Scott Robertson

Managing Partner

As the Managing Partner and co-founder of Grand River, Scott sets the strategic direction for the company leading the product development, business development, account management and marketing teams.

Scott spent the last 15 years building software solutions, fulfillment systems and developing new products and clients for the e-commerce industry. Prior to starting Grand River he served as the Executive Vice President of Core Communications and the Business Development Manager for Internet and e-commerce technology companies including Fry, Inc., Submit Order and Enlighten.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Michigan State University and enjoys golf, camping, volleyball, coaching youth sports, and running. Scott and his wife Stephanie have three children.

Betsy Petrovic

Vice President, Client Services

As Grand River's Vice President of Client Services, Betsy Petrovic oversees client relationship management, project management and customer engagements, all the while, building long-term strategic support and marketing programs for clients through consulting and new service offerings.

Betsy spent five years in the industry building and managing large, profitable e-commerce solutions. Prior to joining the Grand River team, she served as the e-Commerce Manager for Collections Etc., Inc. (CEI). Betsy was responsible for Web strategy, content management, and all Web channels. Her efforts boosted CEI's Internet revenues by 40 percent since her start in 2004. In addition, Betsy has worked in e-Commerce marketing management for several years at the Professional Education Institute (formerly AMS Direct) and Lucent Technologies.

Earning her Bachelor's degree in business administration from Benedictine University in Illinois, she went on to pursue her MBA in marketing at Keller Graduate School of Business. In her spare time, Betsy enjoys singing, running, participating in community service projects and spending time with her family. She currently resides in Plainfield, IL, just outside of Chicago, with her husband Adam, son Andrew, and Yorkie Reeses.

Laurie Russie

Program Manager

As Program Manager at Grand River, Laurie is responsible for project management and delivery, including project planning, team leadership, resource allocation, and client communications and she enjoys it. She loves working with her Grand River teams to create world class eCommerce solutions for clients, on time and on budget.

Laurie's spent over 20 years managing successful and sophisticated IT implementations, first in the world of customized Corporate Environmental, Health & Safety applications for companies such as IBM, Motorola, Waste Management and General Motors.

Most recently, Laurie served as Project and Program Managers at Fry, launching and maintaining B2B and B2C eCommerce for esteemed clients such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Lumber Liquidators, and The Occasions Group.

Maybe you wouldn't guess it, but Laurie has had the opportunity to apply much of her bachelor's degree in IOE Engineering from the University of Michigan throughout her career. She has been developing and implementing risk reducing and time saving procedures in the area of application design, development and implementation all the way along.

When not at work, Laurie enjoys camping, swimming and biking with her family as well as creative writing and reading everything in sight. If you have a movie trivia question, ask her, she's an expert.

Hui Wang

Executive Technical Director

Engineer Management. System Architecture. Technical Innovation. Hui plays multiple roles at Grand River. As technical director, Hui Provides leadership and direction both internally and with clients regarding website strategy, development and integration from a technical perspective. As head technologist, Hui constantly researches the new technologies, advises teams on the open source frameworks and industry best practices. As system architect, Hui provides the scoping and estimating, leads the system design and implementation, and guides the engineers to deliver high quality web sites within budget and time line.

Hui has spent more than 12 years in architecting, designing and developing technical solutions. He has hands-on experience in an array of technologies including, JAVA, SERVLET/JSP, Struts, Spring, Hibernate, C/C++, ASP, MFC, PHP, Magento, MySQL, MSSQL, Apache, Tomcat, WebSphere, and he is not afraid of picking up more. Hui's latest passion is iPhone and Android application development. Hui knows the entire web stack, from html to sql, from javascript to web service, and all the points in between. Blending expertise in page development, server scripting, database implementation, system integration and hosting environment setup with team management savvy, Hui brings a full package to bear.

Before joining Grand River, Hui was a system architect with Fry for 5 years, working with Fry's J2EE based eCommerce framework OCP, leading the design and implementation of eCommerce web sites including pacestradingcompany.com (Home Depot's high-end lamp catalog site), AnnTaylor.com, AnntaylorLoft.com, Ann Taylor's Call Center, JustTires.com, GoodyearAutoService.com and VeraBradley.com. Before Fry, Hui worked at Borders corporate IT for 7 years deleloping store applications.

In his spare time, Hui enjoys PingPong, Kickball, Swimming and Poker...but most of all, he enjoys spending time with his family, watching movies, soccer games, and karate practices. When he is not doing those at home, he is online exploring new ideas and new technologies. Software Engineering is part of Hui's life. Even at home, he has to face up to the challenge from his younger daughter, "Did you build a new web site today, Daddy?".

Dan Cooney

Director of User Experience

User Experience Design. Information Architecture. Requirements Gathering. Interaction Design. Dan hones in on understanding your customer's needs and designing a solution that results in a satisfying customer experience aligned with your business goals. Whether it's designing clear paths that allow customers to find what they need on sites with complex functionality or describing an engaging interaction framework for simple customer flows through a simple site, Dan enjoys finding the right fit for each of our client's situations.

With a Master's in Information from University of Michigan, Dan has practiced user experience design for over 10 years with many prominent web development firms including Enlighten and Fry, prior to joining Grand River. He has enjoyed working with clients from a wide range of industries, from the pharmaceutical, energy, and automotive industries to retail, real estate, commercial fabric, and health care. In all our engagements, Dan plays an essential role insuring the customer audience is well understood, and that all the information and interaction elements are in place so your customer finds what they need and can do what they are on your site to do.

When he's not working, gardening, learning guitar or hanging out with his excellent family, Dan likes to explore how information tools can support regional infrastructure and social systems resilience.

Judy Foster

Executive Creative Director

Branding. Visual Direction. Creative Strategy. Judy has a passion and gift for all of these pursuits. And it shows. With over 14 years of interactive design experience, in-depth print knowledge, and two Addy Awards, Judy can make a brand shine and a bottom line go cha-ching. Prior to joining Grand River she was at Fry - one of the leading web development firms.

The key to her success has been to pursue innovation and excellence by ensuring that strategy is a consistent thread throughout the creative solution. In leading Grand River's creative vision, she ensures that the brand identity and visual design captures the clients' business goals as well as delivers a superior and unique experience for the user.

She has worked with leading retailers to create sites that speak to the “soul” of the brand and the “heart” of online shoppers. Clients she has had the privilege to work with include Ann Taylor, Coach, Neiman Marcus, Godiva, Homedics, Gander Mountain, Recellular and The Microscope Store.

When she's not at the Grand River office, you can find Judy keeping up with her two children (who needs an exercise plan when they are around), biking, camping and dreaming about the next country she'll visit.

Lynn Valvona

Director of Interactive Design

With two decades of experience, Lynn has lead creative development of projects ranging from traditional design and branding, to cutting-edge web interface design and interactive components. A concentration on sophisticated visual aesthetics provides a solid base for Lynn's desire to combine beautiful design with effective technical functionality.

Focused on integrating her creative and technical passions, Lynn has immersed herself in the RIA world of Flash animation and actionscript. Building applications that are "powerful" - both visually and functionally - sets her work apart from the crowd. Prior to joining the Grand River team, Lynn earned a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Michigan. She honed her traditional design skills well before the internet was a viable communications medium. As Designer and Web Projects Director with a marketing communications agency, she pioneered the development of the firm's digital service offerings while continuing to produce award-winning graphic design. More recently, Lynn contributed creative and user experience guidance for a global community-based software applications development company.

In her "off" time, Lynn stays busy with her two children and their growing list of activities, burns calories while training for her next road race, and occasionally tries to squeeze-in a ski or sightseeing trip.