Who says that everyone in information technology must be stamped from the same cookie-cutter mold? You won’t hear that from Jay Gmeindl.

By title, Jay is a technical leader of projects. But too often titles are confining. Better to say that Jay is one of the creative spirits at Skyline Technologies, a leader in software development that provides a clear view of our clients’ businesses.

“Creativity is one of the best parts about software engineering. It’s like painting a picture,” Jay says with an obvious passion. “You are given a set of tasks or business issues to address and solve from a technical side. My job is to take those blueprints from the business side and convert them into technology solutions. I’m hesitant to say the word ‘architect,’ but that’s kind of what it is.”

While most of Skyline’s associates live in Northeastern Wisconsin--in the Green Bay and Appleton areas—Jay resides in Milwaukee, an arrangement that Skyline has endorsed to allow him to be closer to family and friends. From his perspective, it’s a measure of the trust and confidence that the Skyline leaders have in his ability to meet client needs.

But the fact that Jay doesn’t work in corporate headquarters doesn’t mean he is a digital hermit. The situation is actually quite the contrary.

“We’re a technology company, and we do a lot of custom software development; but that’s not to say that I don’t have client contacts,” Jay explains. “Every month I go to Minneapolis for a few days and work directly with one of our larger clients. Even though I’m in constant communication with them, there’s still a lot to be said about face to face contact. Instant messaging and e-mails and phone calls only go so far. When you’re doing whiteboard design sessions with a client, you can’t do that over the phone.”

Then Jay returns to Milwaukee where he continues his work, often from his home, sometimes from the corner coffee shop.

Creative and competitive

A 2001 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Jay has a degree in management and computer systems with a minor in marketing. Even as a youngster, he knew that he wanted a foundation in technology and business.

Jay is among the few associates that Skyline has hired straight out of college. He confesses that, in his post-graduate interviews, he discovered that many of the big-city companies were too stuffy, a strange reality for a profession that is defined by invention and creative thinking.

“I played Nintendo when I was young, but I was never the stereotypical absorbed-in-video-game-playing computer nerd,” Jay concedes. “In our field, some roles don’t call for significant social skills. But if you’re going to be a face-to-face client consultant, you’re going to need communication, understanding and listening skills.”

Don’t mistake Jay’s disinterest in gaming for a lack of competitiveness or fire. He was a four-sport athlete at high school, participating in basketball, volleyball, baseball and track and field. Push him just a bit and you find that he’s frankly confident in his own professional skills.

“Sure, I’m dangerous with the code. I’m a Microsoft Certified Application Developer and I’m a Java Certified Developer and a Java Certified Web Developer, so I have three professional technical certifications,” he says. “But if there’s one thing that I’ve already learned, there’s always more that you can learn.”

The value of individuality

Certainly one trait that Jay shares with his fellow Skyline associates is the priority that he places upon values.

“I was on the “values” committee, and we went through an in-depth evaluation of the values that we treasure. We do have integrity. We are hard working. We have good communication skills.”

At the same time Jay has found that his individuality is appreciated within the Skyline family.

While many software companies discourage continuing education, because it might make their associates more attractive to a competitor, Skyline takes just the opposite approach.“I’m adept at meeting new people and enjoy their perspectives on life,” Jay says. “The truth is that life’s a constant learning process.”

And one of the lessons that he has learned is to work with clients who have a wide variety of comfort levels with technology - whether it’s mainframe, middle tier or cutting edge. Jay recalls one client that desperately wanted to become more modern so that it could be more competitive in a global economy.

“Here I was, just out of college, and training them on a number of things. Now this company is fully functional, making tons of money, and has gone from seven employees to 20. That’s three times as many people who are bringing home a paycheck. I need to be able to learn something from a job, whether it’s from a technology perspective a business perspective or a people perspective. And I need the customer to have a successful project and feel that all needs have been met. Then it’s a win/win for both of us.”