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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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Spears, Michael Lane "Mike"
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| Affiliation | Independent |
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| Name | Michael Lane "Mike" Spears |
| Address |
Lafayette, Louisiana , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Donate |  |
 Facebook | pages/Spears-for-US-Senate-2010/110535755633092 |
| Born |
Unknown
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Sep 08, 2011 03:20pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Mike Spears is a devoted husband, entrepreneur, successful small business owner and dedicated community leader. Alarmed at the corruption and irresponsible behavior of sitting Congressmen, Mike has decided to take a stand and is running for U.S. Senate.
Not a career politician, having never held public office, he has defiantly positioned himself as a Washington Outsider, and American Insider, running for Senator David Vitter’s seat in the 2010 U.S. Senate election.
His mission is to restore faith, integrity and unity to the nation, starting with the Federal government. He’ll start by holding existing Congressmen and Senators accountable, by restoring integrity to the legislative process, by working with the American electorate to root out the self-serving, and to make government accessible and understandable to every American.
Far from an elite career politician, Mike brings valuable skills and experience to the table from the real world, where real Americans live and work.
Like many Americans, Mike has proven himself a successful innovator and small business owner. His credibility is strengthened by an impressive portfolio of relevant community service work.
Mike’s arrival in Washington is sure to shake-up the political “status quo.”
Business Owner & Entrepreneur
Since 1995, after starting his first business, Mike has cultivated a reputation in Louisiana as an innovator, visionary entrepreneur and successful small business owner. He was recognized by the state of Louisiana as the “2003 Louisiana Entrepreneur of the Year” runner-up and the “2003 Acadiana Entrepreneur of the Year.”
In 1998, Mike started his second small business, Firefly Digital, a fledgling web development firm. Mike innovated a successful new business process that blended the best practices of the advertising and software development professions.
This foundation would serve the business well, as Firefly outlasted scores of competitors and weathered both the dot-com crash of 2000 and the telecom bust of 2001.
In early 2000, Mike saw the industry downturn as an opportunity to innovate. He recognized an emerging consumer demand for simple and user-friendly consumer tools for editing of websites, an idea that would not only revolutionize Firefly’s business, but one that would emerge to revolutionize today’s web.
Mike and his team created one of the web’s first content management systems, the Website Gadget®. It turned out to be a remarkable advance for Firefly, establishing an important new revenue stream, while providing a valuable new benefit to their client base.
This was a good example of Mike’s tenacity and strong will to overcome adversity. His ability to understand the marketplace and his innovative approach to solving problems turned what could have been a story of failure into a bright and shining success story.
Always a fearless self-starter and visionary, Mike started Firefly with $500, a vision and a passion for the work. It turned into an amazing adventure he’ll admit was tougher than he’d expected, but worth every step. The process rendered a remarkable integrity and strength of character, an affinity for solving problems, team building, a keen knack for making challenging decisions and an inexhaustible competitive spirit.
Community Service
Building a business can be a battle in the trenches. Mike’s business skills, his strong leadership, integrity, and a penchant for team building have been invaluable and fundamental to the success of his business. Mike has proven that the same qualities effectively translate into success in the public and community service arenas.
Nearly as storied as his business achievements are Mike’s public service in the community. For more than a decade, Mike has been an integral part of the local community service fabric, committing a great deal of personal time and resources to important public service projects, especially those in economic development and K-12 educational.
Public Service in K-12 Education
Currently, Mike is working with six Acadiana school districts on a landmark project to create an inter-district high tech school. Leading this process, Mike has conceived a new modular education platform that promotes student-driven learning, where students engage in a collaborative and technology rich classroom setting. The platform emphasizes real-world learning experiences and the development of 21st century learning skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, innovation, information literacy, multimedia communications, etc.
In 2003, Mike was named inaugural Advisory Board Chairman of the Academy of Information Technology, then, a new career academy in the Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS). Mike’s leadership on the board and in the business community from 2003 to 2007 was instrumental in firmly establishing the academy’s curriculum, building the advisory board, and establishing a firm footing and engagement in the community.
In 2009, the Academy of Information Technology gained national acclaim as the National Academy Foundation’s Model Academy.
