Our Team

Rubin Bennett

Owner/ Senior Engineer

Rubin Bennett is the Chief High Commander and Sanitation Engineer at rbTechnologies. He has worked as an Information Technology professional since 1995. Since founding rbTechnologies in 1997, he has provided support and built servers for agencies of the Vermont State government, ISPs, and small businesses around the state and beyond.

Rubin has been awarded many industry certifications, including the Linux Professional Institute LPIC-1, Cisco SMB Select certified partner, and many more from Industry leading companies such as VMware, Veeam, Digium, RedHat, HP, Acer and more.

He was hooked on computers by the time he was 10, learning TRS-basic on his Tandy Color Computer II and TRS-80 Model 1. His early programming in TRS-Basic was saved to cassette tapes and he fondly recalls countless hours spent ‘listening’ to those programs as they were saved and retrieved.

In the intervening years, Rubin has mastered many aspects of networking, computer and network security, programming (PHP, Perl, Linux shell and windows scripting), routing, firewalling and Server systems. He continues to learn and eat humble pie on a daily basis, as new technologies come up and new ways of doing things supplant the old.

In keeping with a family tradition of civic mindedness, Rubin serves on several non-profit Boards in the area.  He was elected as School Director to the East Montpelier Elementary School Board in 2008, and elected by the Board as Chair in 2009 (a position he proudly continues to serve in). He was appointed to the Capstone (formerly Central Vermont Community Action Council) Board of Directors in 2007, elected Vice Chair several years later, and Chair in 2016.  He also served as a Prudential Committee member for the East Montpelier Fire District, from forming the committee to create the Fire District through it’s ultimate annexation by the Town.

A dedicated father and husband, Rubin spends as much time as possible with his amazing wife and three awesome kids.  When he’s not working or spending time with his family, Rubin is a home renovation addict.  He can often found at home on the weekend with a hammer or power tool in hand.  In addition he enjoys downhill and cross-country skiing, playing Irish and Old-Time fiddle with friends, long trail hiking, and motorcycle touring.

He can be reached at [email protected]

Steve Gilman

Director of Operations

Steve joined rbTech in 2011. He has worked in the area for many years, most recently as Operations/Network/Systems administrator for a Montpelier design firm. You may recognize his name from his heavy involvement with the Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, as President and Chairman of the Board. Steve is a volunteer for the Vermont Mountaineers NECBL baseball team and along with Rubin, he volunteers his time with the East Montpelier Fire District, as Chair of the Prudential Committe. Steve has years of experience corralling trades people of various professions and will be the person you usually speak with when you contact our office. We are very fortunate to add yet another incredibly able and talented individual to our merry band of nerds and we know you’ll be equally enthusisatic about his contributions to our already excellent service! He can be reached at [email protected]

Chad Avery

Network Engineer

Chad joined the rbTech team in the spring of 2010 after a long stint as the owner of Montpelier Open Source. Chad brings incredible patience and communication skills, along with his technical talents and we are very fortunate to have him! Chad is also a crazy soccer player and World Cup fan.

Thomas Elgood

Network Engineer

Thomas joined rbTech in the fall of 2012.  He has been working on computer networks since 1992, and brings a wealth of knowledge of Windows servers and network administration to the company.  He brings his excellent technical and communication skills to bear on every issue he handles.

Craig Averbeck

Network Engineer

Craig came to rbTech after a career change in 2013.  He brings an incredible energy and thirst for knowledge to the company, and his technical abilities are matched only by his determination to never let an issue get the better of him.  Craig is an avid outdoor enthusiast and adrenaline junkie, enjoying Downhill mountain biking, snowboarding, hiking and much more.

Hollend Ritondale

Support Technician

Hollend joined rbTech in 2014 as a network technician as he completed his degree in Computer Science.  His technical skills are well matched to his interpersonal skills, and he has quickly become another highly valued member of the rbTech team of technical experts.

Jared Thomas

Senior Network Engineer

Jared  grew up on a dairy farm in East Montpelier and graduated from U32. For a number of years afterwards he travelled, worked in the backcountry in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and lived in a number of different places throughout the US. In his mid 20s he came back to Vermont to finish his degree in Business at Johnson State and decided to stay in central Vermont to pursue a career as an IT professional. Outside of work, Jared enjoys skiing,
snow machining and ice fishing in the winters, camping and riding motorcycles in the summers and tinkering with electronics and computers year round.

Jared joined the team of professionals at rbTechnologies in 2015 after a long stint as the owner and primary engineer for Crouching Lion Digital.  He has many years of experience in a wide array of network technologies, including Windows Server, VMware vSphere, Linux, network security, and much more.

Silvia

Chief Caffeination Officer

Silvia is the most reserved and overworked member of the rbTech team.  She has a tiny space in the kitchen, and mostly keeps to herself.  She’s a great motivator, however and we owe a debt of gratitude to her and her work!