Inspired Innovation

Chris Rayburn

Founder

   
Chris is the Founder of Summit Integrated Systems.

Since Summit’s first pro audio installation in 1997, Chris has played an active role in every project completed by Summit and has grown Summit from a small startup to a national business. Chris presently oversees financial analysis, forecasting, and strategic planning while also playing an active role in overall visioning and his team’s development.

On top of over two decades of experience, Chris was also trained in industry-leading training programs, such as Syn-aud-con and NSCA.

These days, Chris can be found living the good life with his family down on the Rayburn Ranch in Texas.

Tyson Wiens

Chief Operations Officer

    Tyson is the Chief Operations Officer here at Summit. This Summit veteran leads a large organization of amazing people. He oversees all daily operations of the company, as well as the Project Management team. His start as a field technician gave him insight into how great design and dynamic installation integrate to create powerfully beautiful worship experiences. Tyson’s other responsibilities include project management, system design, and training. Tyson graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Sound Recording Technology from Colorado Christian University. His love of machinery started at an early age on a farm in Oklahoma where he started driving tractors at age 9. We’re wondering when he’ll be teaching his two daughters what lever to pull to engage the baler arm.

Nick Kofahl

Chief Vision Officer

   
As Chief Vision Officer, Nick Kofahl ends up wearing a lot of different hats, but you can trust that they are the most stylish hats he could find and they’ll always match his outfit and kicks. Not only does Nick help shape and cultivate the “Summit Experience” that our clients have come to know and expect from us, he also helps keep us focused on our primary goal as an AVL integrator: to create spaces where people can bump into Jesus and have their lives changed forever. Nick comes from both the pastoral world as well as the tech world so he brings a plethora of experience and knowledge to the team. If you get him going on a topic he’s passionate about, “Pastor Nick” comes out and you may just get yourself a sermon that you weren’t expecting. He’s able to find deep meaning in even the most commonplace things of life. When Nick isn’t flying around the country meeting with new churches to partner with, he’s likely sitting in his record room listening to vinyl that he’s collected over the years. And if he’s not there, he’s probably flying to new adventures somewhere else in the world with his wife, Jacki and his kids Ella and Zane.

Deron Yevoli

Director Of Projects

Deron Yevoli leads our entire Project Management team after being a PM himself for several years. Deron has had over a decade of technical leader experience working with churches across the country. He also brings a diverse background of production environments he has worked in – including lecture, theatre, concert, broadcast, post-production, and both traditional & modern worship. Deron holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico where he studied Sound & Lighting Design.

He and his family moved to Colorado back in 2013 from St. Louis. Deron and his family are avid baseball fans so if he's not at the Summit office or on a job site somewhere, you may want to check to see if there's a local ball game happening. Also, it's pronounced Dare-en, not D-Ron although it always makes us giggle when people call him that so please don't stop.

Dustin Hamilton

Director Of Client Relations

Dustin previously worked for The Village Church in the Dallas, TX area for over eight years. While at The Village Church, he led the charge in keeping all campuses synced up week in and week out, expanded volunteer production teams, established a large production staff and intern training network, all while overseeing the launches of several campuses. Dustin is familiar with the journey of “small church, limited everything, gaff tape everywhere, I’m just one person," to the "large church with a lot more of everything, a crew the size of a small town, and more weekly services and events than you can count on both hands.” All that to say, he is familiar with all the challenges and joys churches experience over their years of growth. Dustin works with Nick Kofahl, our VP of Sales and Marketing, to help bring dreams to life for church communities around the country.

Oh, and he used to have an entire head of amazing dreadlocks. Ask him for proof when you meet him! Don't worry, it's not a lock of hair... it's just a picture.

Max Williams

Director Of Marketing & Communication

Max Williams is no stranger to the church production world. For the last 21 years, he has been on leadership and worship teams across the USA including Church on the Move in Tulsa, Element Church in St. Louis, and most recently at Zoe Church in LA. In addition to this, Max was a signed artist for Teleprompt Records out of Nashville. Needless to say, Max definitely understands the relationship between production and worship.

Having worked in so many different environments, Max has gained an understanding and appreciation of the human connection. His unique perspective helps him serve many different churches to experience Jesus in the best way for their specific communities. Max and his family moved to Denver from LA and are excited to experience everything Colorado has to offer!

Nick Jones

Director of Engineering & Design

Nick has been working within the church tech world for years now. Most recently, he spent seven years working at Eagle Brook Church in Minnesota as their Tech Director. This perspective has allowed him to really learn the ins and outs of what makes church production work. From a leadership side to the more technical aspect of things, Nick definitely knows what’s what in the church production world.

