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About Us: The Advantage Archives Team

With years in the industry our team has what it takes to build partnerships and provide your community with the perfect archival solution

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Our Team is Dedicated to You and Your Community

The Advantage Archives Team has years of experience in the business of preservation and digitization. We have what it takes to develop a long-term partnership and provide a quality preservation solution for your community. This isn’t our occupation; it is our passion.

Advantage Archives Shape
Advantage Archives Shape

Chris Donohue

Founder and CFO

Chris has been the CFO at Advantage Archives since founding the company in 2010. Chris has over 25 years of business experience, most of which comes from the manufacturing and document imaging industries.

Chris is a member of the Cedar Rapids Downtown Rotary Club. He serves on the Youth Leadership Committee and has also volunteered for numerous service activities.

Chris graduated from Simpson College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting. Chris played baseball at Simpson and served as Team Captain his senior year.

When not at work, Chris spends time with his wife and three children and is an avid runner, having run a marathon in the past.

Jeffrey Kiley

Founder and CEO

My name is Jeff Kiley, and I am the co-founder of Advantage Archives. I have a passion for history, specifically the history contained in the pages of old newspapers, local primary source materials, and printed accounts of the past.

My team at Advantage partners with communities across the country to preserve and provide practical free access to their collective history at any time, from anywhere. I believe that the preservation of our collective history is a shared responsibility. I challenge like-minded communities to join Advantage in our mission to ensure their “first draft of history” is available for current and future generations. The guiding principles of our organization are both personal and straightforward: preserve the past, make it accessible today, and ensure its future.

We work to build strong community-first partnerships to preserve and digitize history, allowing communities to understand and connect to their past in a meaningful way. We make local history accessible by providing each community we partner with their own Community History Archive, an online search platform that is friendly, intuitive, and easy to learn. Anyone can browse, search, view, clip, and share articles, headlines, pages, and the stories recorded in the pages of the community newspapers, yearbooks, documents, directories, photos, and more. Just type a search and hit “enter”, or browse to a specific year, month, day, or page in any (or all) publications contained in the archive.

Intended to serve as a “portal to the past”, our platform allows those primary source documents to give an accounting of history as told by the individuals that witnessed it. When stitched together, these pages tell the story of the people, places, and events that shaped the community.

Mike Schmitz

Chief Technology Officer

Mike’s focus on the customer has led him to success as a position player throughout the product design and software delivery life-cycle. He also has experience in building and leading a technical team at the executive level.

Beau Brown

Chief Operating Officer

A technically minded leader in the digital solutions space, Beau is a team-player that has succeeded in past endeavors by focusing on customer deliverables and building lasting relationships. Beau likes to say he ‘has never met a challenge he didn’t like.’

Justin Cook

Production and Quality Manager

Justin has been in the industry since 2004 and has done it all, bringing him the experience needed to guide the production of your project to be successful and efficient.

Justin ensures we provide our partners with a high-quality product in a timely manner.

Outside of work, Justin enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids.

Larry Eckhardt

Partnership Manager

Larry has been in the newspaper preservation industry since 2005. Combining his passion for technology with his love of history, Larry has the same passion partnering with Public Libraries, Historical Societies, Genealogical Societies, and Newspaper Publishers across the United States, providing a long-term preservation model (Microfilm) as well as an easily accessible and user-friendly model (Digitization).

Larry will work with you through a collaborative approach. When working with Larry, you’re involved from the initial specifications to the delivery of the products, thus assuring the outcome you want and expect.

When not at work, Larry enjoys spending time with his two sons, daughter-in-law, and his two granddaughters.

Grant Kaestner

Partnership Manager

Grant has been in the newspaper preservation industry for over 10 years. Grant feels at home in the newspaper preservation industry, combining his love of technology with his love of history. Grant works with Public Libraries, College and University Libraries, Historical Societies, Genealogical Societies, and Newspaper Publishers across the United States and Canada, providing institutions with a long-term preservation model (Microfilm) as well as a user-friendly model (Digitization).

Grant will work with you through a collaborative approach. When working with Grant, you’re involved from the initial specifications to the delivery of the products, thus assuring the outcome you want and expect.

Brady Donohue

Director of Outreach & Engagement

Brady has been the Director of Outreach & Engagement at Advantage Archives since 2021. Brady graduated from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, IA, with a Marketing and Operations Management degree. At Mount Mercy, Brady was a pitcher on the baseball team.

Brady works to build partnerships with leaders to provide communities free digital access to local history.

When not at work, Brady enjoys boating and jet skiing at Lake of the Ozarks, golfing, and spending time with his chocolate and black labs, Charli and Murry.

Tanner Lohaus

Director of Brand & Communications

Tanner Lohaus has been with Advantage Archives since 2021. Tanner attended the University of Northern Iowa, where he played basketball. He finished his education at Mount Mercy University and was a pitcher on the baseball team, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design.

Tanner works to provide your Advantage and your community with cohesive branding, from copy writing to graphics, to best ensure a successful partnership.

When not at work, Tanner enjoys golfing and spending time with his black lab, Charlie. He is also an avid fan of all sports, whiskey, and reading sci-fi/fantasy books.

Allison Ramm

Director of Partner Acquisition & Growth

Allison started at Advantage Archives in 2024 and works to build partner acquisition and brand growth through advertising. Allison graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an emphasis in Digital Media and Advertising.

Outside of work, Allison enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new coffee shops, and camping at Holiday Lake.

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