Chief Financial Officer & General Manager, StratusWave Communications
By Dawn Nolan
LIKE MANY YOUNG BOYS, John Reasbeck dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. “I loved the game. I watched the Atlanta Braves play every night on TBS and would keep my own scorebook. I even calculated player stats myself.” Reasbeck’s passion for sports continued throughout school, although he switched from baseball to basketball at Wheeling Jesuit University where he played and later coached. Still an avid sports fan, Reasbeck uses his love of the game and his determination to win as his motivation for his career and professional life. “I love competition,” he says. “From the time I was a young boy playing tee-ball through basketball in college and even playing a round of golf today, I want to win. Sports have played a predominate role in my life, and I believe the lessons I learned have carried me throughout my life.”
As the chief financial officer and general manager at StratusWave Communications in Wheeling, Reasbeck manages the day-to-day operations of a facilities-based telephone and wireless Internet service company in West Virginia. Education is a chief concern to Reasbeck, and it is evident in his work to develop high speed broadband Internet services for numerous public schools throughout the state, including every public K-12 school in the five northernmost counties.
Wheeling Jesuit University, Reasbeck’s alma mater, also holds a special place in his heart. Not only does he serve as an adjunct professor, teaching tax and auditing courses, but he is also Vita Tax Clinic director, providing free tax assistance to students and community members. He continues his love of sports by serving as a broadcast commentator for the men’s basketball team and is a member and the current president of the Cardinal Athletic Club. Reasbeck shares his passion for sports with others by coaching for the Wheeling Area Soccer Association. In addition to athletics, Reasbeck is also a rotarian, a member of the Fort Henry Club Board of Directors and a member of St. Vincent DePaul Parish.
Athletics even led Reasbeck to a mentor. Jay DeFruscio, Reasbeck’s basketball coach at Wheeling Jesuit, was the person he turned to for guidance during his first time away from home. “Through the years, I surely tested Coach D’s patience, but he always stood by me and forced me to look at situations as a responsible adult would see them,” Reasbeck recalls. “Coach D was a tremendous husband and father, and the example he set has stuck with me through the years as I have gotten married and started a family of my own.”
Reasbeck’s other mentor, Joe Gompers, was a local CPA in Wheeling that hired Reasbeck after he completed his MBA and taught him about business. “While Joe made sure I understood the practice of accounting, he stressed that to be successful you needed to understand all facets of a business—by doing so you brought value to the client. This education in business set me on a path of understanding how to be a business man, not just an accountant. I still meet with Joe on a regular basis to discuss where I am in business and in life and I truly value his guidance.”
In addition to the guidance provided to him by his mentors, Reasbeck claims that his confidence is one of the characteristics essential to his success. “I’m 6’8″ tall and often stand out in a crowd, which forced me to develop a sense of confidence in myself. I got used to that, and now I have the confidence to walk into a room and strike up a conversation with anyone,” he explains.
Although he grew up in Yorkville, Ohio, Reasbeck moved across the bridge to attend school in Wheeling and hasn’t left the Mountain State since. Reasbeck’s favorite thing about West Virginia is the friendliness of the residents. “I enjoy being in a place where people say ‘Hi’ when you pass them on the street,” he says.
Photography by Tracy Toler
