Management Team

Jay Strickland, President

Jay Strickland has worked in the area of technology since 1995. He began working in the Web technology field while attending North Carolina State University, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science. Juggling the demands of school, ROTC scholarship commitments and three part-time jobs prepared Jay well for his future role as an entrepreneur.

Upon graduation, Jay entered the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a hands-on computer security engineer for the Air Force Information Warfare Center in San Antonio, Texas. Two years later he was reassigned to Colorado Springs, Colo., as the Chief of Web and Database Systems for the Intelligence Directorate of U.S. Space Command/North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

During his second Air Force assignment, Jay formalized his consulting engagements, founding WingSwept Communications, Inc. to specialize in Web design and programming for commercial, educational and nonprofit clients. Having attained the rank of Captain, Jay honorably separated from military service in February 2002 to run WingSwept full-time.

One month after leaving the Air Force, Jay formed WingSwept Technologies, Inc. to work with the U.S. Intelligence Community on various projects dealing with national security issues. The company continues to provide high-end Web technology consulting to government and large commercial clientele in niche markets including portals, enterprise content management systems and data warehousing.

Jay lives in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife and three daughters. In addition to running his companies, Jay serves on the board of several non-profit organizations and church committees. Jay is a Paul Harris Fellow and the president elect for the Garner Rotary Club and incoming Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Garner Chamber of Commerce. He and his wife, April, teach a Sunday school class for three-year-olds at their church.

Richard J. Benbow, Vice President of Vertical Marketing

A recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree in Education Appalachian State University, Richard's background includes seven years of teaching in the Wake County School System in Raleigh and Cary, North Carolina. After leaving the education profession, he worked for various companies in a sales capacity.

Before coming to WingSwept in 2005, he served as Regional Sales Manager of Military Sales for a well-known international electronics company, where he managed sales to the Navy and Marine Corp exchanges in the U.S. and its territories, and oversaw personnel located nationwide as well as in the Pacific.

Richard came to WingSwept in 2005 as its first dedicated Sales Representative. He was presented with the task of starting a new sales division consisting of Website sales called "Repair Shop Websites." These websites were created and marketed to the automotive repair and parts industry. Repair Shop Websites is now the leading provider of websites for the automotive repair and parts industry with more than 1,000 customers in the U.S. and Canada. He lives with his wife and son in Garner, NC.

Rufus T. Manning, Govt & Special Markets Account Executive

Rufus Manning has more than 30 years of experience working in the area of government contracts, acquisition and government account management. His experience includes acquisition procurement, IT project management, eBusiness solutions development and Business development for government contracts, plus service to his country , obtaining the rank of Colonel in the United States Air Force.

While serving in the Air Force, he managed and maintained one of the largest computer server farms in his parent organization as an acquisition-logistics and inventory specialist. His organizations pioneered many desk top and small computer hardware and software implementation initiatives.

Later, he participated in more senior-level acquisition projects, such as when he was selected to lead the Air Force's retail computer systems modernization effort in Montgomery, Alabama. As Senior Project Manager, tough decisions were made once listening to the user community of the proposed new system. His work in this area included such government contracts and training as industrial education with industry for NASA's next generation propulsion (fuel tank) project.

After completing that job, he moved on to a broader eBusiness Solutions position with Headquarters Defense Logistics Agency, Ft Belvoir, VA, as an Air Force active Duty Colonel. There, he handled software development contracts valued in excess of $100-200 million each.

Before coming to work at WingSwept, Rufus transitioned from Federal employment to civilian employment when he worked for General Dynamics as a Program Analyst and Business Development/Account Manager. He prepared winning proposals and was the project manager for a variety of medium-to-large projects.

He has a BA in Business Management from Gettysburg College, along with a Masters in Business Management and Administration from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

He is also a certified acquisition manager, Government Program Manager and Certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Rufus currently resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife, with whom he has two children. He is an active member of the local NCPMI Chapter, plus a mentor in his church family and local community.

Allison Hoke, Lead Developer

Allison Hoke has worked as a software developer at WingSwept since 2005. She primarily works with the firm's government consulting clients.

Hoke has worked on dozens of custom applications for WingSwept, including the Case Management and Tracking System (CMTS). Her specialty in Web development involves working with Java.

Prior to coming on full time, Hoke served as an intern with WingSwept for two semesters before earning her bachelor's degree magna cum laude in computer science from North Carolina State University in just three years. At NCSU, she minored in Spanish and spent a semester abroad in Spain. Prior to interning with WingSwept, she also worked as an intern in IBM's testing division.

Outside of work, Hoke helps with service projects for her church, such as working with the homeless and planning service missions to such areas as Haiti. She has also been actively involved with Habitat for Humanity. She was instrumental in working with WingSwept President Jay Strickland to create an introductory Web development course at NC State which has been setup as a permanent course and a great source of future talent for WingSwept. She enjoys traveling, and has taken trips to such international locations as the Caribbean and Thailand.

Jason DeChicio, Senior IT Consultant

Jason DeChicio has served as a senior IT consultant at WingSwept since 2006. He works to develop WingSwept's expanding information technology support division, as an additional service for its growing client list.

DeChicio initially worked for WingSwept on a contract basis for approximately six months prior to starting full-time in January 2006. He attended North Carolina State University, where he majored in Computer Science. He is a Certified SonicWALL Systems Analyst and has extensive experience with a myriad of technology systems.

He has worked in the IT industry since 1994. Prior to coming on board at WingSwept, he worked in networking, security, technical support, systems administration, connectivity issues and voice, most recently as operations manager for Raleigh-based Intrex Computers, where he managed their eight retail stores and repair centers throughout North Carolina. . He lives south of Garner with his wife and two children. His hobbies include reading, spending time with his family, and mountain biking.