Brent Cooper CEO, Founder and sole-owner of C-Forward, one of the top 25 largest IT firms in Greater Cincinnati and one of the top ranked Managed Service Providers (MSP) in the world (current global ranking of #280 out of over 15,000 applicants).

A graduate of Leadership Northern Kentucky (2005) and Leadership Cincinnati (2016), Cooper serves on the boards of several prominent community/civic/business organizations. These include the Kentucky State Chamber Board, Northern Kentucky University (NKU) Foundation Board, Gateway Community and Technical College Foundation Board, the Northern Kentucky Education Council Board and the MeetNKY Board.

A former Board Chair of both the NKY Chamber (2011-2012) and the Northern Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (2007-2009), Cooper has received a number of awards over the years. These honors include the Covington Business Council’s Founders Award (2019), Covington Education Foundation’s Person of the Year (2017), Kentucky Board of Education’s Joseph Kelly Award (2016) and Children Inc’s Charity in Action Award (2015).

Additionally, he has received 4C for Children’s Champion for Children Award (2014), the NKY Chamber’s Unity Award (2014), the Boy Scouts Trailblazer Award (2013), the Kenton County Library Mary Ann Mongan Award (2012). He is also a former recipient of the Northern Kentucky Area Development District’s Community Leadership Award (2005) and in 2006 he was named one of Greater Cincinnati’s top “40 under 40” leaders.

He became the NKY Chamber’s sixth president in 2017 and was named Cincinnati PRSA’s CEO Communicator of the Year in 2018.

A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Cooper is a proud father of two daughters, Emma and Sydney. He considers it an honor and privilege to lead the NKY Chamber’s ongoing efforts to foster a strong business climate and help our region be a wonderful place to live, work, play, learn and give back.

Brian Ruschman is the President of C-Forward. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 2000 from Thomas More University. He has over 25 years’ experience with computer networking and achieved many Microsoft certifications.

Brian currently serves as President on the Alumni Board of Thomas More University and is active in the Northern Kentucky community. He was selected as a member of the 35th anniversary class of Leadership Northern Kentucky 2014. Brian enjoys volunteering for a variety of different organizations including Special Olympics Campbell County and Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish.

He enjoys spending time with his family, baseball, bourbon and attending concerts. He lives in Alexandria with his wife Katie and their sons Dylan and Parker.

Dale Silver joined the firm in 2012 and was promoted to Vice President Client Services in 2017 to respond to the growth of the company and the importance of solidifying client relations. As a Senior Sales Executive with over 30 years of experience in direct selling and sales management, she built her career with a philosophy of providing outstanding customer service to all clients.

She loves volunteering and has served on many boards including president of the Rosie Reds, NKY Chamber Board, Covington Business Council, Leadership NKY Graduate and Chair Class 2002. Her accomplishments include the honor of winning the Ruth A. Eger Leader of Distinction award, Outstanding Women of Northern Kentucky award and the Walter L. Pieschel award from the NKY Chamber of Commerce and the recent Rising Stars award in 2024.

Next to her love of volunteering, she loves watching her nieces/nephews play sports. You’ll now find her remodeling her new “old” home, cheering at Reds games, collecting art deco or rescuing animals. She lives in Western Hills with her rescue CaraMia. Cara comes to work every day to bring cheer to everyone she sees, wagging her tail ferociously until you pet her.

Kevin Stiverson is the Vice President of Project Services. In his over 24 years of IT, he has obtained certifications from Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, Dell, and HP. Kevin’s recent projects include moving servers from physical to virtual, Windows Server with Exchange and SQL implementations, and several migrations to Office365.

Because of his in-depth analytic skills, Kevin was promoted to Professional Services Manager in 2012, and promoted to Vice President in 2017. He is the senior lead on analyzing, designing and implementing projects for new and existing clients.

He lives in Covington, KY with his wife. He has 2 wonderful daughters. He enjoys a variety of outdoor activities.

