Scott Dean Harris

Scott Dean Harris (born December 20, 1972) is an American entrepreneur who is known to be the founder, president, and CEO of several companies across the U.S. After selling SecureTrust in San Antonio, Texas, Harris moved to St. Croix. His company SecureTrust provided consulting, security, and risk assessment solutions services for the enterprise market.
Early life and education
Harris was born on December 20, 1972, in Houston, Texas. He is always competitive by nature and an entrepreneur from an early age. Harris used to invest his time in lemonade stands, mowing lawns, winning competitions for school fundraising programs, and more. He was a competitive swimmer racking up boxes of blue ribbons and trophies for the local swim team. Harris credits his early interest in computers to Van Palmer, who owned a computer company in San Antonio, and he would let Harris tag along on service calls; Harris would help Van Palmer in his office when he was only 13 years old. At 15 years old, Harris started his own company called Initiative Computer Company and began selling computers through "want ads" in the local newspaper.
Harris attended Keystone School for elementary and middle school and then went to Tom C. Clark High School (public). He attended UTSA in the computer science program. It was there that Harris learned about the Internet and was convinced that it was the "next big thing" and dropped out to start his first large company called Internet Direct.
Career
1988-1993: Initiative Computer Company and Initiative Data Services
Harris served as the founder and President of Initiative Computer Company and Initiative Data Services. The company designed and built custom computer systems for corporations and individuals that provided on-site data backup for mission-critical applications.
1993-1996: Internet Direct
His company, Internet Direct, was the first internet ISP in the San Antonio Area that oversaw companies from an initial fractional 256k T1 from Houston and 19.2k baud modems to over 20,000 customers and multiple OC-3 connections. The company was later sold in 1996.
1997-1999: Creative Integration
The company had Harris as its founder, president, and CEO and was servicing large local clients. It focused on thin-client technologies and secure communications. He later sold the company in 1999.
2000-2001: RegLand
The company had over 10,000 customers in less than a year under Harris. He was the founder, president, and CEO of the company, which was later sold to Domain People, in 2001.
2001-2003: Child Station
Harris started an online video streaming service for Day Care centers that allowed parents the ability to log in and view their children in real time. The multi-layered security only allowed parents to see into the rooms where their children were located. The company was later sold to a couple from California.
2001-2007: SecureTrust Corporation
Harris was a leading member of the CAB forum. He authored and edited the guidelines and requirements for the WebTrust Extended Validation Audit. SecureTrust utilized multiple Root Certificates to provide varying levels of authentication and validation for serve identification, client identification, hardware, and code signing certificates.
2010-2017: TireXpress, Red Rock Holdings, and Survival College
Harris served as the co-founder and president of TireXpress, which provided automotive services and a tire warehouse. In 2013, he was the founder and president of Survival college, where he provided training and sold survival supplies. He is the founder and CEO of Red Rock Holdings, which is a finance company specializing in purchase order financing, low-credit automobile financing, and other specialty financings.
Personal life
Harris was born in Texas, and he has lived there for the first 35 years of his life. After selling SecureTrust, he semi-retired to the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. After living five years on St. Croix, he and his wife Jaclyn moved to the Dominican Republic and lived in Cap Cana for a year before returning to Texas, where they got married. After marriage, he and Jaclyn wanted to have kids and find a place to raise their children. They purchased an RV and traveled throughout the western United States, and finally settled in Idaho, where they bought a large ranch and proceeded to have children while converting an old cattle ranch into a high-end vacation destination guest ranch.
The ranch opened for business in the fall of 2018. During the year 2019, he was largely dedicated to promoting the ranch, with a number of high-end families and celebrities enjoying the ranch, many for the purpose of marketing the ranch. In 2020 guest ranch operations were suspended due to Covid restrictions.
Harris was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021 and is currently in remission after going through multiple surgeries and chemotherapy. After going through cancer and chemo, Harris has decided not to reopen the guest ranch, and he and his family have decided to sell the ranch and downsize to focus more on philanthropic activities and enjoying life with his wife and children.
Philanthropy
Throughout his life, Harris has contributed small amounts to charity, usually focusing on small groups or individuals rather than large organizations. Harris is a lifetime member of several wildlife conservation groups and regularly contributes through fundraisers. Harris supports local and regional 4H clubs and other local organizations.
After his cancer diagnosis, Harris took a new interest in cancer research and became the primary public funds coordinator for the Personalized Immunotherapy Research Lab at the University of North Carolina and is currently working on a podcast series with the researchers there to help raise funds for optimization research to advance immunotherapy research.

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