Jerry Reese
Co-Founder
Jerry Reese is the former senior vice-president and general manager for the New York Football Giants. He was considered one of the most successful general managers in the National Football League, winning two Super Bowl Champions, XLII and XLVI. Jerry is a 1981 graduate of Lake County High School. He helped to lead the Falcons to a 1980 High School Football State Championship. His love for his community and the people of Lake County makes Team 4 Success a priority. Reese and wife, Gwen, live in Franklin, TN.
William (Bill) Michaelcheck
Co-Founder
Born in Tiptonville, he attended Lake County schools, and graduated from Lake County High School in 1965. Bill’s mother spent her entire life teaching in Lake County Schools. William Michaelcheck founded Mariner Investment Group, LLC in December of 1992, and is a member of Mariner’s Management Committee and Chairman of Mariner’s Investment Committee. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President of the Bear Stearns Companies and Senior Managing Director of Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc., where he was Co-Head of the Fixed-Income Department and also responsible for all proprietary trading activities and risk management. Michaelcheck is a native of Tiptonville and a graduate of Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He has earned a Master’s degree from the Harvard Business School and is the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Rhodes College.
Gwen Reese
Gwen Reese is a native of Brighton, Tennessee. Her passion for young people and community service draws T4S close to her heart. She works closely with the T4S staff in coordinating programs and events. A graduate of Liberty University with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling allows her to provide marriage and family counseling. Reese and her husband, Jerry, have two adult children, Jasmyne and Jerry II and one grandson, Kingston.
Larry S. White
Larry White is a West Tennessee native. He served in the US Marine Corps and graduated from University of Tennessee at Martin in 2003. He now resides in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He is married to his wife Kay and has a daughter, Whitney. White started in the insurance business over forty years ago and in 1976, he opened White & Associates (Also known as First Citizens Insurance) with over 100 employees. The firm was awarded Small Business of the Year in 1999 by the Dyersburg County Chamber. This firm is currently one of the largest independent insurance agencies in West Tennessee. It has a total of eleven offices in West Tennessee and additional offices in Caruthersville, Sikeston, and Dexter, Missouri. White is also the President of White & Associates Home Assistance with five locations in Missouri and Tennessee with a total of 300 employees.
Sherrell Armstrong
Sherrell Armstrong, child of Danny and Anita Armstrong, was raised in Tiptonville and attended Lake County Schools graduating from Lake County High School in 1981. He played both football and basketball for the Falcons and was a member of the 1980 Class A State Championship football team. He attended college at the University of Tennessee at Martin and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1986 with a B.S. in Business Administration. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree at the Memphis State University in 1987. He began his banking career with the Comptroller of the Currency in 1988 and currently is employed as Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer for First Citizens National Bank. He is a resident of Dyersburg, Tennessee and serves as a Dyer County School System School Board member, Dyersburg/Dyer County Industrial Development Board member and First Citizens Bancshares Corporate Board member. He is a member of First Baptist Church of Dyersburg where he serves as a deacon and chairman of the trustees. He is married to Fonda (Gooch) and they have four children and one grandchild.
Damio Yancy
Director of T4S, Damio Yancy, was born and raised in Lake County, TN. Yancy is a product of Lake County and proud of his small town roots. Yancy is a 2007 graduate of Lake County High School where he excelled both academically and athletically. After high school, Yancy attended Middle Tennessee State University where he achieved a BS in Sports and Recreation Administration in 2012. Yancy feels blessed to be one of the leaders of T4S because Lake County is where his roots are and he feels a great responsibility to the youth and community as a whole, to invest in them for the betterment of the entire town. For Yancy, there is truly, no place like home.
Will Ann Avery
Will Ann Avery was born in Ridgely (Lake County) Tennessee to William W and Annette (Russell) Mays. She attend elementary school in Lake County and Lauderdale County, graduating from Palmer-Turner in Henning in 1951. High school graduation came in 1955 from Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina. She received a BA Degree from Tennessee State University in 1959 and her MS Degree in Education from the University of Tennessee Martin in 1976. Mrs. Avery was employed as a teacher and/or guidance counselor at Howard High School, Chattanooga TN; Lincoln High School, Tiptonville TN; Ridgely Jr. High School, Ridgely TN; and, Lake County High School, Tiptonville TN. Currently retired, she has been an innovative leader in the community, member of the Lincoln Alumni Association and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She has a tremendous passion for the youth in Lake County and is a jewel in the community.
