Clarksville, TN – LTA Tech Services is a full-service IT company located right here in Clarksville that provides specialized services ranging from cutting-edge security solutions to robust managed IT services, and it’s led by US Army Major (Ret.) Len Tharpe.
“LTA stands for Len Tharpe & Associates,” Tharpe said. “We mainly do IT, manufacturing services, cybersecurity solutions, and website design & development. We also offer AI services, data management, and data analytics.
“LTA currently employs just a handful of people, but we’re looking to grow in the Clarksville area. I moved the company here from the Gallatin area a few years ago.”
This is Tharpe’s second IT company. He started his first cybersecurity company in 2001, in the Washington, DC area, moved to middle Tennessee in 2007, and then came home to Clarksville a few years ago.
“I was actually in one of APSU’s first computer science graduating classes back in 1982,” Tharpe said. “I’m originally from Paris, Tennessee. I was in the Army from 1976 to 79, got out, and got my BS in Computer Science at APSU. I also went through the university’s ROTC program. At that point, I got commissioned and went back into the Army. I did a lot of IT work with the Army, especially in the latter years of my service. I finished my military career with the Army’s Artificial Intelligence Center, where from 1995 to 99 I was a data analyst.”
Tharpe also received a graduate degree from USC in Management of Information Systems, as well as a Masters in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School. He has over forty years of IT experience with the military and as a contractor with the Department of Defense.
Tharpe has continued to give back, teaching and training students all over the country. He has taught at Strayer University and Tennessee State University and has been an adjunct professor at APSU for eight years.
“I like to help kids get access to STEM programs and coding classes,” Tharpe said. “I don’t sit back and wait for opportunities to help out in the community. On the business front, we’re still building here in Clarksville.
“My first contract was 2.5 people, and over time I grew that business to almost 100 people, with employees servicing contracts in different states. Consumer culture is different here in Middle Tennessee. I’ve been trying to figure out this market for twenty years now. I have a lot of experience with government and the DOD, but would love to get into other industries.”
Tharpe has family here, in Nashville, and in Henry County. “That’s more important than the business side of things,” Tharpe said. “The business allows me to employ, train, and help people. I also get a great deal of satisfaction and purpose from teaching at APSU, where I run into a lot of veterans trying to get out of the service and change careers. I use my lab office here to tutor and mentor as many as I can. I like doing a lot of that stuff.”
Check out Tharpe’s website – www.lta-services.com to find out what this month’s Clarksville Area Chamber of Commerce Veteran Business of the Month can do for you.
