Midwest IT has grown a passionate, friendly, and service-first culture from their first response technicians all the way to their senior account managers since 2006. We instill our core values of being responsive, customer-centric, and solutions-oriented from first employment to maintaining the core values with decade-long employees. We focus on maximizing up-time for your employees by providing exceptional service, top-tier disaster recovery and premium ransom-ware protection.
We are not only experts at technology. We are experts at integrating technology into business to maximize the impact in the most profitable way. We assist businesses in using business intelligence to develop the right IT infrastructure through planning, analyzing, and implementing the technology needs of your business. Our team prides itself on matching the right technology with your business so you can leverage your IT investment to their fullest.
With Midwest, our team will learn your business inside and out so we can align your technology with your vision and budget. We keep things simple and powerful so that your business can focus on growing your business instead of focusing on IT.
Partners
Pete Weigel - Partner, CEO
Pete has been a Systems Engineer and Account Manager since 2006 and learned very early on the importance of technology for business. He graduated magna cum laude from Northern Illinois University with a degree in Operations Management and Information Systems. Pete specializes in helping key decision makers understand how much technology support and decision-making affect their bottom line. He starts the conversation with the business vision and then aligns the business technology to accomplish those strategic goals. His passion is changing the focus of IT to the impact on business instead of getting lost in technology details.
Pete is responsible for the Midwest IT’s strategic direction, mentoring account managers, and business growth. He works closely with Eric Grimes to ensure our client experience is best-in-class.
When Pete is not working he enjoys working on the house, testing his pool water, coaching sports, and helping his wife raise 6 energetic children.
Eric Grimes - Partner, CFO / COO
Eric developed an early interest in technology after pulling his first computer from a dumpster at 8 years of age. A graduate of Augustana college, Eric studied finance and marketing and applied those skills by helping a small 20-user insurance agency in Illinois grow into an influential agency with over 100 users and 7 locations. While serving as their VP of IT & Automation, the agency was nominated for the Agency Automation Award (netvu), awarded INC 5000 status, and a Risk Innovator award among numerous other accomplishments. His passion for working with small businesses led him to join Midwest IT in 2012 to help them grow.
Eric is responsible for the day-to-day operations while aligning our financial health with Midwest IT’s strategic goals and client service standards. He diligently works to mentor the service team to ensure our clients have an excellent experience. Eric also works with Pete Weigel to ensure Midwest IT delivers what they promise and that we are ready for the growth from our success.
Eric is a car nut, outdoor enthusiast, and uses his superior navigation skills as an avid boater.
Bill Weigel - Emeritus Partner
Bill has been an IT consultant since the 90’s and likes to scare younger consultants with tales of Novell NetWare systems and troubleshooting without Google. He has extensive experience with network design, project/client management, and systems implementation and troubleshooting.
Bill is an Emeritus Partner with Midwest IT. He is involved with strategic financial decisions and uses his extensive experience to mentor and to help with long-term planning.
Bass guitar is one of Bill’s lifelong passions, and is an avid camper and woodworker. He is married with three children and a cantankerous dog named Badger.
Business Development
Taylor Danz - VP of Business Develepment
Taylor learned early on in his experience the vulnerability, and the criticality of technology in business.
Before starting at Midwest IT, Taylor had already dedicated over 20 years in business development, leadership & operations management since 2002. He has a great passion for helping people and building strong business partnerships. In addition to a successful career Taylor has spent more than 12 years in servitude to his local community and to the aged community, having volunteered with: the Lake Geneva Jaycees, WCAN, WCARE, Walworth County.
Taylor enjoys traveling with his family, as well as hosting get-togethers & cook outs for his neighbors and friends.
Bobbie Shurtz - Business Develepment Representative
Bobbie Shurtz was an IT Manager for Dell from 2004-2008 and minored in Information Services at Southern Oregon University. She worked in IT and phone service industries for years and then moved into public relations for over a decade. She especially enjoys connecting with the businesses we serve at Midwest IT. Her primary focus is how to best determine potential clients’ business needs through communication.
In her free time, Bobbie is Mom to seven kids and has, according to hubby Mike, too many dogs. She is a hobbyist breeder of designer pomskys and enjoys matching her puppies with perfect homes, which isn’t very difficult because her dogs are very cute and their puppy eyes are hypnotizing. The same cannot always be said about the puppies’ new owners, but she has the uncanny ability to look past that. Bobbie also enjoys 3D printing and reading, and has authored two books and several articles.