Greg Ross
Greg is the Assistant Director for T4S. He is a 1985 graduate of Lake County High School. After graduation, he received a full athletic scholarship to attend Memphis State University where he majored in Communications. Ross is currently a business owner of Greg’s Janitorial Services, head coach of the Boys’ Middle School Basketball team and superintendent for his local church’s Sunday School Department. His involvement with T4S fulfills his desire to help mold and shape the lives of the youth in the community into becoming successful, productive citizens.
Kevin Coby
Friend of the Board
Mr. Coby is recognized for his excellent leadership, proven business acumen, corporate mentorship, and steadfast dedication to the principles of workplace diversity and equal opportunity. He is committed to his mission of offering education and career opportunities and tool to others so that they can further their dreams and visions as he has been able to do for himself. Mr. Coby graduated from Union City High School, in Tennessee and joined the U.S. Air Force, working in military intelligence. After nine years of active-duty service, including tours of duty in Japan and Korea, plus multiple stateside and temporary duty assignments, he was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1995. Subsequent to his departure from active duty, Mr. Coby served as a systems engineer, project and program manager in support contracts with various IT Technologies companies, such as General Dynamics, TRW and Booze Allen & Hamilton, to name a few. Mr. Coby began his journey as an entrepreneur in the basement of his home, launching his first technology-based company Insight Information Technology (IIT) in 2006. Starting as a small consulting firm with just two employees, Mr. Coby was able to lead and grow IIT to the status of corporation: employing a work force of thirty-five within a span of three years. During this period of growth, he was able to acquire nine NSA contracts and cultivate his business to a net worth of over $20 million in
revenue. In 2009 Mr. Coby was approached by a large Cyber Security company (KEYW corporation) soliciting to acquire ITT. In 2010 Insight Information Technology was successfully acquired by KEYW Corporation, a NASDAQ publicly trading company. At the time of the acquisition Insight was ranked as one of the Top 100 Disabled Veteran Owned Companies. Mr. Coby spent two years with KEYW in the capacity of Vice President, managing IIT as a wholly owned subsidiary of KEYW Corporation and supporting the acquisition of numerous additional small businesses. He also contributed to the process which resulted in KEYW reaching the status of a publicly traded firm. In February of 2012 after having been with KEYW for 2 years Mr. Coby purchased SITEC CONSULTING, LLC and is presently the President and CEO. SITEC Consulting, is a HUBZone, service-disabled veteran owned small business specializing in specializing in support, design, development, and delivery of state- of- the- art technology solutions, systems engineering and management consulting services company. SITEC has a vast history of providing sophisticated solutions, customer centric services and mission critical requirements for department of Defense, the Federal Intelligence Agencies, and various other business partners. Today SITEC provides technology solutions to agencies such as Department of Homeland, Untied States Secret Service, Department of Defense and Transportation Security Administration to mention a few. Mr. Coby has a special interest in giving back to the community… his contributions include making himself available to mentor and provide guidance to those seeking to establish their own businesses or trying to gain insight into the world of entrepreneurship. It was this desire and service which led him to the presidency of Retired Military Officers Association (RMOA).
A non-profit organization founded in 1994 comprised of decorated and distinguished military officers. In addition, Mr. Coby donates his time and financial resources to many philanthropic causes, such as local and out of state schools, Boys and Girls club, community drives, Back to School events (Bully Buster Program, various local and out of state scholarship programs as well as, providing IT related services wherever needed. He has established a summer internship program at SITEC which has provided the eight young individuals the opportunity for a hands-on experience to work in a professional
and technological environment and pursue their career goals and path. Mr. Coby’s motto for his business over the years continues to be “Satisfy The Customer Need”…this sums up his philosophy and his outlook when it comes to treatment of his employees, customers and as general rule of thumb for community at large. He is a believer in going above and beyond the call of duty, no matter what the task …and he credits and acknowledges that, this particular business practice is one of the core pillars for his success.
Favorable Mention
Mr. Coby is the recipient of several awards over the years to include:
• Robert, E &Jenny, D Kirkland Discovery Park of America Award
• Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year Award
• National Society of Black Engineers Pioneer Award
• Minority Enterprise Advocate Leadership and Excellence Award.
Mr. Coby has contributed to several publication such as:
• Minority Enterprise Advocate Magazine
• Washington Exec online News Maryland/Washington DC.
Tammie S. Hopper
