Roy Luebke: Cyber Security & Strategic Planning Expert

Navigating Department of Defense (DoD) regulations can be an intense task for small businesses and as Roy Luebke explains, there’s no getting around it. However, understanding and implementing the requirements has proven to be time-consuming and sometimes complicated.

Roy Luebke,
GENEDGE Innovation and Strategic Growth Consultant

As a Strategy, Innovation and Growth Consultant with GENEDGE Alliance, Roy recognized the gap between comprehension and implementation. While building the Cybersecurity practice within GENEDGE Alliance, he also created a structured method to providing guidance and support to help small businesses reach full compliance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).

“Since we started this, over four years ago, I’ve worked with more than 200 companies. The vast majority of them have under 20 employees,” said Roy.

The Alliance strategy includes partnering with different companies that have specific subject matter expertise. This has led to organizing the process into two phases. The first phase involves a semi-automated analysis of the business to determine gaps and the second phase involves remediation of those gaps and bringing the business up to specification.

This collaborative effort has also led to educational connections. While working with a Virginia community college that offered an Associate’s degree in cybersecurity, one of GENEDGE’s partners began hiring graduates as their subject matter experts. It linked the community college system with internships and then eventually full-time jobs. This provided an exciting opportunity for many established professionals interested in cybersecurity as a second career.

“There are a lot of jobs involved in this, when you think about it. Even though they might be small companies, we’re talking about a lot of companies,” Roy explained. “Out of the 200+ companies we’ve worked with, this probably involves well over 2,000 jobs around Virginia. So, it’s thousands of jobs that are directly protected through companies meeting these regulations and continuing to do business.”

In addition to guiding businesses through the DFARS process, Roy also offers his expertise in helping businesses understand the structured approach for researching their customers and markets to pinpoint business opportunities. He teaches the systemic way to break down those opportunities to figure out what new products, services, and offerings should be created, in order to grow the business.

While Roy’s career extends across many industries over 40 years, his current focus remains clear – Helping small businesses in Virginia to succeed.

“The benefit of GENEDGE Alliance is having that access to very highly skilled professionals. We’re able to provide high-level services to smaller companies at an affordable price,” said Roy. “We like working with small businesses and growing that entrepreneurial environment. That’s what we enjoy.”

Bert Eades Joins GENEDGE as Business Services Director for Operations Support.

Bert Eades, Longtime Manufacturing Management Pro, Joins GENEDGE Alliance

Bert Eades, Longtime Manufacturing Management Pro, Joins GENEDGE Alliance

We’re excited to welcome such an experienced professional to GENEDGE Alliance. Bert brings a deep understanding of manufacturing operations to our expert team of business services directors”

— Tony Cerilli, Vice President of Operations for GENEDGE Alliance.

MARTINSVILLE, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, March 21, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — GENEDGE Alliance, a state organization that delivers solutions to accelerate the growth of manufacturing companies throughout Virginia, announced that Bert Eades has joined the Alliance as Business Services Director for Operations Support. He will be based in Danville, Va., and will travel to different areas of
the Commonwealth to consult with clients looking to innovate, compete and thrive.

As a Business Services Director, Eades will provide specialist capabilities for GENEDGE Alliance and act as the knowledge management expert for the service areas of quality, risk management, safety, and cybersecurity/information technology (IT). He will collaborate with Regional Growth Managers to craft and execute a strategic solution path to meet the needs of GENEDGE Alliance clients in the manufacturing, engineering and technology industries.

A former manufacturing executive, Eades has led numerous large plant transformations, including performance turnarounds, rapid volume growth and product line changes. He has extensive experience as a supervisor, engineer, production manager and operations manager. For over 15 years, he served as a plant manager for companies such as Blue Ridge Fireboard, IKEA Industry, Elkay Manufacturing, Mohawk Industries, and Armstrong Flooring.

Eades earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. A resident of Danville, Va., he is an officer of the Pittsylvania County Public Library Foundation and served on the board of the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce for several years.

“We’re excited to welcome such an experienced professional to GENEDGE Alliance. Bert brings a deep understanding of manufacturing operations to our expert team of business services directors,” said Tony Cerilli, Vice President of Operations for GENEDGE Alliance. “He shares our organization’s commitment to positively impact the growth and prosperity of Virginia’s industry, particularly small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses.”
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About GENEDGE Alliance: GENEDGE Alliance is Virginia’s best public resource to help manufacturing and industry innovate, compete, and grow. GENEDGE delivers consulting-based expertise and technology transfer to over 200 Virginia companies each year and is part of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Network™, which provides access to industry-wide services and proven, results-based solutions. For more information, visit www.genedge.org.

How GENEDGE Assisted Client Dynamic Aviation, Inc With DFARS – 7012 Compliance

Learn how GENEDGE assisted Dynamic Aviation, Inc. with DFARS-7012 compliance.

Roy Luebke, GENEDGE Innovation and Strategic Growth Consultant, talks with Doug Pascarella, Dynamic Aviation, Inc., Vice President of Information Technology, about:

  • An overview of their DFARS – 7012 journey
  • Results they received
  • Impacts
  • Compliance tips for other manufacturers working on DoD contract