Thomas Flake is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio and a 1984 graduate of Archbishop Moeller High School. After high school he attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio for one year prior to enlisting in the Naval Nuclear Power Program. During his 8.5 year career he was certified as a Mechanical Operator, Engineering Laboratory Technician, Radiological Shift Supervisor and Canberra Multi-Channel Analyzer Operator.
After leaving the Navy in 1994 Mr. Flake started a business, Synergy Consultants, which provided Computer education seminars, software development and outsourced desktop support to the Internet Service Provider community. In 1998 Synergy Consultants was merged with another company, iTribe, and with outside investors contributing $1 MM, formed Picus, LLC. a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier. During the next two years, Picus invented flat rate long distance, bundled local, long distance and Internet Access, and SS7 enabled Toll-grade Voice Over Internet Protocol. Also during this period Picus raised over $17 MM in direct investment from accredited investors and another $50MM in loans from vendors (Nokia, Nortel, Coppercom and GE Capital), merged with or acquired seven other companies and grew its customer base to over 35,000 customers in the Mid-Atlantic region. As VP of Business Development and later as Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Flake was integral to all of these activities. In 2000 Picus’ ability to raise additional capital was impeded by the market crash and the company declared bankruptcy.
Later in 2001, Mr. Flake founded TeliOn, the first of its kind municipal area wireless network for Internet access. The company was sold in 2002 to Pinnacle Online. Also in 2002 Mr. Flake joined Jacobs Engineering, a Fortune 500 firm, as a Project Manager.
In 2004 Mr. Flake received his B.S. (Cum Laude) from Old Dominion University School of Business and Public Administration with a major in Decision Science (Quantitative Methods), and minors in Business Administration and Information Systems.
In 2004 Jacobs Engineering won the largest contract ever awarded by NASA’s Langley Research Center, the ROME contract and Mr. Flake was promoted to Manager Information Technology Projects. In 2005 his responsibilities were expanded to include all aspects of managing the team responsible for Information Technology infrastructure including desktop support, server management, data acquisition systems at the five largest wind tunnels and Information Technology Security. During his tenure customer feedback scores began in the 80’s but quickly rose to over 99% and remained there for over four years. In 2005 Mr. Flake was certified a Project Management Professional (PMP).
In 2007 Mr. Flake graduated Summa Cum Laude from The College of William and Mary’s Executive MBA program and in 2008 he was certified by NASA as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. A year later he was certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
In 2009 Mr. Flake accepted re-assignment as became responsible for all aspects of Jacobs-ROME organizational development, marketing, and Minority Serving Institution outreach. During his tenure ROME’s customer scores increased from the low 90’s to over 96%, also during this period the organization and numerous individuals were recognized for their outstanding contribution to the center.
In 2011 Mr. Flake was informed that his position was being eliminated due to NASA budget cuts and he decided to return to entrepreneurship. In October of 2011 he and a partner purchased VBB Communications, rebranded it as Utility Scale Computing and re-launched the company.
In 2012 Mr. Flake joined with the National Institute of Aerospace and proposed the creation and funding of a small business Incubator on the peninsula to leverage the enormous potential represented by the proximity of Langley Research Center, National Institute of Aerospace, Jefferson Labs, Hampton University, Christopher Newport University and The College of William and Mary. On April 12th, 2012 the Peninsula Technology Incubator (PTI) opens for business.