Sovran has helped Minnesota organizations grow and compete since 1987. We partner with companies who want a simpler technology environment, whether fully-managed or in partnership with an in-house IT director.
Hand all of your IT tech burdens and strategy to Sovran’s team of engineers, system administrators, and help desk specialists. We’ll work with you to reach your long-term goals.
Our team has helped nonprofits and businesses from Minneapolis/St. Paul, to Sioux Falls, Fargo, Eau Claire, to Des Moines, and beyond. Our reputation attracts talented professionals, and we work to achieve the highest certifications for our platforms. Sovran is recognized by our vendor partners as a top-level technology provider.
Sovran Team
Leadership
Lisa Loken
Owner & CEO
It’s not often a technology company is owned and operated by a woman. At Sovran, Lisa Loken has been the majority owner since 2002, a partner since 1998, and an employee since 1990.
If there’s one thing Lisa has learned in her time at Sovran, it’s that the most important focus for a business is the team. The relationships she has built with employees over the years have been golden. Past employees still stay in touch and invite her to their weddings or anniversary parties.
In another life, Lisa grew up on a farm near Northfield, MN. She earned a degree in finance with a minor in computer science and dabbled in programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN. She credits her entrepreneurial spirit to her father – her most important mentor.
These days, she spends her time anticipating “what’s next” with the rapid change in technologies. With new tech, new energy, and a new focus, she looks forward to the future with Sovran.
In her free time, Lisa enjoys traveling. She hopes to be able to reach Antarctica to see penguins, visit Germany to see the passion play, and visit Costa Rica.
Traci Leffner
President
As President at Sovran, Inc., Traci Leffner is committed to delivering the best IT experience possible. She is intrigued by all the goodness technology provides and wants every customer to understand what can be achieved with appropriate support. She and her team are on a mission to minimize the fears and frustrations that often accompany IT-related questions and changes. They develop trust and long-lasting partnerships that are solid enough to carry them safely through any challenges that might arise.
Many business owners cringe at the level of technology needed to succeed in today’s fast-paced, online community. At Sovran, the customer experience is the foundation of success. Traci models successful relationship and technology management by explaining what is needed and why, in relatable terms. Customers appreciate knowing that they can speak with Traci or any Sovran technician, and their system’s history will be clearly understood. As Traci states, “It must always be a win/win situation.”
As an entrepreneur who started and grew her own family business and is now an intrapreneur at Sovran, Traci uses her operational and continuous improvement skills to strategically grow their business as an IT solution provider, problem solver, and empathetic partner. She has reduced daily calls to Sovran’s help desk by 89% (from 90 to 10 per day), and to date, they maintain a 99% customer retention rate. Under her leadership, they’ve grown their nonprofit market from nonexistent to 40% of their current business.
Traci attributes their success to strong technical expertise, hard work, integrity, and exceptional communication. Having grown up with southern values in Texas, Traci radiates a positive, giving perspective on life and work. Sovran, a values-based company, shows respect and appreciation for customers and employees. And as a team, they give back to the community and the nonprofits they serve.
Married to her high school sweetheart, Traci lives in Cottage Grove with her husband, their pit bull, Coco, and two new kittens. She especially loves the small-town feel with all the metro opportunities close by. They enjoy movies, dinners with their adult daughters, and worldwide travel. Of all her travels, Traci especially relishes reminiscing about her family trip to Africa.
Shonn “ShonnTwight” Twight
vCIO | virtual Chief Information Officer
The future isn’t guaranteed, and neither is a quiet morning for Shonn Twight. At Sovran, Shonn is the virtual Chief Information Officer and a systems administrator, leading the charge on technology solutions for tomorrow’s problems.
An early riser, Shonn takes the ‘watchtower’ approach to problem-solving – if you can see an issue coming from further afield, you can address it sooner and with fewer resources. Coming from a corporate background, he’s enjoyed the adjustment to a proactive approach.
Arriving at Sovran in 2008, Shonn feels the culture is second-to-none and believes the employees and their personalities make all the difference in responding to client needs. Originally from Duluth, Shonn wants to provide the best services possible to each client, especially those who might be overlooked by other IT providers.
In his free time, Shonn is well-read, finishing a few science fiction novels per week. He also enjoys time with his wife and two adult children.
Sales
John LaSalle
Vice President of Sales
If you’re part of a Twin Cities chamber of commerce, you’ll likely meet John LaSalle. He has been helping companies and nonprofits articulate their IT needs since 2021. With a keen understanding of nonprofit and corporate IT challenges, John is an excellent resource to reach out to on LinkedIn.
A team player, John is a positive, friendly presence in any office he steps into. He loves focusing on building long-term relationships through his work in area Chambers and discussing industry news on social media.
At home, John, his wife, and their son welcomed home a daughter in 2022. In his free time, he enjoys hockey, golf, and beating the other contestant on Wheel of Fortune.
IT Services
Jonathan Schultz
Senior Engineer
Like a sage on a mountaintop, Jonathan Schultz should only be approached for the most extreme IT problems. At least, that’s what he wants his colleagues to think. Since 2014, Jonathan has been solving issues with emails, servers, hardware installations, and more. From HP servers and VMware to Microsoft 365, Jonathan enjoys helping clients in ways only Sovran can.
