Who we are

Executive Management

Annette Harwood Murphy, Co-founder, President/CEO, Chairman of the Board
Annette Harwood Murphy has guided TLC's strategic planning, fiscal operations, and administration since 1975. TLC creates automation technology for libraries and school districts of all sizes, including some of the busiest libraries in the world. The company serves over 5,000 libraries world-wide with about 200 staff members from its offices in the United States and abroad.

Under Mrs. Murphy's leadership, the TLC corporate family has grown to include CARL Corporation (acquired in 2000) and Tech Logic Corporation (majority stockholder share acquired in 2005). In addition, TLC has established strategic partnerships with leading companies throughout the world to offer more products and services - and more choices -- to the library community. The company's offerings have grown from cataloging and PAC products to an array of sophisticated systems that include integrated automation, acquisitions, online cataloging, authority control, RFID technology, and other products and services required for the success of today's libraries.

TLC is built on the principles of honesty and integrity, and values its relationships with its library customers. The company strives to create and maintain long-term partnerships with libraries, and to ensure that each library's experience with TLC is founded on trust.

Mrs. Murphy's professional background is in finance, software development, and systems analysis. She has worked as a systems analyst and consultant in the development of accounting and office procedures. Mrs. Murphy pursued studies at the University of Georgia in Atlanta and Dekalb College in Decatur, Georgia in system analysis.

Mrs. Murphy serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Old Charles Town Library and a member of the Board of Directors of the Shepherd University Foundation. She is also a member of the Shenandoah Museum Council.

Calvin Whittington, Director of Finance and Administration
Calvin Whittington has served as TLC's controller since joining the company in 1987. In this position, he oversees budgeting, cost management, general accounting, data processing, inventory control, and purchasing for TLC. Mr. Whittington directs a staff of nine in the Accounting, and Administration and Finance departments. He also serves as controller of CARL Corporation in Colorado and Tech Logic in Minnesota, companies owned by TLC. With these three companies, Mr. Whittington promotes the financial health of budgets and revenues in the millions. Mr. Whittington holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Shepherd University (WV) and an M.B.A. from Shenandoah University (VA).

Gar Sydnor, Senior Vice President
Gar Sydnor is a fifteen-year veteran of the library automation industry. As Vice President of Sales, he was instrumental in the growth of sales of Library.Solution, CARL.X, and add-on products. As Senior Vice President, Mr. Sydnor oversees TLC's strategic direction and guides development of customer-driven solutions and partnerships for the TLC family of libraries. Mr. Sydnor holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University (VA).

Simon Marcus, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Simon Marcus brings a depth of operations experience to his position at TLC, with a career based on successful project management and process improvement for prominent organizations. Mr. Marcus joined TLC in early 2007 with a working knowledge of the company, having previously served as TLC's Director of Implementation. Before returning to TLC, Mr. Marcus served as Chief Operating Officer of the Authors Guild, the oldest and largest American organization for published authors. Before joining the Guild, Mr. Marcus was Projects Manager for the New York office of AM+A, a leading Web design firm. Prior to that, he served the YMCA of Greater New York, where he combined six customer service units into one department processing over $16 million in annual revenues. Mr. Marcus's career began in MetLife's Real Estate Investments Group as a Business Process Analyst. He went on to manage resident services at MetLife's Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town, the largest real estate complex in Manhattan. Mr. Marcus holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Bard College (NY).

Joshua (Jabe) Bloom, Chief Technology Officer
Jabe Bloom is a Software/Security Architect who has provided thought leadership on emerging technologies to Fortune 100 companies. Mr. Bloom's expertise is in the architectural and security oversight of large-scale, highly secure transactional applications. He is an avid practitioner of agile development processes. In his early career, Mr. Bloom developed some of the first Java-based Web sites for clients such as Sotheby's and Black and Decker. Mr. Bloom was Chief Architect of the iXL office in New York (now Razorfish), overseeing all technical implementations. Mr. Bloom has also served as Technical Director at IconNicholson, where he led major software development projects for clients including, Valspar, S&P, The Doris Duke Foundation, and the NRF 06 Store of the Future.

Tim Heishman, Vice President, Inwood Operations
Tim Heishman joined TLC in 2003 as Director of Product Development, guiding the company’s team of product owners and the overall development process. He was promoted to Director of Operations before moving into his current position as Vice President of Inwood Operations in 2006. In his current role, Mr. Heishman has oversight of the day-to-day operations in TLC’s corporate headquarters in West Virginia, including implementation and client services, research and development, and product development via the company’s Inwood-based product owners. Prior to his arrival at TLC, Mr. Heishman developed sonar and navigational systems for Navy ships, handled professional services for AT&T, and oversaw enterprise content management for Infodata. Mr. Heishman is an alumnus of Old Dominion University in Virginia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems.

Paul Leppert, Vice President, Managing Director, Denver Operations
Before accepting his current position, Mr. Leppert served as Executive Project Manager of the implementation of CARL.X at Chicago Public Library. Before overseeing the Chicago Public Library project, Mr. Leppert was the Director of Technology Operations at Deloitte & Touche Tax Technologies where he implemented a hosted tax software solution for his customers. Mr. Leppert has also served as a consultant for Deloitte Consulting and Technology Solutions Company (TSC) in Chicago where he led many software development, software implementation, and technology strategy projects.

Brad Murphy, Vice President, Singapore Operations
Brad Murphy began with TLC during the company's early days of development. He has served TLC as a salesperson and has also coordinated library conference details and equipment. Mr. Murphy brings a wealth of TLC experience to his current position, where he oversees TLC's Singapore operations and manages a staff of employees there. In addition to representing TLC to new libraries internationally, Mr. Murphy assists with the use of TLC systems by many of the company's international customers.