Ben Virost has been with C-Forward since 2006 and was promoted to Technical Services Supervisor in 2014. He is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University. He manages several of the technicians you meet at your place of business.

Patrick Bitters was promoted to Centralized Services Supervisor in 2017 having been with C-Forward since 2008. He is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University. He has extensive experience with Windows 7/8/10, Server 2008/2012, Exchange 2010/2013, Office 2010/2013 and other Microsoft products. He is a seasoned expert with hardware solutions from HP, Dell, Cisco, Sonicwall, and other leading industry vendors.

He has managed networks with 100+ machines, clients having multiple locations utilizing a variety of applications. He continues to be involved in implementing and maintaining our Managed Backup Disaster Recovery solution.

Todd Rohrer was promoted to Supervisor in 2021 after joining C-Forward in 2019. He started at the University of Cincinnati in Electrical Engineering, but after a few years he decided to move into IT when he heard about a new technology called Cloud Computing. He acquired an Associate’s degree from Cincinnati State before changing over to Xavier University for a Liberal Arts degree. With his degree, Todd began his career in IT and has accumulated over 20 years of technical experience.

During college he worked for a small business where he was promoted to the Director of IT. After 7 years with a company of 30 users, it was acquired by a medium size company of 1,500 users. Three years later, that company was acquired by a large 150,000 user company with offices in 28 countries. These acquisitions have provided Todd with experience ranging from small businesses to large multi-national enterprise networks.

His hobbies include: working on his car, playing musical instruments, skiing, kayaking, hanging out with friends. He also volunteers at the Newport Aquarium as part of their Scuba Dive Crew. Check out Todd on the Aquarium’s social media site while he’s swimming with the sharks.

He lives in the Kenwood area with his rescue dog named Todd. *Yes, the dog’s name was Todd when Todd adopted him. “Todd the Tech” was also adopted and they both have red hair, hence, a match made in heaven.

Dylan Strong is a Service Response Technician and joined C-Forward in 2022. He is from Dry Ridge, KY.

He attended the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

He is a big fan of tabletop games, especially chess and Dungeons & Dragons. He plays chess in tournaments and enjoys playing large campaigns with friends.

Hannah Francis has been with C-Forward in the Client Services department since 2014. In addition to helping to resolve client issues, she is also responsible for billing, accounting and assisting with day-to-day internal operations. She helps to coordinate our community outreach opportunities for C-Forward’s employees. Her previous experience handling the front office administrative work at Papa John’s has proven to be a benefit in automating many processes at C-Forward.

Hannah loves to read, play softball, and spending time with her dog, Gus, and two children.

Jamie Liles joined our Client Services Team as the Scheduling Coordinator/Admin Assistant. She has ten years prior experience as a 911 Dispatcher for Kenton County Kentucky. This knowledge has proven beneficial in allowing her to effectively work with assigning client issues to technicians thus coordinating the resolution of technology issues that are encountered on a regular basis. Jamie’s skill set encompasses coordinating the company website and planning company events.

Jamie enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, John and 2 children. Her hobbies include swimming, golfing and house hunting.

Justin Leatherman joined C-Forward as a Service Response Technician in 2022. He had been developing his interest in Information technology and, starting out at the Help Desk as an SRT, was a perfect exposure for him to learn IT from his peers and other more experienced technicians. Before joining the C-Forward team, he was in the lawn care industry designing landscapes, later transitioning into a turf management role. In addition, he worked closely with clients in a customer service capacity and realized he enjoyed interacting with customers to assist in resolving their issues.

Justin excelled at learning the technical knowledge necessary to be promoted to Technician within two years of joining C-Forward. He has attained several certifications toward achieving his Bachelor of Science in Network Engineering and Security.

He moved his family to Cincinnati in 2021 from Fort Wayne, IN where they were initially from. Justin really enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and daughter hiking, camping, and occasionally climbing.