Nick’s tech accomplishments are not what makes Nick, though. When he’s not leading the engineering and design teams here, you can most likely find Nick hiking or running out in the beautiful Colorado sunshine. He’s also a huge sports fan so if you don’t see him on any hiking trails, you may want to check to see if there’s a game going on downtown.

Ben Thompson

Director Of Assembly & Production

As our Director Of Prep & Field Support, Ben is scrupulously tracking every part, every wire, and every connector that goes in or out of our headquarters. In essence, he is an equipper. He makes sure that all our installers have the right tools and supplies for every one of our projects. Ben holds his bachelor’s degree from Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Music Ministries. He also has completed an apprenticeship with The Recording Connection at Colorado Sound Studio.

Ben loves to hunt, fish, and play drums. Although, we’re pretty sure the drumming will scare all the wildlife away. Better leave the drums at home.

Ryan Lynette

Director Of Installation

Although he joined the Summit team in 2019, Ryan Lynette has been no stranger around the Summit offices. He was on the Flatirons Church production team for two and a half years and made himself known to our team long before he became a part of Summit. Ryan received a double bachelor’s degree in Audio Engineering and Music Performance from CU Denver and has since been utilizing his skills and passion for music and technology to motivate him to reach the place he is now.

Being a born and raised Coloradan, Ryan is also a fan of nature. Whether it’s biking, rock climbing, hiking, or riding motorcycles and ATVs, as long as it keeps him active and outside he’s a fan of it. Oh, also, he’s been touring with ODESZA for the last few years as a drummer so… no biggie or anything. If you see Ryan around a job site, make sure you say hi!

Ben Blevins

Project Manager

Ben knows what it takes to get the job done. Before being a project manager at Summit, he worked on the Summit install team as an Install Manager & was responsible for meeting project deadlines and working alongside the challenges of a construction environment. Ben is a Colorado native, but spent some time in Springfield, MO to attend college and eventually work as the Production Coordinator at Evangel University. At Evangel he managed a team of staff and students to handle University and community chapels, concerts, and events. When Ben isn’t crushing it on the road, you can find him on his motorcycle or recording some music in his home studio. Ben holds a B.S. in Music Recording Technology and Business Management from Evangel University.

Cameron Fries

Project Manager

Cameron comes to Summit by way of Fresno (or as he calls it, FresYES!), California, where he was born and raised. After 10 years of working in ministry involving everything from creating graphics and video content to, most recently, being the Technical Director at NorthPointe Church in Fresno, Cameron decided it was time for a change of pace. As Project Manager, he’s excited to help churches all over the country make their vision for their local church and community a reality by way of technology.

Two truths and lie for Cameron: He is a big fan of good smelling candles. He learned the ABCs backward before learning them forward. He doesn’t like popcorn. Ok, it was a trick question. Those are all true. Despite not liking popcorn, Cameron is still a pretty friendly guy. Make sure you say hi to him if you see him on a job site!

Andrew Starke

Project Manager

Andrew Starke has had a pretty busy life. He was born in South Africa, called Sydney, Australia home for most of his life, moved to Atlanta three and a half years ago, and is now a resident of the beautiful state of Colorado. Andrew’s experience has been focused on one thing: leading people into a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Whether he’s serving as an FOH Engineer for conferences & events, chillin’ on staff with Hillsong (yes! That Hillsong!), or Project Managing here with us at Summit, he’s been lucky enough to do what he loves.

Andrew is also a fan of building things with his hands, smoking meats on the grill, and traveling around the world taking photography adventures with his wife. Make sure to say hey to Andrew when you see him at the office or on a job site, and offer him lots and lots of raisins. (Just kidding… that’s the one food he won’t eat)

Mike Smith

Project Manager

David Forman

Project Manager

Emily Doran

Project Controller

Emily is a huge fan of being active in general, whether that's by running, strength training, yoga, or hiking... she's all about that active life! Between that, spending time with her family (Eric, who you might know, their three daughters, and also two dogs), and hoarding plants at her house, Emily keeps things pretty interesting! We're not sure what her desk is going to look like after hearing that her house is like a jungle with all the plants, but there's nothing wrong with a little extra oxygen, right???

Lance Russell

Summit XP Team Leader

As Summit’s Director of Special Ops, Lance plays a huge supporting role between the logistics team and the rest of the company. He oversees everything from the implementation of our designs all the way to the communication between other members of the operation team. His years of experience working in the AVL industry helps him better serve our customers through real-world application of the technology.

Who says cooking has nothing to do with technology?! Lance attended culinary school prior to getting interested in audio, video, and lighting systems. Also, he might have a side gig as an Adam’s Car Polish salesman on the side… we’re not sure. He might just REALLY love their car shampoo a lot.

