Crayon Interface

Garrick Pohl, CEO
Garrick’s work experiences truly run the gamut of business. From his time as a farm hand working through high school to starting his first business in his mid twenties to leading a high tech venture, Garrick has always been a tireless worker with a passion to deliver results. Driven by his desire to combine innovative business models with innovative technology, Garrick co-founded Crayon Interface September, 2005, where he is now recognized as a thought leader in the connected home and Telematics markets. Garrick began his career in commercial banking with First of America Bank. In the mid '90s he assisted a small automotive supply company through its start-up phase before joining Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) in 1997. During his tenure at JCI, Garrick lead several business development initiatives for the company's General Motors and Nissan Business Units - helping JCI to secure over $1 billion in new sales during his tenure. He holds a BA and MBA from Western Michigan University.

Kevin Knaus, President
Kevin joined Crayon Interface after a successful career in real estate services at Land America Financial Group where he lead a sales force of 80 while growing the company from $15 million to $300 million in annual sales. In addition to his sales experience Kevin also has an extensive background in consumer product marketing having spent time at both Proctor and Gamble and MCI. While at MCI he helped lead the company's initial launch of consumer products including prepaid calling cards. A serial entrepreneur/investor, Kevin joined the Crayon team full time in 2009 after serving on the Company's Board of Directors for several years. Kevin holds a BS from Kansas State University.

Budd Bentley, CTO
Budd’s diverse work experience and passion for technology enable him to play a true ‘utility role’ at Crayon, from engaging in business and commercial development to empowering and motivating the technology team and setting the direction for the evolution of Crayon’s mobile access solutions platform. Budd’s passion for delivering superior solutions and intuitive user interface design fuels Crayon’s development team towards creating simple, practical solutions built off of leading edge technology. Prior to co-founding Crayon in 2005, Budd spent 13 years at Johnson Controls, starting with the company’s interior products engineering group before taking rotational roles in testing, quality, finance, IT and continuous improvement through JCI’s leadership development program, ending up as the Global Engineering Manager for Best Practices and Continuous Improvement. Budd holds a BSME from Kettering University and a Master’s in Engineering Management from Western Michigan University.

Kevin Virta, EVP Business Development
Kevin has over 15 years of experience in managing complex business relationships with both large multi-billion dollar organizations and small, early stage companies. Kevin combines his talent for building relationships and his business acumen to create strategic partnerships which deliver best-in-class solutions and economic value for all parties, helping position Crayon Interface as a leader in the markets it serves. Prior to joining Crayon Interface in 2006, Kevin spent 9 years with Johnson Controls in various business development capacities. In has last role he served as JCI's Director of Global Strategy, helping the company leverage its global footprint to secure new business opportunities and to drive operating improvements worldwide. Kevin holds a BA from Western Michigan University and an MBA from the University of Memphis.

Keith Pustover, VP Operations
Keith is the consummate business manager, balancing the fluid process of software development with the rigid discipline of product development to enable Crayon to be first-to-market with proven, reliable solutions. Keith is steeped in organizational processes and operational excellence having learned early in his career at Ford Motor Company during a time when the company was at the forefront of delivering the kind of quality many thought was too elusive for Detroit’s Big 3. Keith later spent 10 years at JCI leading several product launches in the company’s automotive interior division. During his career at JCI, Keith helped establish new business and manufacturing facilities in Canada – supporting JCI’s midsize vehicle business expansion, yielding more than $1 billion annually in incremental sales. Keith holds a BS from Michigan State University and a Master’s of Engineering from the University of Michigan.