Our People

ACI employees stay current with the latest technology to offer the widest possible range of solutions to any business problem. Many of our employees have achieved professional certifications to assure our clients of our expertise.

Henry Bass

President

Henry Bass is ACI's founder, owner and President, since 1996. Henry enjoys all things technical, including websites and databases and Radio Controlled airplanes.  His Masters in Mechanical engineering focused on custom software extensions to 3D Computer Aided Design, and his MBA focused on factory automation and operations management. Henry was deployed to Iraq from 2008-2009 through the Army Reserves where he kept a blog at www.henrybass.com/blog. His wife of 21 years, Lisa, enjoys mothering ACI and their two boys, Eric and Ethan.  When not at work, Henry cherishes time with his family, leading Boy Scouts, coaching FIRST Lego League, and serving the Virginia Tech Army ROTC. He is certified in ColdFusion development and is a Certified Systems Engineering Professional.

Jim Wyers

CEO

Jim first came to ACI in May of 2005 after retiring from the US Army with almost 22 years of service. After a short time away from ACI, Jim returned to assume his primary role as CEO. His primary functions are to oversee the overall performance of ACI, make the day to day business decisions and keep the company focused on our customers. He also enjoys working daily with the department Directors on their short and long term projects, and provides the Directors all flexibility to manage their own teams. When not at work Jim enjoys spending most of his time with his family and all of the activities that go with having 13 and 10 year old children. He also spends a lot of his time coaching, refereeing and coordinating Upward Basketball. Jim enjoys refereeing high school football, all sports, both playing and watching, but draws his happiness and strength from his wife of almost 20 years, children and church.

Laureen Fleming

Director of Commercial Services

Laureen joined ACI in 1997 as a website designer and now manages the Commercial Services division.  Her primary roles include business development, proposal preparation, client liaison and project management.  These roles allow Laureen to work closely with the talented and hard working ACI employees as well as all our clients.  When not at work, Laureen enjoys spending time at home with her family including her husband and four children.  Laureen and her husband Doug are foster parents working with five agencies in the New River Valley.  Her other interests include swimming, reading and football.  The entire family loves to watch college football and root for the Hokies.

Rusty Riley

Senior Web Developer

Rusty has been with ACI since 1999. Wanting to remain in the NRV after graduating from Virginia Tech, Rusty was fortunate to have the opportunity to do US Army contract work for ACI. The focus there shifted from [classic] ASP to ColdFusion. Since then, projects include ACI Portal, Ames Textile Corporation and Zero3. Rusty now lives and works in North County San Diego.

Rob Woods

Senior Web Developer

Rob has been with ACI since the summer of 2001. He has worked on several large websites and is currently the primary developer for MatWeb, ACI's online materials database. He also played a big role in programming eMerchant, a software package providing online ecommerce capability for several of ACI's clients. eMerchant has processed over $5 million in online transactions. Rob works with .NET, classic ASP, PHP, SQL server, and handles some network administrator duties as well. Away from work, Rob and his wife Jeanne love spending time at home, taking on several remodeling and renovation projects.

Ed Harvey

Senior Graphic Designer

Starting out as an art major, Ed enjoyed working within the traditional mediums of oil paints, pencil drawings, and photography. But when he stumbled across a new program in computer art, he became hooked and decided to shift his focus to this new medium. In college, he transferred his traditional art skills onto the computer with programs such as Painter, Freehand and Photoshop. Then, when he was introduced to 3D modeling and animation with Maya, he fell in love with 3D graphics and never turned back. Today, with over 15 years professional experience in the field, he has kept his skills current and works in a variety of programs and languages, including Flash / ActionScript, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and HTML / CSS. Outside of work, Ed enjoys following college and professional sports, working on home improvement projects, and spending time with his wife and two young children.

Angela Combs

Accounting Manager

Angela has been with ACI since 2007. A CPA with a background in public accounting and private industry, Angela works part time handling ACI's finances. The remainder of her time is spent with her two children and trying to keep up with their busy schedules. She enjoys hiking, gardening and horseback riding.

Rick Rose

Web Application Developer

A husband, father, and self-proclaimed geek, Rick is an avid reader of material dealing with technology, mathematics, and philosophy.  He is fascinated by Albert Einstein, thrives on friendly competition, an admirer of history, and enjoys the outdoors.  He often listens to classic country and eighties hard rock while coding.  His work spans both public and private sectors with a diverse software engineering background.

Lisa Thompson

Systems Administrator

Lisa has been doing network and systems administration for over fourteen years. In addition to managing ACI’s servers, she also provides customer support and technical resolution.  In her free time, Lisa enjoys spending time with her husband and children, reading books (primarily fantasy and fiction) and just staying home and watching shows on her TiVo.

Richard Clayton

IT Trainer

Richard discovered his purpose in life at age five, when his father brought him to work to see the office's new CP/M desktop computer. Raised on a steady diet of positivism and Golden Age science fiction, he has always believed science and technology can help us make our lives richer, better, and longer. Six years of service in the United States Army segued into work as a private contractor, where he remains today. He has consulted on-site in both the Pentagon and the Middle East, and has provided technology briefings and training for generals and congressmen. Today, as an IT trainer and quality assurance specialist, he seeks always to bridge the gap between customer expectations and product performance, and he brings with him over ten years of experience and a contagious enthusiasm for technology. In his leisure time, Richard is still an avid reader of science fiction. He is also pretend CEO of a pretend corporation in an online game about pretend internet spaceships, which is actually more work than it sounds like.