Northland Computers Staff

Rick Smith, Owner

Rick grew up in Cedar MI. He went to Leland Public Schools and attended Northwestern Michigan College Mechanical Engineering Design program from 1985-1988. From 1988-1995 he worked in the Mechanical Engineering Industry. He founded Northland Computers, Inc. in 1995 and has 22 years computer experience. Rick is married to Shelly and has two children.

Rick oversees all projects and has extensive experience with Mainframe VM Ware, UNIX, Linux, Novel, Dos, MS Windows, LAN, Wan, TCP/IP, Internet Security. He strives to continually grow and stretch his knowledge. 

In his spare time Rick enjoys Muscle Cars, Jet Skiing, Traveling, Family, Technology, Construction and spending time with friends - and not necessarily in that order!

Certifications:

• Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

• Microsoft Certified Professional

• CompTIA Security+
  
  

Shelly Smith, Co-Owner/Bookkeeping/AP-AR

Shelly is  Rick’s wife and the mother of two. She graduated from Traverse City Senior High School in 1983 and Grand Rapids Travel Schools in 1987. With over 15 years experience as a Receptionist/Scheduler/Customer Relations in the finance and medical fields, Shelly is a great asset to Northland Computers. Her responsibilities include AR/AP, answering phones and helping with customer relations.

Shelly ran a daycare for 6 years while her children were young. She enjoys spending time with her family, attending her children’s many activities, traveling, taking pictures and scrapbooking, camping, swimming, and watching the Detroit Red Wings

Bob Long, Senior Technician

Bob was born in Flint Michigan and moved to Traverse City in 1988. He attended Benzie County Central Schools and moved on to Northwestern Michigan College. He has over 12 years experience as a System Administrator working primarily in the educational field. Bob enjoys working in a fast paced environment where he is always challenged and can constantly feed his appetite to learn new things.
Bob has a family that includes two children. His hobbies include Radio Controlled Aircraft, Geocaching, Origami, Programming, and of course the occasional video game!

Certifications:

• Microsoft Certified Professional
  

Dan Sexton, Senior In-House Technician

Born and raised in the Traverse City area. Dan graduated from Kingsley Area Schools in 2005. He continued his education at Northwestern Michigan College in Computer Science. He has over 5 years of hands-on computer experience. Dan joined the Northland team in May of 2009.
In Dan’s spare time he loves spending time with his wife, playing video games, working on cars and tinkering around his house. He strives to continually grow and stretch his knowledge in everything he does.

Certifications:

• Associates degree in Computer Science

• CompTIA A+

• CompTIA Net+

Greyson Chen-Landvoy, In House Web Master

Greyson has been called "problem solver" and "creative thinker" for his ability to resolve a complicated problem with creativity and tremendous amount of patience. He trained in Fine Art, Design and Photography at the prestige School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Later Greyson studied computer science at Northwestern Michigan College. His extensive training and constant learning abilities give him an unusually broad base of experience with which to diagnose and remedy any problems at hand and bring any project to a satisfactory completion by working closely with clients and keeping up with the newest technologies.

We will work with you to build your web site and corporate web applications that will centralize and format all your information into one place, offering you access to it anywhere in the world. Full dynamic websites, and SQL DB's, in house hosting deals.

Certifications:

• CompTIA A+

• Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)

Chris Edwards, Project Represenative

Chris recently located to the Traverse City area due to his love for the region and outdoor sports. Chris brings with him an extensive background of a decade and a half of Marketing & Public Relations experience and prides himself on bringing quality solutions to meet customer needs. Chris is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and has become an active member in the local community. When not taking care of current and future customers, Chris enjoys all outdoor sports and can be found biking, skiing and snowmobiling depending on season. Although if you ask him, he secretly wishes for longer winters so he could snowmobile more. Chris is also an advocate for small business in Michigan and can always be found acting on their behalf.