JOHN SILVANI:
 
JOHN SILVANI




 
 
 
 
 
President of First Tech Direct in Royal Oak. After 25 years in the software industry, Silvani has become one of the nation’s top resellers of business applications, including the Microsoft Dynamics suite, to provide improved information access and management, system integration, custom development, training, and proven methodologies. Along with five employees from his former firm, Silvani started First Tech Direct in 2001. This year the firm was listed on the Inc. 5000 as number 4,534 overall and 260th in IT nationwide, due to its three-year 17 percent growth rate, with $6.1 million in revenue, and 33 employees in 2009. The company opened a Chicago office in 2010 and has another in Grand Rapids. Silvani and the company have numerous industry recognitions, including several years of Microsoft’s Inner Circle and President’s Club designations. Accounting Day named First Tech Direct a Top 100 VAR (value added reseller) and honored the company with its Technology Pacesetter Award for several years running. The company also was honored by Corp! magazine in its annual Best of Michigan Business listing, and the Edward Lowe Foundation named it one of “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch" in 2007. A past recipient of the Who's Who in Technology award from Crain’s Detroit Business, Silvani previously was president and COO of First Edge Sornson and president of FRC Consulting. Prior to that, he was a principal at Follmer Rudzewicz & Co. and a senior manager at Coopers & Lybrand. He is a founding member of the Detroit Chapter of Young Entrepreneurs. Silvani received a bachelor’s degree from Albion College and his MBA from Michigan State University.


WHERE BORN: “Pontiac.”

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: “John Rudzewicz who owned a local accounting firm now called UHY. He was a mentor and partner in one of my first businesses. He helped me understand all aspects of business, such as working with people and clients.”

LAST BOOK READ: “Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge. It’s about a doctor and patient talking about how to be healthy after the age of 50.”

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: “A visionary in my business and passionate about the business.”

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: “Technology in our field, business software, is headed into the cloud. All of our software will be hosted by Microsoft, Google, and so on, so we’ll all just go through our browser and use the software from there.”

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: “My iPad. I bought my wife one and after a day of using hers, I bought one.”

FAVORITE PLACE: “Probably Napa Valley, Calif. My wife and I go two times a year and I love the whole place: wineries, people, atmosphere.”

FAVORITE HOBBIES: “I’m a big cyclist; I own a couple of bikes and ride almost until it starts to snow.”

FAVORITE FOOD: “My wife is Filipino and makes a dish called Adobo with chicken or pork. It’s simple but phenomenal.”

MY HIDDEN TALENT: “I used to be an avid and pretty good skydiver.”

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: “As a great husband, father, and friend.”


Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2014, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.