ABBOTSFORD BC CANADA — Gatekeeper Systems, Inc. has announced that it has appointed Charlie Bruce and David Stumpo to the Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Bruce is the former chief operating officer of both First Group America and National Express Corp., two of the largest companies providing school transportation services in North America and Europe.
First Group is a school transportation service provider serving more than four million students in 42 states and Canada, with 80,000+ employees, 50,000+ buses, and annual revenues in excess of $2.5 billion.
As COO, First Student Division, from 2008 to 2010, Mr. Bruce oversaw $2.5 billion transportation operations involving more than 700 North American locations, 450 maintenance sites, 1,200+ contracts and 80,000 employees. He also directed a leadership team that included five senior VPs and 22 Region VPs.
From 2005 to 2008, Bruce was executive VP of sales and marketing, driving all sales and marketing efforts. Those included customer contact, solution analysis, and acquisition strategies supervising six director—level reports responsible for generating at least $20 million annually in new business.
A summary of accomplishments includes:
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Grew market share by acquiring and integrating eight companies in less than three years.
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Directed office mergers and closings, real estate disposition, reductions in force, and equipment relocation or sale.
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Generated $20 million in new revenue by:
—Developing the company’s first multi-state marketing plan, with target markets, preferred channels, customer surveys, and related items.
—Created supporting collateral materials and designing an award-winning (National Association of School Transportation, 2009) trade show booth.
—Enhancing sales and production capabilities by hiring new sales reps with school transportation experience, establishing performance measures, implementing target marketing, and providing individual mentoring and coaching when needed.
About
National Express Corp. is a school transportation provider operating in 34 states and four Canadian provinces, with 22,000 employees, 20,000+ buses and annual revenues of nearly $1 billion. As COO, Mr. Bruce oversaw $1 billion in student transportation operations at 300 North American locations. He had full P&L responsibility through a leadership team that includes five VPs of operations and 14 region managers.
Prior to this, he held various positions in major transportation companies, including Ryder System, Inc., 20 years at multiple locations as: District & General Manager; District Sales Manager; Account Executive; District Safety Manager; Branch Operations (Service) Manager.
A consummate professional with an intense entrepreneur spirit, Mr. Bruce founded Transportation Advisory Group (TAG) in 2015, and is the president/CEO providing advisory services to the student transportation industry.
Mr. Bruce is a former board member for the National School Transportation Association and New York School Bus Contractors Association.
David Stumpo brings 40 years’ experience within the public transit industry, as a seasoned professional and entrepreneur. He is the founder and current CEO of the American Public Transit Exams Institute (APTREX), and executive director for the Southern California Regional Transit Training Consortium (SCRTTC). The APTREX Institute is known for pioneering in the field of transit workforce development, specifically for Professional Transit Certification of managerial staff, from front line supervisors to senior and executive management.
Stumpo has been instrumental in developing the Southern Regional Transit Training Consortium (SCRTTC) start-up in 2004, and overseeing the SCRTTC toward the advancement of the “Learning Model” for transit technicians and workforce development. The SCRTTC has been recognized for “Innovation in Transit Training” awarded by the National Transit Institute, and “Innovation in Training” from the California Transit Association.
Stumpo’s other relevant experience includes:
COAST MOUNTAIN BUS COMPANY (formally BC TRANSIT), 1999-2002
President/CEO of the Coast Mountain Bus Co. in Vancouver, managing a $300 million operating budget, $1 billion of capital assets, including 1,600 vehicles, and 3,800 personnel.
SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL RAILWAY (MUNI), 1995-1999
Deputy Director of Maintenance and COO for the San Francisco Muni, with an annual budget of $280 million, including 1,400 vehicles and all maintenance and operations of bus, light rail, cable car and trolleybus, facility maintenance, signal, track, subway, power/overhead divisions. Responsible for implementation of several rail line expansions projects including vehicle procurement and acceptance of the Breda LRT, maintenance and operations training, and start-up.
DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT (DART), 1992-1995
Held various positions, including, Director of bus maintenance, QA and engineering, and VP of rail operations. He managed and oversaw the new Light Rail startup from vehicle procurement of the Kinkisharyo LRT, operations and maintenance setup, hiring, training, and shop design through delivery and acceptance.
SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TRANSIT AUTHORITY (SEPTA) 1976-1992
Mr. Stumpo has held various positions at SEPTA, including his starting position as s bus washer. He earned credibility and respect by working hard and continuing his education. As a GM trained service technician, he quickly rose through the ranks to lead the Light Rail Operations as the Chief Officer for SEPTA.
Stumpo has held multiple board positions, is an associate professor of business studies at the University of Phoenix, and is a certified diesel/automotive technician and electrical/electronic troubleshooter on rail cars.
Stumpo has a master’s degree from LaSalle University, bachelors in business administration from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, and is certified as a CTEM (Certified Transit Executive Manager).
Doug Dyment, President and CEO commented, “I couldn’t be more pleased with the addition of Mr. Bruce and Mr. Stumpo to our Board of Directors. Our goal is to lead safety and security in the Student Transportation and Transit markets. Mr. Bruce and Mr. Stumpo possess a unique blend of specific industry experience, entrepreneur spirit, operation know-how and board experience; all of which Gatekeeper requires, in order to execute on our next phase of growth.”
The company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 1.8 million incentive stock options to certain directors and officers of the company. The options will be exercisable at a price of $0.12 for a period of 10 years from the grant date, and subject to regulatory approval.
About Gatekeeper Systems, Inc.
Gatekeeper provides innovative, end-to-end video safety and security solutions for mobile applications including body cameras, in-car police video systems, school bus video and stop arm camera video enforcement systems, transit bus video systems, and airborne digital recording systems for military applications.
The Company is headquartered in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and its shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “GSI,” on the OTC Markets under the symbol “GKPRF,” and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “1GK.” www.gatekeeper-systems.com
