MCEDA Appointee
Gerard Gibert founded Venture Technologies, a Technology Solutions Provider headquartered in Ridgeland, MS, in 1986. He served as the company’s CEO from launch until its sale to ConvergeOne (CVON), based in Minneapolis, MN, in January, 2019 for $92mm cash. In 2018, the Mississippi Business Journal listed Venture as the 33rd largest private business in Mississippi.
Venture operated three major solutions practices: Premise Infrastructure Solutions, Cloud and Managed Services and Business Transformation Consulting Services. The company owned and operated three Tier-3 Data Centers, the largest located in the Jackson State University eCenter since 2001. Mr. Gibert earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Mississippi. He worked as a senior consultant in the Management Information Consulting Division of Arthur Andersen & Co., the division that eventually became global management and digital consulting firm, Accenture. In 1984, Gibert earned the ICCP’s Certified Computing Professional designation by passing all 5 exams in first attempt. Prior to its acquisition, Gibert engineered Venture’s acquisition of five companies between 2014 and 2018, increasing annual revenues to $220 million with a staff of 293 across 11 states.
In October 2018, Governor Phil Bryant appointed Gerard as the Vice-Chairman to the inaugural Board of Directors of the Mississippi Lottery Corporation. In August 2018, The Madison County Board of Supervisors appointed Gibert as the At-large board member of the Madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA). Gerard is the Chairman of the Board of Empower Mississippi, a policy advocacy organization that focuses on removing barriers to success through education freedom and criminal justice reform. Gibert serves as the Chairman of the Steering Committee advising the Board of Directors of Innovate Mississippi, a Division of the Mississippi Development Authority, and the related Central Mississippi Angel Fund.
Gerard serves as the Chairman of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) of the American Heart Association’s Annual Heart Walk, is a board member of Canopy Children’s Solutions and the Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross. Gibert is a regular guest on local talk radio and Public Television discussing business and public policy issues and has published numerous opinion articles related to business, technology and public policy – with an emphasis on health care policy. He is a frequent business commentator and speaker in academic, political, business and media circles. Gerard is married to his wife of 38 years, the former Julie Gill of Biloxi, MS. They have two children – Alex – a teacher at Ridgeland High School, and Nick, a baseball instructor and youth coach at P360 in Ridgeland.
He and his family attend St. Francis of Assisi Church in Madison, MS. An instrument-rated private pilot, Gerard enjoys golf, coaching youth sports, flying, writing, speaking, broadcasting and gardening.
