Ascent LLC

Horstmann founded Ascent in 1998. He wanted to align and integrate best-in-class critical systems infrastructure, facilities engineering, purpose built construction, architectural acumen and best practices operations protocols. Doing so would allow for the improvement of client operations in data center and other critical systems environments.

Today, under his leadership, Ascent is a turnkey critical systems infrastructure solutions provider. The company provides a broad range of expertise, uniquely spanning data center planning, engineering, construction, management, real estate development and operations outsourcing.

Painter serves as President for Ascent, with day to day oversight for the engineering & construction, operations and finance divisions of the company. With the company since 1999, Painter has managed data center projects across the country and ranging in scale from computer room power and cooling expansions to large-scale, hyper-entitled data center developments.

Prior to joining Ascent, Painter worked as a District Engineer for Ameren UE, a leading electrical utility in the Midwest. He also served as an electrical design engineer for the Callaway County Nuclear Plant in Missouri specializing in the design and implementation of power controls and power generation. Painter received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri and a master’s in business administration from Maryville University.

Pauley leads the engineering & construction division at Ascent and oversees the preconstruction, design, and construction activities for data center developments and expansion projects. He is responsible for budgeting, schedule management, permitting, design management, bidding and construction through commissioning. Previously as Senior Mechanical Engineer with Ascent, Pauley provided on-site project management services for complex data center projects and was the team lead on one of the world’s first container based data center deployments. Pauley is a LEED Accredited Professional with extensive experience in value engineering and efficiency improvements.

Prior to joining the Ascent team, Pauley was a lead mechanical engineering with Parsons Brinckerhoff Buildings and received his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla.

Ben oversees the Site Operations division of specialists who operate and maintain critical environments for Ascent clients across North America. As a navy nuclear operations veteran, Ben brings substantial experience in mission critical environment operations, tactics, and finance to the Ascent team.

Ben has been with the Ascent team for nearly a decade, during which time he has implemented a strict regimen of risk mitigation, procedural compliance, and change control within Site Operations with OPEX and CAPEX expertise. He is responsible for budgetary responsibilities, critical environment operations as well as for the safety and training of all operations personnel.

Prior to joining the Ascent team, Ben was a Sr. Quality Assurance Supervisor for Lee Technologies, solely dedicated to the operations account.

Chris leads Business Development & Marketing efforts for all of Ascent services and specialized offerings for mission critical infrastructure and facilities. He has been an integral part of Ascent’s growth since 2007 and has a profound understanding of how to best leverage Ascent’s capabilities to serve organizations with critical infrastructure.

Chris has over 25 years of experience providing technology-based solutions and world class operational services to global organizations with mission critical infrastructure. Chris has helped numerous clients overcome mission critical related challenges while ensuring efficiency and focus on core business functions.

He works hand in hand with clients and Ascent internal teams to tailor solutions to support critical operations and critical projects.

Lester is responsible for the company’s financial operations and accounting activities including financial planning, financial reporting, cash management while also overseeing the human resource and administration department. Lester also directs the accounts payable department for Ascent’s Financial Integration Services. Lester has managed the growth and development in the accounting department since 2000.

Lester additionally serves as assistant operation manager for Traiteurville Stables, Waterloo, IL and was named one of St. Louis Business Journal’s Class of 2003 30 Under 30 award winners. Lester received a bachelor’s of science in business management from Saint Louis University.

Askew is responsible for the overall planning, implementation and execution of all IT functions for Ascent. A seasoned IT veteran, Askew is experienced in overseeing the IT operations of Ascent, large corporate and educational environments as well as financial institutions and is experienced in adhering to strict process and technology compliance guidelines.

Askew runs the IT infrastructure, software, network and physical equipment for Ascent. Askew is responsible for a 24x7 network and hosting environment for a SaaS application that manages maintenance of more than 2,000 mission critical sites. In addition, Askew manages the IT support of 250 internal users and 1,200+ external users including management of daily IT work tickets, network connectivity and server upgrades/improvements.