Associate Spotlight: Lloyd Burkam

At CASTO, we’re proud to highlight the incredible associates who help drive our success. In this Associate Spotlight, we’re featuring Lloyd Burkam, our Senior Manager of IT. Since joining CASTO in 2022, Lloyd has played a key role in managing our IT infrastructure and providing support across multiple states. With a deep passion for technology, leadership, and building strong relationships, Lloyd shares his journey, insights, and what makes CASTO such a special place to work.

Read on to learn more about Lloyd’s background, favorite projects, and his perspective on the ever-evolving world of IT.

Tell us about your background with CASTO.

I joined CASTO as the IT Support Supervisor in December 2022 and was promoted to Senior Manager of Information Technology in 2024. I lead an incredible, all-in-house team, which includes multiple support specialists, a support analyst, a business applications analyst, a cybersecurity specialist, and a senior systems engineer. Together, we provide IT infrastructure and support for our associates across Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.

What do you like best about CASTO? What makes CASTO different?

There’s so much I could say about what makes CASTO unique, but the answer that stands out the most is definitely the people—from top to bottom. CASTO’s leadership, including the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, VPs, and department heads, are incredibly supportive and appreciative of all associates. Their actions demonstrate that they understand it takes every one of us to make CASTO the great company it is today. The company’s success over the past 100 years is a testament to the strong culture that is embedded in everything we do.

Associates are recognized for their hard work and commitment better than anywhere else I’ve worked—and they’re genuinely rewarded for it. The overall culture is fantastic. In our IT department, we work hard and enjoy great camaraderie, and I see the same in other departments across all our locations.

What service or project have you liked working on the most while at CASTO?

It’s tough to pick just one project because our IT team provides a wide range of services, and we are always juggling multiple projects. I really enjoy any opportunity that lets me connect with people and build relationships. Projects that take me to CASTO’s residential communities, or occasionally to North Carolina and Florida to support our associates, are especially rewarding. And it’s always nice to escape the frozen tundra, also known as Ohio winters, for a few days of warm, sunny weather in places like Sarasota or Winter Park, Florida!

Share a little bit about your expertise in the industry. 

Born and raised in Chillicothe, Ohio – I left for the Air Force at eighteen years old. After six years of military service, I settled in California and worked for the Yuba County Office of Education in Marysville, California as a Network Administrator until 2006.  I took an advancement opportunity and was hired as the IT Coordinator for Lyon Real Estate (now Windermere), one of the largest independent residential real estate companies in Northern California. I went back to school to finish my bachelor’s degree in information technology so I would be eligible for promotion and worked my way to the IT Manager position.

After 16 years at Lyon, in the summer of 2021, my family and I moved back to Ohio. Before joining CASTO, my first role in Ohio was with the Metropolitan Educational Technology Association. I rolled up my sleeves as one of their IT Project/Installation Technicians before moving into a Network Specialist position supporting multiple state boards of election and nearly a hundred school districts across the state.

What changes or trends do you see happening in your area of expertise?

Three things come to mind instantly – the lighting speed of advancements in AI (artificial intelligence), the never-ending battle of cyber security, and the evolvement of disaster recovery. 

The rise of AI technologies is transforming industries by automating tasks, improving decision-making, and enabling new creative possibilities. Balancing the good and bad of AI will be a battle for years to come as AI requires large amounts of data to function effectively. The collection, storage, and use of this data can lead to privacy violations and other concerns, especially if not managed responsibly.

Effective and evolving cyber security is more and more crucial every single day as cyberattacks become more sophisticated. Again – the good and bad of AI… AI and machine learning are increasingly being used in cybersecurity to predict, detect, and respond to cyber threats in real time, but the same technology is being used to carry out the attacks.

Advancements in the realm of IT resilience and disaster recovery will continue to evolve and the money spent for protection will continue to increase. In the not-so-distant past, business continuity and recovery were focused mainly on backups for hardware failures, disruptions in service, and natural disasters. Now, with the continued growing threats and severity of cyberattacks, IT resilience and disaster recovery, and the dollars spent for protection are becoming even more of a priority.