Mr. Szarek has been a charter school Business Manager since 2001 and brings over thirty years of financial experience to the SIATech team. He holds a Level II Professional School Business Official License from the New Mexico Public Education Department.

Mr. Szarek became exposed to the SIATech program in the spring of 2004 and made several visits to the SIATech offices in Vista, California before joining the Albuquerque team. He was impressed by the unique partnership with Job Corps sites across the country and the competency-based program focus on literacy and numeracy in combination with life skills and highly developed technology skills.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Szarek also resided in Atlanta, Georgia, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands before moving to New Mexico in 1996. Bitten by the travel bug in 1985, he has set foot on five of the seven continents and hopes to visit the remaining two (Australia and Antarctica) within the next several years. An avid scuba diver since 1989, he is also a PADI certified Divemaster.