Dustin Kuntz

Summit XP Technician

Dustin Kuntz has been a part of the Summit team for a few years now, originally coming to us from rural Missouri. Growing up, Dustin worked on his uncle’s farm where he developed a “no matter what the job is, you figure out a way to get it done” mentality. This mentality has come in very handy for Dustin here at Summit, despite Summit smelling a LOT less like a farm, as he’s gone from Installer to Prep and Field Support Manager.

Outside of Summit, Dustin enjoys mountain biking and spending time with his wife and their new son.

Nick Skipper

Summit XP Product Specialist

Travis Leatherman

Technical Engineer

Travis Leatherman joined the Summit team in November 2017 as an installer, quickly made his way up to Install Manager, and is now Summit's first ever Lighting Engineer. Travis has been working in the AVL realm for a while as a lighting designer for churches, schools, concert venues, and corporate settings, so it’s safe to say he knows what’s going on.

Outside of Summit, whether he’s hiking, golfing, or cycling, you can probably find Travis getting to know this amazing new state of his. He’s also a fan of 3D Printing his own designs. We asked him to 3D print miniature versions of the Summit Project Managers to leave at each install site but the idea was quickly vetoed.

Matt Strong

Technical Engineer

Matt Strong has been a familiar face in the Summit office for a while now as he previously worked for Flatirons Community Church as their West Campus Technical Director. Because of that, he gets the award for “Most Non-New New Guy” here at Summit. During his time at Flatirons, Matt came to understand the challenges of making church happen at many different locations. Overseeing system design, leading volunteer teams, working with campus staff, and creating an environment to make a sizable church like Flatirons successful and scalable is no easy task. When it comes down to it, Matt Strong is basically a church tech beast!

Beyond that, Matt is a family man at heart. Whether it be going to the zoo or heading out into the mountains, as long as Matt is spending time with his family, that’s good enough for him!

Jon Ramage

Technical Engineer

Greg Splitt

Customer Support Engineer

Greg Splitt is a man of many endeavors. He's studied neuroscience at CSU, was an EMT for 16 years, has studied acoustics through SynAudCon, plays guitar and keys, has designed robots and drones, is a photographer, and oh yeah... did we mention that he's the Tech Director for his church? Greg's zeal for understanding how things work started at a young age when he would disassemble everything he could in order to understand it and put it back together. This lead to some not so fun conversations with his dad about dismantling expensive power tools and how, even though it was for science, he needed to stop doing it. Immediately.

Greg was born and raised in Colorado so, naturally, he's into rock climbing and 14er conquering. He's also a fan of cross-country motorcycle trips, good coffee, writing music, and leading worship. Greg's passion for understanding how things work bleeds into his work with people. He loves understanding how people live and function, and what he can do to best help them in whatever they may need.

Keith Bliss

Assembly Engineer

Adam Hoekstra

Assembly Manager & Building Manager

Adam Hoekstra was born and raised in good ol’ Westminster, Colorado which is where he currently resides with his wife, three kids, and three dogs (talk about a full house!). Between volunteering at several churches and even running audio for a Broomfield startup, he’s always been a part of the Denver church community in some capacity.

Adam is a fan of home improvement, and no, we don’t mean the TV show. In his spare time, Adam can be found working on projects for his and his friend’s houses. He’s also a fan of hockey, softball, and playing pranks on people. We haven’t seen any office supplies stuck in Jello yet, but we’ll definitely keep you posted.

Carter Cessna

Assembly Manager

Alexis Bond

Warehouse Manager & Fleet Manager

Stephen Good

Assembly Technician

Miguel Quezada

Assembly Technician

Micah Mowery

Fabrication Technician

Sean Blanchard

Purchasing Manager

Sean enjoys working closely with our project managers to find ideal solutions for our clients. As a Purchasing Manager, he is tasked with identifying the optimal gear, maintaining solid relationships with our vendors, and using his superpower of problem-solving to help deliver an amazing client experience in the end. Sean plays a vital role in making sure Summit serves its clients well.

Before Sean was with us at Summit, he traveled the world (over 20 countries!) helping his customers find solutions to their tech-related issues. His around-the-world experience has proven to be invaluable for us.

When Sean isn’t wearing his superhero costume for us at Summit, you can find him with his family, or on stages playing the bass with the Flobots. Although we have several musicians here at Summit, Sean has the most experience as he has not only toured the country, but also played on TV talk shows such as Ellen, the Late Show with David Letterman, and Lopez Tonight. These days, we are just waiting for his chance to get a selfie with Jimmy Fallon!

Mandi Welch

Accountant

Mandi is a graduate from Colorado Christian University with two degrees in Business Administration and Accounting. She’s a Colorado local who was born in Greeley and has since moved to the greater Denver area. She previously worked in Missions at Waterstone Community Church here in Colorado which gives her great insight into what makes a church tick behind the scenes.

