Board of Directors

Joel has been supporting businesses for more than fifteen years at “Sotapop Consulting” focusing on Point of Sale / Restaurant / Technology Outsourcing to assist:

1. Restaurants or Retail seeking a fair/attainable Point of Sale solution
2. Restaurants or Retail seeking assistance with existing systems – software & hardware one-stop shopping for support, training & projects
3. Full scale outsourced IT services to the hospitality & retail industries

If you know of a restaurant having challenges with Technology or simply interested in becoming more efficient in their use of Technology, Sotapop Consulting can be of tremendous benefit to them.

Specialties:

• Point Of Sale Expert (on multiple platforms)
• Computer IT Outsourcing
• Practically anything Windows & several Mac platforms
• Surveillance Systems
• Wiring & Connectivity

Jake West is the Senior Vice President of Sales for GoTab, a Restaurant Commerce Platform. Jake is responsible for GoTab’s sales strategy, integrated payments and leads strategic partnerships. Prior to joining GoTab, Jake was the Director of Business Development for Vend, a Global Retail Point of Sale platform. Jake developed Vend’s partner ecosystem which was Vend’s fast growing and most successful sales channel. Jake has an expertise in integrated payments, and was a key sales leader at Mercury Payments, leading Mercury’s ISV growth strategy. As Mercury was acquired, Jake then lead Vantiv Integrated Payments and ultimately Vantiv, now Worldpay’s, payment facilitation channel.

As Director, ISV and Channel Partners at Blackhawk Network, Jarrod Newman brings more than 20 years of experience in the payments industry to guide brands in navigating emerging software and technology opportunities. Jarrod delivers a strong technical background alongside the skills and relationships that drive lasting connections with clients and leaders in the payments industry. Prior to joining Blackhawk Network, Jarrod served in sales leadership and business development roles for Worldpay and Chase Paymentech. He is a member of the National Association of Convenience Stores and the National Grocers Association, and is active in the Retail Solutions Providers Association.

Rene Stai is Head of Marketing at LOC Software, where she leads the company’s marketing strategy, and execution for LOC and LOC’s value added reseller (VAR) partners. Before her time at LOC, she held various positions in her VAR career, including training design, implementation, product management, and Software Director roles. She strongly values connections and building strong relationships. In addition, Rene takes pride in understanding the market and identifying and strategizing efficiencies.

I have worked in the Hospitality Industry for almost 40 years, the first 15 or so in the Restaurant business and the last 25 in the POS and Hospitality Technology business. I have worked for a Positouch VAR, MICROS and most recently spent almost 10 years managing the North American Channel for Aloha. I spent two years as a member of the RSPA staff as Member Strength Coach and VP of Sales. 2 1/2 years ago I joined Tabit to help launch their North American Channel business. As an active member of the RSPA I look forward to the opportunity to serve the Association Board if selected by the members.

Vice President and Co-Owner of Skurla’s POS Solutions, Thomas has been with the company for over 14 years. Being in the Information/Technology field for over 25 years, he is also a PCI SSC Qualified Integrator and Reseller (QIR). He spearheaded Skurla’s sales development in merchant service processing, growing that revenue stream by 520% over 7 years. His passion for technology and the VAR channel shows with his love of helping others find success, his affinity for bleeding edge tech, and living up to his core values in both his personal and business life. A strategic minded leader with an arguably “great” sense of humor, Thomas is also a member of several RSPA committees and strives to give back more value to the VAR community than he has received over years.

He also enjoys music, guitars, history, archeology, art, photography/videography, podcasting, woodcarving, and spending time with his family.

I was born and raised in Nashville, TN and still live in my hometown with my wife, Kara. I began working for DCR as a helpdesk agent in 2012, so I have been in and around the Point of Sale and Payments business for the past 10 years, eventually becoming the Director of Hospitality Solutions. A lifetime student, I most recently finished my Masters in Business in 2020, but I don’t think I will ever be done with formal education. When I’m away from work, I enjoy playing golf, streaming on Twitch, reading, and pretending I’m a BBQ Pitmaster.

