The Story of SurvivalWare

Small business owner, Rusty Luhring , ‘cut his teeth’ in the software business in 1979 as a 25 year old entrepreneur, founding his first company, Ferox Microsystems, in Alexandria, VA. In 2002 Rusty felt there was an unmet need for small business owners like himself and went online with a new software product, SurvivalWare Cash Planner, under a new brand—Luhring SurvivalWare, Inc.

From the get-go Rusty felt confident that, along with the sophisticated software, offering a 30 day free trial with a strong customer support component could help alleviate some oftentimes intense uncertainty for small businesses. To that end, he has remained committed. The software’s strength lays in its automated design, projection capabilities, ease of use, and efficiencies of scale.

Rusty has further developed advanced software that includes customization components aimed at consultants helping small or medium businesses, or financial professionals in larger sized companies. He seeks to advance the cause of financial reporting and cash flow projections by providing a solid infrastructure along with the “finishing tools” to get the fit just right and the system operating at peak efficiency.

Founder and CEO, Rusty Luhring, graduated from University of Michigan with a degree in Industrial Engineering. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and is the author of numerous White Papers. He has also been interviewed for television and radio. Rusty is an avid bicyclist, loves to travel, and is a great chef!

The Rest of Team!

Vice President, Operations, Rosalie Cushman, provides operations management functions, copywriting, and marketing for the company. She attended Boston University and earned a degree in English from Iowa State University. She has a long tenure in public relations and marketing for book retailers, a sales executive for an international airline, and has written copy for Air New Zealand’s online micro-site, The Vacation Gap.

She is the author of two books, currently awaiting publication, produced live programs with the late Steve Allen, produced Dames From Ames, for Public Television in IA, among numerous other accomplishments. In her spare time, Rosalie likes to hike the beach, write, meditate, and has a wicked sense of humor.

Vice President, Business Development, Sam Sabzehzar, performs critical business development strategies through video development and production, training, and explores and creates new partner relationships. Sam is a graduate of California State University at Long Beach in Film Production and Humanities. He has produced several short films, including A Line In the Sand, among others. He is domiciled in Long Beach, CA, and represents the West Coast branch of the company.

Sam’s hobbies include camping, soccer, snowboarding, surfing, golf, rock climbing, reading and making films.  Sam enjoys information and advocacy relationships with key community leaders both locally and nationally.

Support Specialist & Technical Writer, Anne Briggs, writes documentation for software users that is critical for implementation of SurvivalWare’s programs. In addition, Anne performs vital graphic artist functions and upgrades the look and feel of the various software models. She provides critical Doc-to-Help ensuring efficient ways to publish software documentation in three formats simultaneously: for context-sensitive Help system for the software, Web based Help system for site visitors, and PDF for those who like to read printed guides.

Anne graduated from Virginia Tech in Marketing Management. She has a rich and diverse work background, from selling insurance door-to-door, to being an early pioneer salesperson selling microcomputers when they first appeared on the market. In her spare time in Kentucky where she lives and works Anne loves to read, play with graphics and raise six kids. That’s right: SIX!

Programmer, Russ Luhring, performed early website development for the company and is currently undertaking a huge project converting SurvivalWare software to the .Net platform. He is self-taught and gifted at learning and applying his technical expertise, playing a critical role in future expansion in this arena.

Russ is an artist in his spare time, is co-founder of Random Thought Art Show.com – an online art gallery including painting, sculpture, writing, and video. He has coordinated live art shows, fundraising for various charities in the Philadelphia area where he lives, including Children’s Hospital and Juvenile Diabetes Association.

Viral Marketing Associate, Kelly Luhring, provides invaluable service in interviews and testimonial coordination in advance of viral marketing deployment. She assists in identifying key customers as background for blog articles, general marketing purposes, as well as providing viral deployment on Facebook, Twitter, and additional online sources. She is a graduate of Temple University with a degree in English, and is also bi-lingual French. She is domiciled in Paris, France and is SurvivalWare’s European representative.

Prior to joining SurvivalWare in Paris, Kelly was a paralegal for a patent/trademark/copyright law firm in Philadelphia. She resided in Melun, France for the past several years as a fille au pair, and did free-lance marketing as well. Kelly loves to travel, is a great photographer, and has an interest in architecture.

Graphic Artist, Animator, Design assistant, Nick Luhring, provides flash animation, music for video content, graphics for product packaging, and cover designs. Nick has a degree in Physics from Virginia Tech, as well as advanced coursework at North Carolina State in the PHD Physics program.

In his spare time Nick writes and performs music, has produced four CD’s, and is a gifted cartoonist. He has hopes to write a ‘physics for children’ book in the future. Currently residing in Raleigh, North Carolina, he and his wife will relocate to northern California in the middle of 2010, near Silicon Valley.