Account Management
Ryan Sanders - Partnership Director
Ryan’s interest in technology, computers, and problem solving started at a very young age. He started taking apart and reassembling computers early on and became very interested in building computers as a teenager. Throughout his entire career, he has consistently taken an interest in technology and how it affects small business.
Ryan decided to join Midwest IT in 2014 with a goal to help small businesses use technology to grow and thrive. He has worked in all areas of service at Midwest IT and is passionate about the client experience. This experience ranges from support request first contact, all the way to working through foundational shifts in how a business uses technology. He builds trust with clients through adaptive communication, hard work, follow-through, and execution. Ryan enjoys the challenge of bringing a network from complete mediocrity and instability to a thriving environment for a growing business. He is on Midwest IT’s Leadership Team to ensure clients have a great experience at the account manager level.
Ryan is married with 3 kids, so most of his time outside of work is spent hanging out with his family. However, he also enjoys mountain biking and snowboarding.
Zachary Biel - Account Manager
Zachary joins the Midwest IT team with over 18 years of IT experience, working with companies ranging from 5 to 6,000 users.
His latest achievements include helping a company increase their yearly sales figures by $20 million through integrating software and business process solutions. Zachary prides himself in his communication skills with owners and end users alike.
Zachary is a former competitive international trap, skeet, and sporting clays shooter who was fortunate enough to train with the 1996 USA Olympic shooting team, which included Kim Rhode, a 6-time Olympic medal winner. Now, in his spare time, he loves spending time with his lovely wife, Kelly, their three cats, and riding his motorcycle when weather permits.
Jim Lennon - Account Manager
Jim’s love of computers started at a young age when he started writing simple programs on his first system, a TI-99, which has grown into a passion for building his own PC’s and helping others with computer issues. Jim attended Columbia College of Missouri where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Human Resource Management. He is a proud stockholder of the Green Bay Packers and can claim almost as many fantasy football crowns as The Pack has titles.
Jim likes to spend his free time with his wife Barb and hiking with their dogs and enjoying nature whenever possible. His other hobbies include video gaming in all its forms, tabletop gaming, disc golf, watching football, cooking, and enjoying craft beer.
Engineering
Nate Weigel - Protection Director
Nate has been with Midwest IT since 2009 as an office intern and was promoted in 2010 to a Support Technician after showing promise in helping with technical issues. He used this experience to help achieve his Bachelors in Information Technology from University of Whitewater and received his degree in 2016. This brought a great combination of experience and wisdom from a very early point in his career.
As Nate improved with Midwest IT, he was promoted to support engineer shortly thereafter and showed a great understanding of preventing issues before they happen with automation and proper protection. From this natural (and learned) ability to see all these pieces work together, he became Midwest IT’s Technology Director in late 2017.
Nate’s responsibility is continually improving the automation and protection of Midwest IT’s clients as well as the Midwest IT network. He is also a premium client engineer and helps them work with their 3rd Party vendors – especially he already handles this for Midwest IT. Nate continually educates himself on modern threats to ensure Midwest and their clients are protected and ahead of the curve.
Nate enjoys golfing and video games in his free time.
Ryan Oakes - Engineering Team
Ryan briefly attended the University of Illinois, first studying electrical engineering and then economics before switching gears and taking a support role in large Insurance agency. Starting with simple helpdesk items he expanded his role by creating procedures for the agency’s paperless transition which helped to safeguard content and train users in the new systems, enabling a smooth transition from more than one million individual paper pages in manila folders and file cabinets to a database of easily searchable digital files.
Ryan joined Midwest IT in 2014 and is a key component to Midwest IT for automation and security, and helpdesk support.
Ryan has more hobbies than he knows what to do with but building and tweaking audio equipment has been a recent obsession.
Matt Wilson - Engineering Team
Matt joined the Midwest IT team because of his love of technology. He started out by coding small video games in GameMaker: Studio, and taught himself how to code programs in more sophisticated languages along the way. Matt also enjoys building and repairing PC’s from time to time. He is currently pursuing a degree in computer science at UW Parkside.
Matt spends most of his time with his wife Karlee, who both enjoy playing video games and finding ways to annoy each other.
