Jan. 2, 2019

This week’s Up-Comer is Jered Schock, an IT infrastructure and cybersecurity consultant at Marco.

Name: Jered Schock

Age: 39

Hometown: Sioux Falls

What brought you to Sioux Falls?

I was born here, went to Sioux Falls Christian High School and then left Sioux Falls for Bethel University in St Paul, Minn. I graduated in 2003. My wife, Callie, and I were newly married, and we decided we wanted to be where family was — both of our parents are in Sioux Falls — and we knew Sioux Falls was a good place to raise a family, which was on our short/long-term plan.

What keeps you in Sioux Falls?

We love the people here. There is also plenty to do with all of the activity downtown, projects like the Levitt Pavilion, lots of great places to eat, etc. We love our kids’ soccer club, Dakota Alliance, which we are very involved in. I’m a coach, all three of our boys play, and my wife serves on the board of directors. The weather in the winter could be better, but we tolerate it. We also have a cabin at Iron Creek Lake in the Black Hills, where we try to spend a good amount of time in the summer. Being in Sioux Falls makes it relatively easy to get there.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

I love working with all types of organizations and the different IT challenges they face. Cybersecurity is a huge concern, and I love speaking to what’s going on and providing simple strategies for helping organizations secure their data.

How did you get connected to your industry?

When I moved back to Sioux Falls from Minneapolis, I was looking for any sort of job. My uncle, Paul, got me connected with a wireless internet service provider, and I signed on as a salesperson for that company. It turns out they were a pretty poor organization, but I picked up enough technology sales knowledge to land with SDN Communications in 2006, which was a great company to work for. I learned early on that if I applied myself to my work and learned the technologies-selling skills, I could have success in the field. Now, I feel like I’m sort of stuck, but it’s a great industry to be stuck in. Technology is always changing, and if you apply yourself and devote the time to learning what customers need in IT, you can be successful.

Describe Marco in three words.

Competent, trustworthy, fun.

What’s your favorite way to give back to your community?

I love serving every year at the Sioux Falls Downtown Lions Club Pancake Days. My grandpa Al Schock always sold a ton of tickets every year for the event, and I have taken that over for him when he passed on a few years back. We raise a ton of money for local charities, and the event itself is always a lot of fun.

What’s one business you’d like to see in Sioux Falls that isn’t here now?

The new Amazon headquarters would have been fun — just kidding. Selfishly, I wish there was a Trader Joe’s here. Whenever we go to Minneapolis or Omaha, we always stock up on groceries from T.J.’s.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I hope to be doing much of what I am doing today — helping organizations by providing the best IT advice in a timely fashion and selling products at competitive prices. I also am doing more mentoring of other salespeople at Marco, and I really enjoy that. I would like to continue my consulting role while also spending more time helping others at Marco grow their business and selling skills.