Mandi might seem all business, but she’s actually an incredible dancer as well! She started when she was two years old and danced competitively until she was 18. She’s also slightly obsessed with her dogs, Luna and Lake, and gladly wears the “crazy dog mom” title with pride. Also (if you haven’t made the connection yet) her husband, CJ, is on our sales team! Seems like working for Summit is becoming a new Welch family tradition! Luna and Lake are both applying to be the Shop Dog but their professional references are a little ruff so we'll see about that.

Stefan Lako

Learning & Development Manager

Liz Lewis

Office Manager & Employee Ambassador

Heather Sedbrook

Financial Controller

Casey Serrano

Marketing Manager

Casey wears a few different hats here at Summit. He currently holds the reigns as our Marketing Manager after working as the sole inside sales rep at Summit for almost 5 years. Between maintaining the website and social media accounts, you'll see Casey out on the road snapping photos and taking video of projects across the country. Casey attended Azusa Pacific University in their Commercial Music program and later went on to get a degree in Recording Arts at Citrus College.

When he’s not out snapping photos of projects we've recently completed, you might find him snapping more photos out at local concerts in Denver. Or potentially out taking photos in the mountains with friends. Either way, he'll probably have a camera on him.

Gary Hornstien

Creative Director

Gary Hornstien has been a graphics wiz since he was making his youth group’s weekly bulletin in the late 90s. Since then, he’s been working within the field of video and storytelling, most recently with his website thestoryguide.com. As a graduate from the YouTube School Of Graphic Design and Imagery, Gary has always been driven to pursue his passion for storytelling with the use of visuals. And yes, we did just make up the YouTube School Of Graphic Design and Imagery.

Outside the world of video, graphic design, and storytelling, Gary is an avid outdoorsman. You might find him mountain biking, hiking, or camping if you don’t find him editing. He’s also a family man and is always down for a night in with his wife and kids. But be careful if you play board games with him, he’s unnecessarily competitive when it comes to them. Trust us.

Caleb Pederson

Install Foreman

Caleb is part of our very capable Project Controller team. He helps bring a project into reality by overseeing the entire installation process. Caleb works closely with our clients to ensure that each system install runs smoothly by collaborating with our Project Managers, Installers, Logistics, and Ops teams. Caleb graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colorado Christian University in Sound Recording.

As a true Coloradan, Caleb is either mountain biking in the Rockies or crafting his own homebrew beer to share with friends and family. He also recently moved into a tiny house. He has yet to invite the whole team over for a house warming party and we’re a little disappointed but I guess it’d be hard to cram 50+ people in a tiny house.

Hal Seefeld

Install Foreman

Brian Stifle

Install Foreman

Matthew Kinney

Install Foreman

Derek Cobb

Technical Development Manager

Leo Whitley

Lead AVL Technician

Richard Downing

Lead AVL Technician

Jaime Carr

Lead AVL Technician

Perry DuBose

Advanced AVL Technician

Alex Armstrong

AVL Technician

Alex is a true blue, Coloradoan who was born right here in Denver. Alex joined the Summit team as an installer and has since shifted over to the design world. His willingness to learn paired with a genuine interest and open mind has brought him from a place of zero AVL systems experience to a true AVL Systems design whiz!

Alex is also a musician which, here at Summit, is an extremely rare thing!* He’s been playing drums for over eight years now and can be found playing locally in Denver as well as touring the country with his band, Hemingway Hero. Music is definitely Alex’s main passion, and if you don’t see him with headphones, you may want to check to see if he’s feeling alright.

*Not actually a rare occurrence. 80% of Summit employees play an instrument of some kind.

Justin Tranum

AVL Technician

Hector Manriquez

AVL Technician

Brandon Fincher

AVL Technician

Cesar Campos

AVL Technician

Andres Camelo

AVL Technician

Sarah Busler

AVL Technician

James Haynes

AVL Technician

Connor Hodges

AVL Technician

Kaden Guzman

AVL Technician

Install Foreman

Execution & Integration

Install Foremans lead our “boots on the ground” teams across the country. The ideal candidate is someone who has a passion for leading people and is driven to get the job done the right way. We’re looking for someone who is capable of multitasking while still staying on target to accomplish daily goals.

Adaptability and problem-solving skills are a must. Not everything goes according to plan and we need someone who is able to roll with the punches and figure out how to get it done, even if the solution isn’t nice and neatly laid out in front of them. The Install Foreman team works with several groups of people including the Install Team on-site, our internal Summit team (Designers, Project Managers, etc.), as well as external parties like general contractors and church staff to make sure the job gets done according to the high standards that our clients expect.