Meet our team | Over 100 years of experience at your fingertips.
Management Team
Mike Brogan – President/CEO/Principal
Mike Brogan began his journey with Erb's back in 1978 as a Sales Executive selling typewriters, dictation equipment and calculators. Since than, his responsibilities and roles have included Sales Manager and Vice President of Sales before joining the ownership team in 1984. As President/CEO of Erb's, Mike has seen 20 consecutive quarters of profitability, engaged in a number of community service activities including the <
Gary Denison – Executive Vice President/CFO/Principal
Gary Denison joined Erb's as their Office Manager back in August of 1977. A wearer of many hats, Gary has worked his way up the ladder earning the responsibilities of VP of Operations followed by his current position as the CFO/Vice President. Along with his colleagues, Gary joined the ownership team in 1984. In addition to his role at Erb's, Gary has been a member of the Cedar Rapids Financial Executives Club for over 15 years. He is also an active member of Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Gary graduated from Kirkwood Community College back in 1972 with a degree in marketing. Soon after he dedicated himself to his country, serving in the US Army during the Vietnam era. He earned his accounting degree during that time as well. In his free time, Gary is a frequent at Midwest Athletic Club where his love for health and physical fitness is a regular, daily routine. When's not at the gym or in the office, you can find him gardening or spending time with his dog companion, Simon. He's also has an interest sports cars, Porsche's to be exact, and when he's not fighting off the Iowa winters, you can find him in southern California where he travels often.
Jim Koch - Vice President/Principal
Jim Koch joined Erb’s team in August of 1998 as a Sr. Account Executive. He received his MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management in Chicago in the next year. During the first decade of his career with us, he focused most of his energy in the Public Sector arena. After only a short time, Jim accepted his current position as Vice President in 2008 joining the ownership team that same year. Since then, he has been instrumental in the growth and success Erb's has grown accustom too. He has been and is responsible for managing the sales organization and driving new customer growth, expanding wallet share with existing customers and growing revenue. Prior to Erb's, Jim served as District Sales Manager at ASAP Software Express (Buffalo Grove, IL). He is also a Hawkeye through and through graduating from the UofI with a major in Economics and a minor in Business Administration. As an active member of the community, Jim enjoys watching and coaching his two son's football and basketball teams. He's an avid Hawkeye fan and enjoys playing basketball a couple times a week, visiting with family and friends and traveling.
Kevin Torner - Vice President/Principal
Kevin Torner became a Sales Executive for Erb's back in 1982. During his tenure with Erb's he has been the one who's introduced the company to new, dedicated markets starting with our supplies solutions focus to currently our healthcare solutions focus becoming an HIPAA Certified Professional. As Vice President/Principal he has served on Boards for IBM, LEXMARK, Synnex and Heartland Technology Group and has numerous recognitions for outstanding performance by our key Vendor partners. In addition he has been on the Four Oaks Golf Classic Board of Directors since its inception, and after 17 years he has helped raised over $1.5 million for kids and family services by Four Oaks in Cedar Rapids. Kevin is a Hawkeye through and through graduating from the University of Iowa with a BA in marketing. He is an avid golfer, an Iowa Hawkeye, Green Bay Packer and New York Yankees fan. When he's not working closely with our Vendor partners and distributors, Kevin likes working out, outdoor cooking including smoking, BBQ and grilling. He also enjoys entertaining and is a Labrador lover owning two of his own, a black one named Butch and a yellow one named Gus.
Steve Bateman - Vice President/Principal
Steve Bateman joined Erb’s and the management team in 1996 accepting the position as the Technical Service Manager. After only a brief eight years, he joined his colleagues as a partner. Since his employment with Erb's he has been responsible for technical services delivery including the Service Dispatch, Services Management Desk, Network Operation Center and Field Support. Prior to becoming a member of the Erb’s Management Team, Steve held the position of Iowa District Service Manager for Best Buy Company based out of Des Moines (1986-1996). During that time, he received his Associate of Applied Science degree with emphasis in Computer Technology in 1987 from the National Education Center in Des Moines Iowa. Steve likes to spend his time outside the office with his wife and son. Together they enjoy a number of different things including spending time outdoors while sightseeing at Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Center, Morgan Creek and Lake McBride; trips to local parks, golfing and fishing, walking their dog and spending time with friends are also amongst those things.
Bryan Steffen - Vice President Operations
Bryan Steffen joined Erbs in June 2010. He is responsible for several key internal processes, primarily focusing on identifying and implementing an enterprise wide IT solution to handle CRM, quoting, sales orders, and service ticketing functions. Prior to joining Erb’s Bryan was a Business Unit Financial Analyst at GreatAmerica Leasing Company, a specialty financing company providing lease financing for office equipment. Prior to GreatAmerica, he was the Manager of Pricing Analysis for McLeodUsa and supported the Sales Department as the unit controller. Bryan is a graduate of Regis University in Denver, CO where he received his BA degrees in Professional Accounting and Business Administration. He has also received his MBA in Finance from the University of Iowa's, Tippie College of Business. In his free time, Bryan enjoys spending time with his family, participating in Boy Scouting, spending time in the outdoors and catching the Hawkeyes play whenever possible.
Leadership Team
Martin Thenhaus - Practice Manager
Martin Thenhaus joined Erb’s in January of 1981 as a Service Technician for IBM Typewriters, Kardex Filing Systems and Printers. Since then Martin has acclaimed accreditation for his outstanding performance in Service and was promoted to Practice Manager Team Lead of the Technicians Group in 2008. He holds certifications with CompTIA, A+ Certification, HP Printers, Lexmark Printers, Okidata Printers and Xerox Printers. In his free time you can find him outdoors either camping or boating with two daughters.
Neale Cornelius - Practice Manager
Neale Cornelius joined Erb’s in September 1994 and since then has held various positions including Service Technician, Senior Service Technician and Senior Systems Engineer with Erb’s. He has performed at various levels of support for clients in Cisco and Microsoft environments. He is proficient in all aspects of network installs and upgrades, anti-virus and system back ups and is adept with server hardware diagnostics and repair. Neale holds a number of notable certification with Microsoft, Vmware, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Citrix, Cisco and Watchgurard. Prior to joining Erb’s, Neale served as a network technician in the College of Education at Florida State University. He is currently the Practice Manager Team Lead of the Engineering group. In his free time, Neale likes spending time with family, grilling and enjoying his fire pit, time with friends and neighbors, traveling, photography and golf. You can also find him enjoying technology, video games and gadgets of any description.
