Richard L. Brooks, Jr. is a veteran Web developer who has been involved with this medium since its earliest implementations. As a computer specialist with the United States Department of Defense since 1989, Mr. Brooks has been at the forefront of this informational movement, having Web sites up long before the .com domain explosion. Back in the days when only universities and the military were big players in this environment he was embracing this technology and applying it to innovative solutions while solving business process issues within his organization. He was building Intranets before the term was coined and began building dynamic applications when active server page technology was first released.

     After graduating from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, with a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology, Mr. Brooks moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began his government career at what was to become one of the Defense Information Systems Agency's (DISA) Megacenter computing centers. While there, he performed a wide variety of technical tasks ranging from telecommunications management to software development. One theme was always prevalent throughout each and every one of those assignments: how to provide information to people who had an interest in the work being done. This need spawned much of the skills that Mr. Brooks brings to you today, 

     While in Jacksonville, Mr. Brooks began working on his Masters Degree in Telecommunications Management and completed it in July of 1999. With this new diploma, he began looking around for new horizons and in January accepted a job as an Information Systems Management Specialist with the Commander, US Naval Forces Europe in London, UK, as the very first full-time Webmaster there. Up until that time, the command had relied on a few static pages to provide information to its 12,000 service members in the European theater. Mr. Brooks was able to implement Intranets on multiple networks, create a dynamic environment for the Public Affairs Office to push information to the fleet and built uncountable dynamic applications applying to everything from human resources management to Help Desk management to financial management and operational planning. He also developed and deployed portal technology for collaborative efforts. In 2001, Mr. Brooks was named Theater Information Manager and oversaw many initiatives that impacted Navy personnel's lives on a daily basis. While in London, he began working on his PhD in Computer Science at the University of London, Birkbeck College and is currently in his 5th year of that program.

     In 2003, Mr. Brooks returned to the US and took a position at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland within the Information Technology Services Division as the Assistant Director of Systems and Communications, overseeing the development and operations of the server infrastructure. He continues in this role today. One of the drawbacks of advancing within the ranks is having to leave certain beloved tasks behind. Since he was no longer 'allowed' to pursue development tasks in his current job, he began doing them on a personal basis and for a few friends and family. Realizing that there was a market niche for development for the small business community, he embarked on a side career and Affinity Business Systems was born, being granted its tradename in August of 2004.

     After completing 2 1/2 years of intense study at the National Defense University, Mr. Brooks was awarded certificates in March of 2006 as a Defense Department Chief Information Officer and also was a Distinguished Graduate in IT Project Management.

     Mr. Brooks is proud to claim Annapolis as his home. It's a beautiful area and the people are wonderful. He is looking forward to doing business here in the community and is pleased to be able to apply his skills to advancing the small business community.