Tom’s love for software development began at the young age of 8 years old when his father brought home a Texas Instruments TI99/A. He already had an affinity for video games thanks to Atari, but growing up in a more rural portion of the Connecticut shoreline Tom had ample time to open the manual and learn the basics of programming. In fact, it wasn’t long before he learned how to create his own spaceship out of customized ASCII extended characters and make it fly around the screen …

While computers and programming remained a constant throughout his time growing up, it wasn’t until his years at the University of Vermont that something sparked different within him. There he began to realize his full potential after first being exposed to the Pascal programming language and x86 Assembly language in the same year.  That following summer Tom set out to learn how to access video memory via INT 10H and create his own DOS windowing system with drop shadow.  As creativity flowed and his interests expanded, he soon was delving into the basics of terminate-stay-resident or TSRs. It was amazing to him what you could find in the local bookstore … and what you could learn if you wanted to.

In the summer of 1992, Tom took on an internship role at a small company in Connecticut called Asset Management Technologies in Cheshire Connecticut. About 15 minutes into the interview with owner Dave Stewart, Tom was introduced to the Psion HC Range of handheld devices. These were 16-bit, realtime computers that not only could you write code for, but they also offered the ability to do everything from scan barcodes to print receipts to support proprietary cabled and wireless communication mediums.  Tom found himself immediately hooked, and his 25 plus year run at mobile app development was born.

Fast forward to now and Tom is still at it helping clients realize their dreams through mobile technology.  Tom brings experience, problem solving, tenacity and creativity to each and every thing he works on.  While Tom is not working, he can be found in Vermont spending time with his dog Finn, family and friends. In more recent years, he can be found playing competitive pool in a local amateur pool league.

Stephanie brings organization and focus to the Empower team.  She keeps everything running smoothly and ensures we’re staying on point with our day-to-day tasks.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Vermont, and later being a sought-after nanny in her local community, Steph is not new to working hard with a smile.  In fact, in recent years she has applied this “hard work with a smile” attitude to seeking an Exercise Science degree from the University of Vermont.  Her knowledge in this field will bring a renewed interest in the health and wellness industries, something we at Empower have been watching for some time.

We are grateful for her time and contributions at Empower.  We’re certainly a better place because of it!

Finn has been a staple at Empower since the beginning.  A beloved addition to the team, Finn brings a warmth and joy to the work environment that is unmatched, and we cannot imagine the place without him.

When he’s not sleeping on his favorite bed or facilitating a meeting at Empower, he can be found going through the legs of those he greets in an effort to deposit copious amounts of fur upon their black garments.

He’s good like that.