ACE program suffers loss with death of Genovese

   Colleagues at U.S. Customs and Border Protection are mourning the sudden death of David Genovese, director of trade modernization and automation coordination in the ACE Business Office.
   Genovese, 44, died Dec. 27 from a massive heart attack, agency officials said.
   He previously was the acting executive director of the ACE Business Office, and held several other positions in the Office of Trade, including in the antidumping duty division.
   The Automated Commercial Environment, or ACE, is one of the largest federal IT projects underway and is designed to completely automate document filing, communication and information sharing for imports and exports among the private sector and multiple government agencies. Genovese and his team have been credited with making significant progress delivering automated tools during the past 18 months after the program bogged down last decade.
   Genovese is the stepson of former Customs Commissioner Miles Ambrose, who served under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1972. He kept that part of his background quiet because he was intent to succeed in his career on his own.
   Services were held Monday at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Triangle, Va. A military Color Guard presented the CBP ensign and Genovese was honored for his 20 years of government service. 
   He is survived by his wife Laurie, and two children; Sarah, 16, and Tommy, 13. — Eric Kulisch