Regina Woerner is a Service Response Technician having joined C-Forward in 2017. She is originally from Philadelphia, PA where she attended Temple University. Relocating to Cincinnati in 2014, she currently resides in the Mt. Washington area of the city.

She is still a huge fan of all Philadelphia sports (we’re trying to convert her) but she also enjoys cooking, walks through her neighborhood, and spending quality time with her girlfriend and their 3 dogs.

Shauna Bomkamp joined C-Forward in January 2023 as our Executive Coordinator. She is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a B.B.A. in Accounting. She began her career as an accountant specializing in General Ledger and Financial Reporting for both large and small businesses. She later established her own small business, which she operated for approximately 15 years, handling claims submission and follow-up as well as financial analysis for her clients in the field of mental health.

Shauna enjoys nature hikes, yoga, and any vacation spots with mountains. She loves spending time with her husband and daughters (playing weirdly complicated board games while trying out new cocktails) and with her adorable cockapoo, Rosie.

Andrew joined our team in 2007 as a tech, and was promoted to the Purchasing Specialist in 2012. In this role, he continues to work on perfecting the processes within the purchasing team and automating the system where possible. He has over 10 years of experience and holds Microsoft and Dell certifications.

In his spare time, Andrew enjoys being with his family and keeping up on technology. Since he lives near the river, he loves to fish but also enjoys woodworking which led him to become involved in 3D printing.

Alex Fitzer joined C-Forward in 2021 as a Network Engineer adding to our growing list of technical experts. He attended college at the University of Louisville then made his way north to attend Northern Kentucky University where he achieved a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Technology focusing on IT Security and cloud computing.

Working in the field of IT for over 11 years it has become a lifetime passion. His experience is varied including the life and times in small companies where he was the sole technological resource manager all the way to huge corporations with locations around the globe. He missed the feel of a smaller company so was happily welcomed at C-Forward.

Alex has lived in Kentucky all his life and became a statewide legend as champion bowler in high school. He’s also became an ESPN star when he shot a live basketball video at NKU that was featured on the station.

His interests are varied – collecting vintage media and technology, following Cincinnati sports and exploring the country of Japan.

Austin joined C-Forward in 2019 in our Centralized Services division. He is an Engineer handling the internal support of the various software that C-Forward deploys. He attended Northern Kentucky University and received a Bachelor in Computer Information Technology.

Having hailed originally from Chicago, Austin lives on the eastern side of Cincinnati. In his free time, he enjoys playing bass and spending time with his wife and friends. He has 2 delightful cats named Dex & Bella.

Bobby is proud to have been born and raised in Cincinnati. He attended the University of Cincinnati which started his interest and expertise in the world of information technology. He now has over 20 years experience as a Systems Administrator having worked in several large companies. He has had the chance to engage in many facets of technology in his career, and this experience, coupled with his “Nice guy” personality, lends well to his position in our Managed Services Provider environment.

He jumped across the river in 2010 and now lives in Northern Kentucky. He has three sons Robbie, Kody & Jack. In his free time he plays an occasional round of golf and also likes to work on projects around the house. Having come from an Italian family, he loves to cook. His specialty is making homemade Chicken Alfredo that he prepares and enjoys with his family and friends.

Charlie Bowen joined C-Forward as a Network Engineer in 2019 after retiring from Northern Kentucky University. For over 19 years, he provided IT and project expertise to the Natural Science Departments and the College of Informatics. During his tenure at NKU, he excelled at managing and forecasting the unique technology needs of the STEM and Informatics disciplines. His strong personal relationships and deep understanding of higher education’s processes allowed him to provide exceptional service and support that was recognized and respected within the college.

He has a Bachelor Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville and a MS in Information Systems from NKU. He has previously served as the Executive Director of the regional international science fair, SEFNK. He is the technology coordinator for his church, Madison Avenue Christian Church.

Charlie enjoys traveling with his wife and son, going to Reds games, exploring the Bourbon Trail and any special event that involves bourbon or beer tastings.

