Brian Butler, President and CEO, Vistra Communications

Brian Butler leads Vistra Communications (Vistra), a communications strategy and professional solutions agency providing communications and management solutions to corporate, government and nonprofit organizations.

A retired and decorated career military officer, Brian has provided Public Relations, Strategic Communications, Marketing, and Management Consulting services to senior leaders and their organizations for nearly three decades. Prior to founding Vistra, Brian provided Strategic Communications counsel to senior leaders at U.S. Central Command in Tampa, FL. He also served in a director-level policy position on the Homeland Security Council (HSC) in the White House.

As an experienced leader and communications professional, Brian worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications and a niche market Washington D.C.-based strategic communications firm. While in uniform, he served as Spokesperson and Chief of Communications for an Army Secretary and on the personal staff and communications team for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Brian has grown Vistra to nearly 70 employees with a growing client portfolio which includes clients in healthcare, information technology, transportation and airports, sports and entertainment, local and federal government and nonprofit industries.

Bart Scherschel, Senior Vice President Federal Programs

Bart brings over 30 years of Military and Commercial leadership providing products and services for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and major Tier One international companies. In his current position, he leads the Federal Team’s Program Management and Business Development/Proposal activities.

Bart has been a key leader throughout his career. Starting as an engineer for a major Tier One company he led matrixed teams of individuals comprised of multiple disciplines to design, build and deliver leading edge technology systems for the DoD. As he continued to gain responsibility, he later moved to a multi-billion-dollar large company where his leadership as Director of Programs was integral to the company becoming the largest supplier to the U.S. Navy for military training products and services, nearly $400M in revenues. Later as Vice President of Marketing/Business Development for U.S. Operations and becoming a member of the leadership team, he was responsible for developing strategic plans, marketing and business development, customer relations and achieving annual bookings and growth objectives. Prior to coming to Vistra, Bart worked at a mid-sized Veteran Owned Small Business which provided engineering services to major Military and Commercial avionics providers where he was responsible for both business development and program management.

Bart has a Master’s in Business Administration from Binghamton University (SUNY-B) and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University. He has several published papers related to Program Management, and is also a member of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA)/National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) and has held various positions of responsibilities, most recently as a member of the NTSA Executive Committee. He received his PMP in 2005.