Taking on tough problems can require creative thinking. That’s why Jonathan spends as much time as he can camping, hiking, and photographing in Minnesota state parks.
Michael “Mike” McRae
Project Engineer | Systems Administrator
Winner of the “Most Helpful Employee” at the annual Sovran awards banquet for eight years running, Mike McRae is the man you want on any IT team. Starting in 2016 on the help desk team, he has codified all of his knowledge as he worked his way into system administration and now project engineering as well.
Mike likes puzzles and is a problem solver, building relationships daily with his calls and visits to clients. He often works to install and deploy servers, set up workstations, storage, applications, and backups, as well as handle Office 365 migrations. Mike’s favorite product at Sovran is VMware.
Mike loves camping and horseback riding, going on nature walks at state parks or riding along the Cascade River. He also loves spending time with his wife and three adult children.
Todd Fisher
Systems Administrator
Like a tailor fitting a fine suit, Todd Fisher is known for finding the ‘just right’ solution for his clients. He has been a team player since 2020, working on customer tickets and handling work escalated from the help desk.
Todd enjoys his time making on-site visits to clients, putting faces to names, and of course, physically checking servers and other hardware to make sure they’re running smoothly. For his total care clients, he drops in monthly to monitor issues and make adjustments. You may even catch him occasionally at Big Lake Chamber of Commerce events.
In his free time, he enjoys camping, ice fishing, as well as spending time with his wife, daughter, and the family dog.
Chi Vang
Help Desk
The feeling of elation from solving complex client issues is what Chi Vang desires most! Solving problems helps others right away, but he also likes that it helps him learn more to help the next client.
Chi works day-to-day troubleshooting computers and loves using RemoteAgent so he can see exactly what the client is having problems with.
As a young man, Chi wanted to be a pilot which would have involved an entirely different kind of troubleshooting. At home, he and his wife raise two wonderful boys. In his free time, Chi enjoys fishing.
Justine Del Rosario
Help Desk
From day one, Justine Del Rosario has felt welcomed and ready to help clients at Sovran. His work requires him to keep a sharp eye on alerts, and also stay plugged into the Sovran team to assist as needed.
Justine spends his days setting up machines, backing up servers, serving as a liaison, and monitoring alerts.
Growing up in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, his most interesting job was working at a hot dog factory. Justine has been in the IT industry for a decade.
Abdel Askar
Help Desk
Troubleshooting is Abdel Askar’s middle name. From his initial interview with Sovran, Abdel knew he had found a company he would love. He now spends his days Office 365, which he admires for how vital it is to every business.
Growing up in Damascus, the capital of Syria, Abdel wanted to become a doctor. He now lives in Eagan, Minnesota, and in his free time is learning sign language.
Dan Freeman
Help Desk
Dan Freeman. The Man. The Mystery. The Problem-Solver.
Since his start at Sovran, he’s been providing serious IT service to clients, day in and day out. In his free time, he enjoys geeking out over his secret obsessions.
Sovran History
1987-1996
- Sovran was founded on December 29, 1987, by three employees of the former Control Data Corporation, a supercomputer firm based in Bloomington.
- Operated as a third-party maintenance provider for IBM and Wang Laboratories’ mainframe systems.
- The original office was located off of East Bush Lake Road in Bloomington.
- Henry Rogers, a Sovran salesperson, purchased the company in 1990.
- Lisa Loken joins Sovran in 1990.
- Began a partnership with Novell, Inc., a large contributor to the adoption of local area networks (LAN) in 1992.
- Acquired another IT firm in 1993.
- Began partnering with Microsoft by offering Windows NT in 1993, a multi-user operating system for workstations and servers.
- Deubener Award Recipient from St. Paul Chamber of Commerce in 1994.
- Moved to the second office off of Pilot Knob Road in Eagan.
1997-2006
- Lisa Loken buys into Sovran as a minority owner in 1998.
- Partnered with Cisco Systems, Inc. a networking and telecommunications company in 2000.
- On September 11, 2001, Sovran moved to the current office at 2915 Commers Drive in Eagan. This space has 24,000 square feet with a seminar and lab area for customers to come for lunch and learn opportunities.
- Survived the dot-com bust of 2000-2002, where many IT firms failed and many companies restricted spending on new technology.
- Lisa Loken becomes the majority owner in 2003. Sovran becomes a fully woman-owned business.
2007-2016
- Survived the great recession of 2007-2009, started by the financial crisis which caused restricted spending among many businesses and corporations.
- Sovran was named one of the top 25 women-owned businesses by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in 2010.
- Sovran was named one of the top 25 women-owned businesses by the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in 2011.
- Lisa Loken started a New Horizons franchise in the Twin Cities in May 2011. Located in the same building as Sovran, New Horizons is a computer learning center for technology and business skills. New Horizons and Sovran work together synergistically.
- Traci Leffner joins Sovran in 2016.
- At its peak, Sovran has employed more than 60 individuals.
2017-2026
- Hosting various lunch and learns and product education seminars, Sovran began to offer more education to its existing and future clients.
- Traci Leffner becomes president of Sovran.
- Sovran more clearly defined its business model and services, along with specifically catering to more organizations in the nonprofit sector.
- Traci Leffner joins the board of directors of the BBB of Minnesota & North Dakota.
- Sovran survives and thrives during the COVID era.