Dan Jablons worked in retail while attending the Ohio State University. He has worked with retailers such as Walmart, Target, JC Penney, Jimmy Choo, Oakley, Tumi, Hollywood Bowl, etc. He has piloted vendor-managed inventory programs, installed over 400 POS systems, , and is now one of retail’s most respected planners. In addition to his vast retail background, Dan is also an actor. He was Larry David’s lawyer on Curb Your Enthusiasm, and has been in lots of commercials, TV, and film. Dan combines his extensive knowledge of retail with his comedy skills to become one of the industry’s most popular consultants and speakers.

Glen has been in the AIDC/POS Industry since 1992. He started his career at Stratix (Formerly Bar Code Systems) in Sydney Australia. He then worked for Datalogic (Formerly PSC) where he held the role of VP of Sales for the Americas. Glen Currently is a Sales Director at Zebra Technologies responsible for the DCS/EVM Portfolio in North America. In each of these positions Glen has worked extensively with the partners associated with the RSPA.

Glen has been associated with the RSPA-PC4-ICRDA for over 20 years and currently is an active member of the Membership Committee.

Glen resides in Jacksonville FL with his wife on 30 years and has a Son, a CPA in Washington DC, and a Daughter, pursing her Doctorate in Audiology in Austin Texas.

Benji Ellis is the Director of VAR Business Development for EVO Payments. He lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two daughters. Originally from Chicago, he moved down south after graduating from Indiana University. He began his career focused on Supply Chain Management but found his passion to be around improving customer interactions and experiences. After getting his MBA from Emory University, he moved into Sales where he’s able to work with customers to support their needs. Outside the office, he’s active in the community serving on local community boards. In his free time, he enjoys cycling and running.

Matt Dockrell leads the Product Partnerships for Pointy from Google. Like many RSPA members, Matt is passionate about technology, people, education and commerce. He has experience building partner programs, channel marketing, leading teams and scaling products through third parties. Matt has partnered with industry leading point-of-sale’s, payments companies, eCommerce platforms, data aggregators and a number of other types of retail tech companies/platforms. He brings a unique perspective to the board, having come from a small (international) start-up with just over a hundred employees to joining one of the biggest tech companies in North America through Google acquisition.

Lora Coggins is a Channel Sales Executive at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions working with dedicated business partners to accelerate digital transformation and advance the future of retail.

Lora has worked in the ever-shifting retail industry for over 36 years. Starting in her family ECR business, in 2000 joined TEC America in support, then quickly moved into sales leadership at Toshiba. Within RSPA, Lora has contributed as a committee member and participated in RetailNOW events for 19 years.

Her passion is problem solving and the ever-changing dynamics of retail afford the opportunity to use her energy to fuel solutions for retail partners.

Lora enjoys travelling, reading books and spending time with those closest to her.

Richard is a results-focused technology executive recognized for driving growth on a global scale in fast changing environments. He is a team builder, a team player, and a creative leader.

For over 10 years, Richard has led CyberLink’s worldwide marketing and Americas operations. Previously, he was respectively President of Nero and General Manager at Corel. Richard also worked at McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young.

He holds an MBA from Dartmouth College. He also graduated from the London Business School and HEC Montreal.

Tyler Botts, director of ISV Sales at Elo, has been serving the B2B technology market for over 15 years with experience in the reseller, distribution, and manufacturing sectors of technology products. Tyler has championed Elo’s ISV onboarding process by redesigning it to enable a smooth and welcoming partnership with Elo, the leading manufacturer of touchscreen solutions. In addition, he has designed the custom solutions process for ISVs, providing a seamless way for ISVs to develop unique solutions through a frictionless experience thanks to Tyler’s initiatives. Both efforts have provided extreme growth in the Elo ISV partnership base, bringing total Elo ISV relationships to surpass 350. Tyler also serves on the NextGen committee for RSPA and leads the development and design of the RSPA mentorship program. Tyler’s desire to drive the industry further through relationships and partnerships growth in the ISV market makes him the perfect candidate for the RSPA board.

Will has been around retail POS all his life, growing up in the family business with CAP Software, working in shipping/receiving, staging, sales, marketing, product development and partnership management. He took over the company in 2008 and managed the acquisition by POS Nation in 2020. He has been closely involved with the RSPA since 2002 with extensive experience as a VAR and an ISV. He currently serves as VP of Customer Success for POS Nation, a Direct Independent Software Developer. He looks forward to bringing his experience successfully meeting these challenges to the RSPA membership at large.