:: Robert Heitner, Jr. ::

I'm Robert Heitner, Jr.

I was raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., until the age of seven, then moved to South Florida, where I lived until I left for the Navy after graduating Coconut Creek High School.

My first computer was a Tandy. It had 8 kb of memory and used a tape deck for storage. I got my first full-height floppy drive shortly afterwards, and honed my communication skills by running one of five BBSs in Broward County, Fla., using a 300 bps modem.

While other kids were getting Commodore 64s, I got my first real PC, a Kaypro 286 with 2 MB RAM. After high school, I went to boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill., then to Aviation Training school in Millington, Tenn., to Fresno, Calif., for additional training, and finally, to China Lake Naval Weapons Center. I worked my way up to 2nd Class Petty Officer and joined the center's military security force, which opened the door to joining the local police department.

I worked 50 hours a week for the Navy and another 30 hours for the police department. I took a lot of police training courses, including National Transportation Safety Emergency Vehicle Operations. I also took courses at Ridgecrest Community College. My parents shipped me a PC in 1987, and I got my first taste of dBase, Foxbase, FoxPro, FoxPro for Windows, SBT Accounting Systems Series 6.10 and online banking.

I got married in December, 1989, and had a daughter the following October. After my honorable discharge from Navy, my intention was to join the Broward County sheriff's office however, while we were enroute from California to Florida, a state trooper was shot and killed a couple miles from our home. After that, my family and new wife would have none of me being a cop. So, I got job at a computer company building computers. Over the next year or so, I also worked at an irrigation company in the parts department – which was another learning experience due to having to pay very close attention to detail (useful for a career in programming).

Shortly thereafter, I joined my father in his computer consulting business, and started working with SBT Series 6, learning how to modify the code. I worked with clients using SBT Series 6, Series 7, Series 8 and VP2000, and got my first taste of SBT Pro Series in 1994 with Pro 2.5. I sold lots of Pro Series, and received multiple sales awards from SBT. My yearly vacation was a four-day convention in San Francisco – something I joked about, but it was the truth. I was one the top resellers in our area for many years. I sold and supported point-of-sale systems using UPOS (SBT's number one POS system), along with Skyline Software, eventually becoming the number one Skyline Software reseller in our area.

I had worked with a number of distribution and manufacturing companies, something I knew nothing about before I joined the family business. I even earned the Citrix Administrator Certification in 1998. In the mid-nineties, I got divorced and received sole custody of my daughter, who I have been raising ever since.

I met Rod Lewis in 1998, and started working with him on a variety of projects. We developed an excellent working relationship, and I grew to know and like him personally. In late 1998, Rod and Traci asked me to join Data Developers Plus, and I accepted. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

My daughter and I moved to Minneapolis in the summer of 1999. During my time with DDP, I have grown considerably as a programmer, thanks to Rod and Traci and a lot of hard work. I am detail oriented and take pride in my ability to listen well to what people say.

My goal is to be the best I can be, to continue to learn and grow and to never give up. I am extremely proud to work with Rod and Traci Lewis – my mentors and my best friends.

I'm Robert Heitner, Jr. I was raised in St. Petersburg, Fla., until the age of seven, then moved to South Florida, where I lived until I left for the Navy after graduating Coconut Creek High School. My first computer was a Tandy. It had 8 kb of memory and used a tape deck for storage. I got my first full-height floppy drive shortly afterwards, and honed my communication skills by running one of five BBSs in Broward County, Fla., using a 300 bps modem. While other kids were getting Commodore 64s, I got my first real PC, a Kaypro 286 with 2 MB RAM. After high school, I went to boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill., then to Aviation Training school in Millington, Tenn., to Fresno, Calif., for additional training, and finally, to China Lake Naval Weapons Center. I worked my way up to 2nd Class Petty Officer and joined the center's military security force, which opened the door to joining the local police department. I worked 50 hours a week for the Navy and another 30 hours for the police department. I took a lot of police training courses, including National Transportation Safety Emergency Vehicle Operations. I also took courses at Ridgecrest Community College. My parents shipped me a PC in 1987, and I got my first taste of dBase, Foxbase, FoxPro, FoxPro for Windows, SBT Accounting Systems Series 6.10 and online banking. I got married in December, 1989, and had a daughter the following October. After my honorable discharge from Navy, my intention was to join the Broward County sheriff's office however, while we were enroute from California to Florida, a state trooper was shot and killed a couple miles from our home. After that, my family and new wife would have none of me being a cop. So, I got job at a computer company building computers. Over the next year or so, I also worked at an irrigation company in the parts department – which was another learning experience due to having to pay very close attention to detail (useful for a career in programming). Shortly thereafter, I joined my father in his computer consulting business, and started working with SBT Series 6, learning how to modify the code. I worked with clients using SBT Series 6, Series 7, Series 8 and VP2000, and got my first taste of SBT Pro Series in 1994 with Pro 2.5. I sold lots of Pro Series, and received multiple sales awards from SBT. My yearly vacation was a four-day convention in San Francisco – something I joked about, but it was the truth. I was one the top resellers in our area for many years. I sold and supported point-of-sale systems using UPOS (SBT's number one POS system), along with Skyline Software, eventually becoming the number one Skyline Software reseller in our area. I had worked with a number of distribution and manufacturing companies, something I knew nothing about before I joined the family business. I even earned the Citrix Administrator Certification in 1998. In the mid-nineties, I got divorced and received sole custody of my daughter, who I have been raising ever since. I met Rod Lewis in 1998, and started working with him on a variety of projects. We developed an excellent working relationship, and I grew to know and like him personally. In late 1998, Rod and Traci asked me to join Data Developers Plus, and I accepted. It was one of the best decisions of my life. My daughter and I moved to Minneapolis in the summer of 1999. During my time with DDP, I have grown considerably as a programmer, thanks to Rod and Traci and a lot of hard work. I am detail oriented and take pride in my ability to listen well to what people say. My goal is to be the best I can be, to continue to learn and grow and to never give up. I am extremely proud to work with Rod and Traci Lewis – my mentors and my best friends.