department and works with the executive team and Board of Directors to develop successful go-to-market strategies.
Fusaro began her career in 1991 as a Marketing Manager for Datastream, a provider of maintenance and facilities management software. She was quickly promoted to Director of Marketing where she developed and launched campaigns and go-to-market strategies that helped the small company earn 40 percent market share and increase its revenues 100 percent each year for three years. During her career, Fusaro has managed product strategy, marketing and business development efforts for more than a dozen new technology companies to help them achieve recognition and leverage in the marketplace. Fusaro has a Bachelor of Science degree in Cognitive Science from Furman University.
James McCord - Director of Development
Mr. McCord has over 20 years of full-life cycle custom software development experience. Prior to joining Wren Solutions, Mr. McCord worked as the VP of Engineering for Retaligent and delivered advanced client management software solutions to the luxury retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods. Prior to that, Mr. McCord worked as a senior software consultant and has successfully delivered mission critical projects to many large enterprise clients including Delta Airlines, Nextel, MCI/WorldCom, National Data Corp, and Simmons Company. Mr. McCord holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, an M.B.A. from Central Michigan. He has numerous industry certifications including Microsoft’s MCSD and MCDBA certifications. In addition, Mr. McCord has authored and published over a dozen books on various software programming topics. Jeff Floreno - Director of Operations and Security Strategy
Jeff Floreno serves as Director of Operations and Security Strategy at Wren, where he is responsible for directing product development strategies, leading Wren's efforts to more closely integrate video and access control, and developing overall security strategies for education, government and retail markets. With nearly thirty years of experience in both corporate and top-level government security with esteemed corporations including Georgia Pacific, 3M and Northrop Grumman, Floreno brings a wealth of experience in project and program management, business operations, security governance initiatives and risk management.
Floreno contributed his leadership skills to Georgia Pacific's security team for more than a decade. Ultimately serving as Global Security and Compliance Director, he led efforts to design, implement, and oversee security plans in more than 400 offices around the world. While at 3M, Floreno worked with internationally renowned forensic psychiatrics to develop a comprehensive workplace violence program that continues to be utilized on a national basis. At Northrop Grumman, Floreno was responsible for the development, implementation and management of security programs designed to protect company proprietary information, classified government information and research & development activities. During his last two years, Floreno was appointed the Contractor Security Manager for the B-2 Bomber Program.
Floreno continues to share his in-depth knowledge of and innovative approach to security with schools, government institutions and businesses that Wren serves. He is active in many associations, and has presented at some of the leading security conferences including International Security Conference & Exposition (ISC) and the American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS).
Greg Grote - Director of Operations
As Director of Operations at Wren, Greg Grote oversees the specification, development, and production of hardware. Grote brings 20 years of product development experience and 27 years of overall engineering and production-related experience to his role. Prior to working with Wren, Grote served as a Product Engineer for Westinghouse for seven years, earning two Engineering Achievement Awards, one for development of a hardware and software system for analyzing preventative maintenance test data for nuclear reactor components, and the other for a piece of software which analyzed cooling of critical components. Grote then shifted his focus to product development and spent four years with GE, earning another award for his part in producing the first UL-listed medium voltage (5kV - 15kV) switchgear. Grote also spent 10 years designing electro-mechanical products for ABB and two years with Aperion Energy Systems (a small technology company that was spun off from ABB) designing hydrogen fuel cells and related equipment.
Grote holds two U.S. patents. He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University.
Mark Kunze - Director of Finance
Mark Kunze serves as Director of Finance at Wren, where he manages all finance, accounting and administrative functions for the company. With more than two decades of experience in finance management for private enterprises, Kunze brings a wealth of experience in directing the financial affairs of growing companies to Wren.
After receiving a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, Kunze joined Modern Business Systems as Auditing Manager. During his 12 years at the company, Kunze was promoted to Accounting Manager and finally Controller. During this same period, Modern Business Systems grew from a $20 million to a $140 million company.
In 1993, Kunze joined Metal Culverts, Inc. as Controller, where he directed the finance group and supervised all accounting, auditing, budgetary and administrative activities. Kunze also was responsible for the due diligence for Metal Culvert, Inc.'s acquisitions.
Given his extensive experience with financial management for growing companies, Kunze is prepared to ensure the financially sound growth of Wren over the coming years.
Eric C. White - Director of Retail Strategy
With a breadth of experience in both retail and physical security, Eric C. White is a recognized expert in retail loss prevention, homeland security, global retail asset protection, crisis management, executive protection and corporate security. Mr. White joined Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. as an In-Store Loss Prevention Associate and was promoted seven times during his 17-year career with the retail giant. Ultimately serving as Director of Global Readiness and Integration and New Market Asset Protection, he developed enterprise-wide programs to protect the corporate brand, people, and physical assets and to bring industry best practices into new markets around the world.
From there, Mr. White went on to serve as Division Director of Asset Protection at The Home Depot where he was responsible for profit protection, shrink reduction, facility safety, crime prevention and response, and environmental and regulatory compliance for 800 stores and an organization of more than 760 asset protection professionals under his direct leadership.
In addition to his work in the corporate arena, Mr. White has also been very active in the law enforcement community, serving as a commissioned police officer in the State of Arkansas for almost ten years, achieving the position of Major over Operations. In 2007, Mr. White was honored with the appointment of Diplomate status by the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security (ABCHS) for his innovative work and leadership in the in the Private Sector and currently serves on the board of directors and as a Faculty Instructor for ABCHS. Mr. White is also an adjunct professor for the Institute for Corporate and Public Safety.
Mr. White holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminology from the Northern Illinois University and a Graduate Certificate in International Security Management from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies.
Carla Dowden - Director of Human Resources
Carla Dowden has served as Director of Human Resources at Wren since 1999. With 15 years of experience in Human Resources, Dowden has extensive experience in all aspects of the profession including recruitment, employee relations, counseling, training, policy development and benefits management.
After receiving her Bachelor in Business Administration from Southwest Missouri State, Dowden joined Jefferson City Medical Group, where she served as Human Resources Director from 1992 - 1999. During that time, the company grew from 30 to more than 400 employees. Dowden was responsible for scaling Human Resources programs and staff to accommodate the company's growth.
Dowden earned her PHR (Professional in Human Resources) certification in 2001 and is a member of the Human Resources Association of Central Missouri. She also serves as co-chair of the Human Resources Committee for the Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce and contributes her many talents to non-profits including Big Brother's Big Sister's, Bowl for Kids' Sake and March of Dimes.