For his work and commitment to the stellar rise of the program, the LPSS Schools of Choice program recognized Mike’s contributions with the “Schools of Choice Champion” award in 2006.
Mike has also been involved in reshaping public education in Louisiana. He joined the Louisiana Department of Education team to participate in the two year University of Virginia’s Darden/Curry Partnership for Leaders in Education. As part of the Lafayette Parish School Board Project Team, Mike worked with educators, school board members and administrators to establish a system of statewide alignment through the “Balanced Scorecard” system. The system will provide for state, district and school alignment of goals, objectives and strategic planning.
Among other projects, Mike was involved in Junior Achievement for five years, introducing business concepts into elementary school classrooms, and inspiring young entrepreneurial thinkers to explore ideas and practical lessons in pursuit of the American Dream.
Economic Development
Lafayette, Louisiana is Mike’s hometown. Growing up, the oil and gas industry was the bread and butter of the economy. It was a prosperous and successful economic center for many years, until the oil and gas bust of the 1980’s devastated the industry, and Lafayette’s economy. Once called the Oil Center, Lafayette would recover, but never be the same.
In 1998, two decades later, Mike was a hopeful entrepreneur. Lafayette had recovered. Yet, city officials were still working to diversify the economy. Area economic development organizations set their sights on the technology industry and began working to carve a niche for Lafayette in an emerging Internet economy.
Mike, having just started his second technology business, was invited to join the ranks of local tech and business leaders, alongside economic developers, to envision Lafayette’s future as the high tech center of Louisiana.
This work started in 1998, and today, that vision has been realized. It is generally acknowledged around the state that Lafayette is Louisiana’s High Tech center.
Instrumental in every step of the journey, Mike played key roles in each of these key achievements:
* Establishment of Zydetech, Lafayette’s first technology think tank, at the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce;
* Establishment and selection of Lafayette’s first Technology Director position at the Lafayette Economic Development Authority;
* Creation of Lafayette’s LITE Center, a publicly accessible visualization and supercomputing facility, the only one of its kind in the world at the time of its opening;
* Establishment of a regional technology conference, TechSouth;
* Conception and establishment of Lafayette’s publicly owned high speed fiber-optic network, LUS Fiber to the Home, initiative, a landmark project which is also the first of it’s kind in the U.S.;
* Establishment and shaping of the nationally recognized model high school academy, Lafayette’s Academy of Information Technology.
Healthcare
Selected for his business achievements and experience as an innovative technology entrepreneur, Mike was selected to the Southwest Medical Center Board of Trustees. Between 2004 and 2007, Mike worked with doctors, hospital executives and healthcare professionals to address many of the important healthcare issues every American faces today.
Mike and his business, Firefly Digital, work with a number of hospitals, physicians and healthcare firms to provide business and patient-related web solutions.
His experience on the board at Southwest Medical Center and his healthcare clients have given Mike keen insight into the inner-workings of the healthcare industry.
Faith & Family
Mike is married to Ilse Botha Spears, a native of South Africa. Together he and Ilse are raising a healthy family of five dogs; Barley, Sk8r, Posh, Pascale and Dusty (all rescues!) Newly wed, Mike and Ilse are looking forward to raising a family, “as soon as the Lord is willing.”
Both Christians, Mike and Ilse are very active in their church.
Military
Instrumental in cultivating strong leadership skills was Mike’s service in the Louisiana National Guard. Mike and his best friend joined the National Guard after high school. For Mike it was a proving ground, an experience that built his confidence. His transformation, as a result, rekindled a patriotism and love of country that he brandished as a kid.
Mike left for basic training in 1983. When he returned, he’d graduated basic training as “Honor Graduate,” recognized as the top performer in his platoon for the cycle. He went on to serve in the Guard until 1992, when he and his unit were called to active duty as part of Operation Desert Storm. The conflict ended before his unit was deployed overseas.
An Operation Desert Storm veteran, Mike completed his tour of duty and was honorably discharged in 1993.
Education
Mike holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Louisiana, at Lafayette (USL at the time). He graduated as the Communication’s top graduate, Communications Honor Graduate, and served for two terms as student newspaper Editor-in-Chief, and a year stint as a Varsity Cheerleader.
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