Trevor Delong

Remember Your Beginnings.

Systems Administrator, Layer Eight

Hometown: Peru, NY

Age: 37

Education: Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems

Trevor Delong is a family man dedicated to helping his community. He is a natural problem-solver with an approachable personality, making him excellent at customer service. His lifelong fascination with technology, sparked by PC gaming, led him to self-teach coding, build PCs, and learn networking. He has now found purpose by turning this passion into his career. In his free time, Trevor enjoys gaming, tinkering, and playing guitar with his son.

What part of your company’s culture do you value the most and why?

Layer Eight’s culture, that I value and helps us succeed, is the acceptance of the individual. We have many different and quirky personalities in our company. Our director, Bryan Brayton, works around each of these personalities and enables us to thrive. We are all handled like a grandparent does with their grandkids – none of the kids know who the favorite is. People happy with their job also do a better job and are willing to work hard for the company. It’s a win-win situation.

What important lesson have you learned in your career?

Remembering where you came from is the biggest lesson that I have learned in my career and life.

What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? 

Going back to college, later in life, was the biggest gamble I took.

How can the North Country improve its’ Gen IQ (Gen IQ defined as an ability to lead, market to or innovate with multi-generational workplaces and marketplace)?

The North Country needs to emphasize inclusiveness and acceptance to promote its Gen IQ. With a large gap in ages comes a large gap in values, ideas, and habitual behaviors. Gen X’ers and Millennials aren’t necessarily going to see eye to eye within the workplace or marketplace. One party may value a tried-and-true approach to advertising, for example, while the other party wants to shake things up with something new. Both ideas could have merit and leaders in the North Country need to foster a bridge for these differences.