Chuck Hicks joined C-Forward in 2017 with a vast array of technical experience. He attended Pikeville College and played football for “Da Bears”. After tiring of computer science classes he decided to go to BCTCS and graduate with a technical degree. After graduation, he took a position managing the City of Paintsville website and assumed the role of “Technology Director” of “Home-Town TV” a public access TV station managed by the city. He managed the TV station for about 3 years before moving to Lexington with his wife. Chuck worked for several Managed Service Providers over the next 7 years and then reunited with his friend, Matt, who also works at C-Forward.

His Microsoft Certifications are extensive including MCP, MCTS, MCSA and Cisco Certified Network Associate, Citrix Certified, Datto T1 Certified, Sophos UTM Cert Engineer.

His hobbies include having a Home Command Center, website design, Video & Photo editing, Gaming or washing his car and spending time with his wife when she asks nicely. Ask him to share his short but infamous tennis career next time he’s drinking bourbon and smoking cigars on the golf cart.

Dan began his career in 2006 consulting for several small organizations. In 2011, he joined Pure Romance in Cincinnati as a Help Desk Engineer. Gaining experience in the technology field, he transitioned and was promoted into a Senior Network Administrator. Dan has worked in many areas of technology including disaster recovery solutions, voice & data and enterprise level server, network and storage infrastructures.

He joined C-Forward in 2016 as a Network Engineer and thoroughly enjoys meeting and assisting our clients. His knowledge of MAC’s, and related software, has brought another avenue of strength to our C-Forward team.

In his free time Dan enjoys fishing, tending to his farm and playing with his 3 dogs, a Beagle, Jack Russel and Shar Pei.

Dino Bonomini joined C-Forward as a Network Engineer. He is proud to have been born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. He attended La Salle High School and Cincinnati State Technical & Community College majoring in PC Support & Administration. After graduating college in 2016, he worked internally at a staffing agency for 4 years. After a merger, they asked him to join their team where he worked for an additional 2 years and began to understand the MSP model for IT firms. This brought him to C-Forward in 2022.

When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with my wife (Rachel), daughter (Lenora), and Frenchie (Romeo). We enjoy the outdoors and travel as much as possible. If I’m not home working on the house or yard, I am either on the golf course, drinking beer (probably at a brewery), or watching sports.

My goal is to keep progressing in my IT career while I also work on my lifetime dream of becoming a professional golfer and/or coach to teach how to “hit ‘em straight!”

Herb Schaffner is a Network Engineer and has been in the IT field for 22 years, holding several degrees and certifications within the industry. He grew up around computers, as his father ran an IT consulting firm in the Cincinnati area for 30 years. Herb has experience with programming, networks, databases, architecture, project management, hardware, and software solutions. His broad expertise in the field brings extensive knowledge and problem solving to assist in resolving client issues.

In 2007, Herb moved to work in Europe and Southeast Asia for 7 years to work for Consortium Companies. During his stay, he became fluent in Chinese. In 2014, Herb returned to the USA and moved to the Northern Kentucky area in 2015.

In his time off, Herb enjoys sleeping!

Jason Strange has worked 10 years in the IT industry with an Associate’s Degree in Computer Science. He has experience in systems administration including analyzing, designing, installing, maintaining and repairing hardware and software on client networks. He excels at troubleshooting and technical support abilities with RF, PC, wireless, printers and general computer equipment. With this extensive knowledge, he’s proud of developing exceptional relationships with co-workers, management and most importantly, our clients. He enjoys problem solving and going the extra mile to ensure client’s problems are addressed

Jason loves the outdoors including hunting, fishing and the responsible use of guns.

Joe Madden is a skilled Network Engineer, bringing over 15 years of experience in Information Technology. Joe is a Microsoft Certified Professional with experience in many Microsoft applications, ranging from Servers, Routers, Firewalls, Active Directory and Desktop Support.

