Our Leadership Team

Proven experience leading teams focused on delivering great outcomes.

“The Pomeroy Way” is our guiding principle. It’s a conscious understanding that who we are as individuals and how we choose to interact with others is a direct reflection of who we are as a company and how we will be viewed as an organization. It defines our company and our culture as the place to be, the place to stay and the place to grow.

Bob Watts

Chief Executive Officer

Bob Watts is Pomeroy’s Chief Executive Officer focused on elevating the company’s growth, success, and overall strategic direction. As an industry and armed services veteran, he is a results-driven executive with a proven track record of increasing investor value.

Bob is an engaging leader who applies a direct, hands-on, operational approach to business and organizational improvement. As CEO he excels in building a high-performance executive leadership team that is decisive, persistent, and visionary.

Bob comes to Pomeroy with exceptional long-range opportunity and risk identification skills. In his decades of experience in business leadership with cybersecurity, software, and technology services companies, Bob has demonstrated consistent growth and success. Prior to joining Pomeroy, Bob was Founder and CEO of the nationally recognized cybersecurity firm Vivitec following executive positions at MicroStrategy, Parametric Technology, and Texas Instruments. Throughout his career, Bob has led organizations to capture over $1B of annualized services, license, and subscription growth.

Bob is exemplary in service to community and country. He began his career as an U.S. Army Aviation officer after graduating from West Point. With an affinity for people and technology, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy and a Master of Business degree in Organizational Management from the University of California, LaVerne. He serves on the boards of multiple community service organizations and ministries focused on children’s advocacy, hunger, and the special needs community.

Bob is a proven leader with strong character who inspires all those around him to bring their best every day.

John Blackburn

President

John Blackburn is the President of Pomeroy and is responsible for leading the company’s sales organization and revenue growth strategy. A 30+ year industry veteran, John joined Pomeroy after Pomeroy acquired Verity Solutions, where he was founder and President and CEO. During his career at Pomeroy, John has held various executive sales leadership positions in the company and has led efforts to expand the company’s customer base and grow the portfolio of managed service customers.

Prior to joining Pomeroy, John was President of FrontWay Network Solutions, and held various executive roles at SARCOM, The Future Now and Basicomputer. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree In Business Administration from The Ohio State University.

Kristi Nelson

Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel

Kristi Nelson is Pomeroy’s Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. She is responsible for the overall management of Pomeroy’s human capital management, legal affairs, risk management, and facilities.

She advises the Company on a wide range of matters including corporate compliance and strategic decisions, employee relations, company-sponsored group benefit plans and programs, workforce planning, training and development, compensation, employee retention, rewards and recognition, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as risk management, and other legal and regulatory matters.

Kristi earned her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and her Juris Doctor from Salmon P Chase College of Law. She is admitted to the Kentucky and Ohio bars. She currently serves on the St. Elizabeth Healthcare Board of Trustees, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center Corporation Board of Directors, and the Health Collaborative Board of Directors. She is a member of the Cincinnati Women’s Executive Forum and an advocate for the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center.

Bob Burlas

Chief Product Officer

Bob Burlas currently serves as Pomeroy’s Chief Product Officer. He manages the company’s overall Product Business and is responsible for its business partner relationships, product supply chain and procurement operations.

Bob started at Pomeroy as the Regional Vice President for the Cincinnati Region and expanded his role to include several geographic regions across the South & Central United States. Bob has over 30 years of worldwide sales, channel sales and technology industry experience. Prior to Pomeroy, he worked at Cisco Systems. He was responsible for establishing the worldwide channel strategy and partnerships for several of Cisco’s advanced technology solutions. Prior to Cisco, he held various worldwide sales and executive leadership positions at IBM and McDATA/Brocade.

Burlas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management/Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 1986 and an MBA degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1989. He is currently President of the Purdue University, Krannert School of Management Alumni Association and serves on the local Board of Directors for the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He is an Advisory Board Member for the Boiler Business Exchange of Indianapolis and serves on the Advisory Board for the Purdue University Fraternity, Sorority and Co-op Life organization. He is an avid runner and enjoys spending time with his family who reside in Westfield, IN a suburb of Indianapolis.

Brian Knob

Chief Financial Officer

Brian Knob is the Chief Financial Officer of Pomeroy and leads the company’s finance team encompassing accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, accounts receivable and payable, invoicing and tax.

Brian is an accomplished CFO/Financial Executive with 20+ years of experience leading financial strategy within multi-billion-dollar companies such as HP, CenturyLink, JP Morgan and Bank of America. Brian has held both domestic and global leadership roles within these organizations and helped lead them through transformations, restructuring, turnarounds, mergers & acquisitions, new business strategies and growth.

Brian earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics at State University of New York at Albany and his Masters of Business Administration in Finance at Pennsylvania State University.

Holly Clark

Senior Vice President of Technology

Holly Clark is Pomeroy’s Senior Vice President of Technology and is responsible for the Company’s technology strategy and delivery. Holly and her team support Pomeroy’s corporate systems, digital transformation, cloud solutions, infrastructure operations, customer applications, data insights, cyber security and compliance, and enterprise network.

Since joining Pomeroy, Holly has demonstrated a record of success in client service delivery and navigating large complex projects while driving business transformation and propelling customer satisfaction. She is passionate about learning and representing women in technology.

Holly is a Kentucky native and graduated from the University of Louisville where she was a National Championship Spirit Group member. She currently lives in Las Vegas, NV, with her partner and enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, biking, and the southwest sun.

Ray Chatary

Chief Services Officer 

Ray Chatary, Jr. is the Chief Services Officer  at Pomeroy and is responsible for the company’s service strategy and delivery execution. He brings 30 years of Managed IT Services experience which include leadership roles in Service Delivery, Account Management and Sales. Ray is known as a thought leader and strategist on how to streamline and drive best practices through transformational initiatives with a focus on delivery excellence and quality.

Before joining Pomeroy, Ray held senior level executive positions and served in global roles at AVASO Technology Solutions and CompuCom over the past 25 years. Prior to that, he held roles with Internal Revenue Service and Computer Sciences Corporation where he began his career in a special projects division supporting the Intelligence Agency community.

Ray holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Capitol Technical University (formerly Capitol College) and earned his Master of Science degree in Information and Telecommunications Systems from The Johns Hopkins University. A native of Maryland, he and his wife call Houston, Texas their home for the past 25 years. Ray enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing golf, riding motorcycles, and staying focused on his faith.