Mike Chastain - Engineering Team
Mike joined Midwest IT in 2021 after spending the previous 15 years working his way up from IT Helpdesk to Systems/Network Administrator in the public safety sector. He first became involved in IT while earning his degree in Physics from Augustana College, where he worked in the computer lab and hardware shop.
Mike lives with his wife Kim and their beagle Wesley. He is an avid gamer is his free time, and has been known to enjoy a good bourbon.
Service
Jamie Deeter - Service Director
Jamie has been working with computers on the home front since he was 19, fixing PC’s for family and friends.
Jamie was invited to join Midwest IT in 2007 and has grown to be a passionate dictator about customer service. He is constantly working with operations and technicians to ensure clients receive the best customer service possible. He sets the tone for our helpdesk to be customer-driven while having fun at the same time.
RC cars, BBQing, and bargain hunting are some of Jamie’s many interests.
Tyler Jones - Service Team
Tyler grew up surrounded by technology. Since a young age he has been interested in computers and building computers for friends and family as well helping them pick out the correct parts they need to achieve their needs for home and business use. He has an Associates in Science from Mchenry County College.
Tyler has worked for Midwest IT since 2018 and quickly caught on to providing excellent service with great communication. He became a critical piece on the support board and championed the client experience for the users that he assisted. He also quickly caught on to the impact technology has on small business. With this growth in communication, technical evaluations, and great customer service, he was promoted to Account Manager in 2021.
Tyler spends his free time playing video games and watching movies.
Kristen Oakes - Service Team
Kristen grew up with a love of technology that came from her father, a former Systems Engineer. She always needed to have the latest and greatest cell phone as a teenager and Kristen’s interest in technology grew from there. She has a passion for not only technology but also for helping others and solving problems.
Kristen graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Information Systems Security from the University of Phoenix in 2015. She is currently studying to become CompTIA Security+ certified as well. She previously was a PC technician for a large school district in Illinois with over 15,000 users – the youngest users being only 3 years old.
Kristen and her pup, Paddy, enjoy going on evening walks, hanging out at the local dog park, and love having play dates with other pups. Paddy is a German Shepard mix who she calls her mini-horse and protector. Kristen is also very creative and in her free time enjoys cross-stitching, jewelry making, writing, and diamond painting.
Justin Kaemke - Service Team
Justin has been an avid PC enthusiast since the young age of 9. It all started on a sunny day when his mother brought home the first family computer and he dove head first into Windows 95. Before working in IT Justin spent endless hours self-teaching on how to troubleshoot and he was able to put those skills to use as a certified movie theater projectionist as well as a data sanitation specialist.
When Justin isn’t helping clients at Midwest IT you can find him playing video games, working on his car, or hanging out with his wife and two cats.
Draven Ruthe - Service Team
Driven by a lifelong passion for video games and computer technology, Draven dedicated myself to bridging the gap between people and the tech they need. He holds an Associate’s Degree in Computer Service Technician-Hardware from Blackhawk Technical College and an Associate’s Degree in Website Development from Madison Area College. This combined education provides him with a strong foundation in both the hardware and software sides of technology. He finds great satisfaction in helping others understand and effectively utilize technology to improve their job efficiency.
Outside of the tech world, Draven enjoys spending time with my wife and son, ensuring the most critical piece of family technology – Netflix – is always working flawlessly.
Administrative
Karen Weigel - Controller
Karen worked as an IT consultant in the insurance industry for 6 years before taking over the role of Controller for Midwest IT more than a decade ago. Her experience with technology and business process allows her to help the engineers and account managers with their administrative responsibilities. Her experience as a mom helps her keep all of the engineers and account managers in line.
Karen earned both networking and programming certifications before her IT consulting career. She loves to read, dominates in fantasy football, and camps whenever possible. Karen has 3 children, a dog, and a cantankerous husband named Bill.
Shelby Wright - Controller Assistant
Before starting in the IT industry, Shelby worked in the personal health care field for four years. She also attended Rock County College with an emphasis on accounting. Shelby has now worked for Midwest IT for several years and works closely with our vendors. During this time, Shelby has acquired specialty knowledge of computer, networking, and software solutions. Additionally, she helps support the accounting side of the business. She is enjoying life with her new husband, Nick, who encourages her to utilize her artistic interests as much as she can – including drawing, painting, and even basket weaving. Nick is also working with Shelby to reduce her interest in the actor John Kusack. So far in this endeavor, Nick has gotten absolutely nowhere.