In his spare time, he enjoys coaching youth sports and traveling. Joe lives in Indiana with his wife and two boys and a beautiful chocolate lab – Dierks Bentley.

Joe is a Network Engineer who joined the C-Forward team in early 2023. As a lifelong Kentucky native, he acquired a knack for computers since high school, having built his own PC for fun. He joins C-Forward with an enthusiasm of continuing to learn and expand his knowledge and offer quality assistance to clients. Since starting his IT career over a decade ago, Joe has excelled at learning different systems and programs well, quickly giving him the opportunity to advance his career.

Joe is committed to helping our community with his IT knowledge. Outside of work, Joe enjoys spending time with family, being outdoors, and building things from Legos to sheds.

Joey Isaacs recently joined C-Forward as a Network Engineer. He has more than 25 years of experience in the IT field. His background includes expertise in the Finance, Health and Manufacturing IT environments. Working in the engineering field originally, just migrated over to IT to help with the new CAD technology as it was emerging. In the 25 plus years within the IT industry, he has had a vast exposure to the ever changing hardware and software advances. He has completed several continuing education classes throughout his career including desktop, server and network hardware and software administration.

Joey has 2 adult sons and daughters-in-laws as well as 4 grandchildren that he enjoys spending as much time with them as possible. His hobbies include flight sims, sim racing, firearms enthusiast and enjoying time with family and friends.

Joshua Drennen is a Network Engineer with 10 years of experience in the IT industry. He graduated from the University of Akron with a Cisco Networking degree. After graduation, Joshua worked in the manufacturing industry where he developed a skillset that is broad in supporting IT infrastructure. He then focused his skillset on network design & support at a Cleveland based ISP for data & hosted VoIP.

He moved to Covington at the beginning of 2020 and joined the C-Forward team with the intent to use his skillset to help his new community.

Outside of work, Joshua enjoys fishing, going for hikes or just working in his backyard garden. The garden led to his passion for cooking! Having been born and raised in Akron, he is a Cleveland sports fan, will always root for Cleveland sports and loves Cleveland sports and will obviously continually remind everyone of that. However, he is excited for his next chapter in Covington!

Mason Sale joined the C-Forward team in 2023 as a Network Engineer. From a young age, Mason had an affinity for computers, sparked by his dad who built him a computer when he was just 2 1/2 years old. This passion continued to grow, leading him to attend a vocational school in IT, where his talent was quickly recognized. Mason initially attended Purdue University with a focus on IT but later switched to journalism while continuing to minor in IT. He ultimately returned to the IT field after discovering his passion for technology was undeniable. Mason began his career by volunteering at a local gym in his hometown, where he helped manage their IT systems. His dedication and skills did not go unnoticed, a recruiter placed him in a contract position, paving the way for his future in the industry.

Mason’s professional journey led him to a small Managed Services Provider where he was promoted to Junior Network Administrator. After leaving that firm, Mason joined Carl Zeiss Vision Inc., where he had the opportunity to work alongside Tim Campbell. Over the course of five years, Mason was promoted to Senior Team Lead. In this role, he was responsible for managing calls, agents, projects, maintaining customer relationships, and collaborating with the global team in Germany. Mason’s ability to coordinate with colleagues and handle various aspects of the business made him an invaluable asset to the company.

Now at C-Forward, Mason continues to excel in his role as a Network Engineer, drawing on his diverse background and experiences to contribute to the team’s success.

C-Forward welcomed Nick Nelson to our team in 2022 as a Network Engineer. He’s been a lifelong Tri-State local, currently married with a stepdaughter. Taking old school programming like Visual Basic in high school, he found he had a knack for IT. Nick was a tech intern and ended his high school career with A+ certification classes.

An NKU graduate, he attended for studies in Information Technology with a major in Media, pursuing filmmaking until taking a job at Kroger’s IT Help Desk. Eventually, Nick decided to expand his knowledge and skill set and came to work at C-Forward. He has thoroughly enjoyed the transition as he states, “I have been loving it here, especially being the smaller and focused tight-knit family that we are!”

Outside of C-Forward, Nick enjoys spending time with his new family and being a good stepdad. He enjoys tinkering with old technology he finds while thrifting and making them come to life again. His other interests include studying music, photography and whiling away the day delving into historical facts. Eventually he wants to retire to Germany, where his mother is from.

Randy Hamlin is a Network Engineer with more than 20 years in the computer industry. He has provided support to both residential and commercial clients. He brings a wide array of hardware and software diagnostics experience complimented by exceptional customer service skills that he uses daily with the C-Forward Support Team. Supporting Microsoft Windows Desktop and Server operating systems, Office 365 and Backup Cloud solutions combined with the adaptive support for many other applications within our clients locations are some of his areas of expertise. Randy works remotely most of the time but also visits clients as needed for our non-profits, businesses, industrial manufacturing, city offices and schools districts.

Prior to getting involved in the computer industry, he used to customize cars and install high end audio and security systems, including sound challenge competitions for over 10 years. That experience of clean installations and wiring practices carry over today in the IT Field.

During his free time, he has a passion for cars whether it is working on them or going to car shows, including performance additions or show aspect with everything that surrounds them.

Foosball (Table Top Soccer) is also a passion, having played in many local and state tournaments, he had the privilege of playing in the U.S. Open in Chicago and the International Foosball Championships in Las Vegas. Other interests include Pistol Shooting (Tactical / Target – Sport) where Randy can blow off steam after a high paced work week.

Randy has also ran a DJ Service in the past for over 10 years and that experience allows him to provide the great customer service work for our C-Forward clients whether it be with one person or a group of 300 in a room when needed.

Susan Walker is a Network Engineer and a valuable asset of C-Forward.  She is the go-to tech when you need a creative mind to solve a problem without being physically onsite.  Her IT career began as a frustrated end-user in 1996 and flourished as a PC technician shortly thereafter.  Susan has achieved her A+ as well as other manufacturer certifications.  Susan is a Microsoft Certified Professional and a Small Business Specialist.  In addition to PCs, Susan is an expert in Windows Servers, Virtual servers, Microsoft Exchange, and pretty much anything that touches a small business network!

Susan lives with her Husband, Greg, and 4 dogs, Dali, Popcorn, Opie, and Andy.  Her favorite quote is “I am not just a technician, I am an end user also!”

Chris Turner joined C-Forward with 12 years of experience in the IT field. He began his work in the internal IT area and then moved to the MSP world in 2019. Chris is ITIL Foundation v3 certified. His plans are to complete Azure certifications since IT is moving to cloud based computing.

Turner spends a great deal of his free time with his children. He enjoys playing disc golf, loves cooking and tries a new dish every weekend. Enjoys movies and has at least one movie night each week.

Matthew Edwards joined C-Forward in August 2024 and has enjoyed getting to know the team. Edwards spent 3 years at Zeiss working closely with on a team with Mason and Tim (now with C-Forward). Eventually becoming Lead Network Integrations Specialist, where helped connect Zeiss medical equipment to various electronic medical record systems across the nation.

He worked for a small MSP, during the height of COVID. That experience gave him valuable insights into the IT world and laid a strong foundation for his career. While working towards his degree in computer science from Gateway Community College, he was also part of the IT team at a local Amazon warehouse.

Cincinnati is his home having been born and raised here. Matthew is oldest of three, with siblings being 10 and 8 years younger. Being a big brother and a good role model to them is something he prides himself on.

Matthews’s interest in technology started very young. Growing up, he loved figuring out how things worked by taking devices apart and putting them back together, just to understand the inner workings.

When not working, he enjoys modding video games or trying out different ways to emulate retro games on various devices. He also enjoys spending time with cats, Hide & Noctis, watching the Bengals, and gaming with friends.