|
The Fund’s investment team has more than 180 years of collective experience in energy, clean technology and principal investing. The team includes experts in policy, technology and intellectual property.
Goodloe Byron, Managing Director
Mr. Byron has more than 25 years of investment industry experience, including 15 years in principal investing.
Mr. Byron is the CEO of Potomac Asset Management Company (PAMCO), an SEC-licensed investment advisory firm formed in 1981. PAMCO has managed private equity investments for 15 years and has invested in clean technology companies since 2002. It has also completed a number of successful work-outs of private equity investments on behalf of institutional investors. Mr. Byron is also President of Potomac Capital Markets, a FINRA-registered "Direct Participation Program" broker-dealer.
Mr. Byron is Chairman of the Maryland Venture Capital Trust and former Chairman of the Maryland Deposit Insurance Fund, which was established to oversee the liquidation of failed state-insured savings and loans. Mr. Byron is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Higher Education Investment Fund.
Previously, Mr. Byron was a Vice President at Alex. Brown and Sons and at Shearson, Lehman Brothers. Additionally, Mr. Byron founded a residential energy efficiency retrofit program (Frederick Organization for Rehabilitation) that has weatherized thousands of low-income homes to date.
Mr. Byron holds a BA in Government from the University of Virginia.
Todd Peterson, Senior Advisor
Mr. Peterson has 15 years of experience in clean technology and principal investing, most recently as an Operating Partner at Element Partners, a cleantech private equity firm affiliated with Draper Fisher Jurvetson that manages more than $800 million. At Element Partners, Mr. Peterson was involved in several of the firm’s investments including Electro-Petroleum, Inc., an enhanced oil recovery company spun out from General Electric, and Quench USA, Inc., a large water filtration company.
Previously, Mr. Peterson founded Foster Chamberlain LLC, a firm that creates spin-out companies to commercialize clean technologies originating in the research labs of Fortune 500 companies. Recently, Mr. Peterson negotiated the sale of two of these companies, a developer of drivetrain systems for hybrid vehicles, which was sold to Robert Bosch GmbH, and a developer of advanced equipment for manufacturing solar cells, which was sold to BTU International (NASDAQ: BTUI). Since its founding, Foster Chamberlain has worked with more than 20% of the Dow Jones Industrials on some of the world’s most disruptive technologies, receiving such awards as: Frost & Sullivan’s Product Innovation of the Year, Industry Week’s Technology of the Year, Automotive News’ PACE Award, and Best of NeoCon – Gold Award.
Prior to Foster Chamberlain, Mr. Peterson worked in the energy and chemicals practice of strategy consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton. Prior to that, he held various finance positions in the US and UK for Enron Corporation and was a founding member of the company’s upstream mergers and acquisitions group.
Mr. Peterson serves on the Board of Directors of Electro-Petroleum, Inc. and of HID Laboratories, Inc., a developer of intelligent, energy efficient lighting. He is also a Board Observer of Turbine Air Systems, Ltd., a leading supplier of modular energy and chilling systems, and of NanoPack, Inc., a manufacturer of environmentally-friendly, barrier packaging using nano-materials.
Mr. Peterson holds BS and MBA degrees from The Wharton School, where he was awarded a Ford Fellowship.
Dr. Irving Mintzer, Senior Advisor
Dr. Mintzer has more than 25 years of experience in the energy sector and is an internationally-recognized expert on energy technology and policy.
Dr. Mintzer is a Senior Advisor to the Deputy Director of the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy. He consults on matters of energy technology and policy to major corporations such as Shell, Saudi Aramco, Tokyo Electric Power and Swiss Re. Dr. Mintzer also has prior operating experience at the engineering firm Bechtel where he analyzed the technical and economic feasibility of large energy projects.
In the public sector, Dr. Mintzer recently helped to shape energy policy in California, advising the California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board and CalEPA on the implementation of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) and the California Cap-and-Trade Program.
Dr. Mintzer has testified on energy and environmental issues in the U.S. Congress, the British Parliament, the German Bundestag, the Italian Parliament and the European Parliament. He has also advised the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the Government of Indonesia, and various United Nations agencies (including the World Bank) on matters of energy policy.
Dr. Mintzer has authored more than 40 papers, most recently a chapter for a book published by The Brookings Institution titled, Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? Dr. Mintzer’s chapter is titled, “Look Before You Leap: Exploring the Implications of Advanced Vehicles for Import Dependence and Passenger Safety.”
Dr. Mintzer currently serves on the Board of Directors of Versify Solutions, a developer of software solutions for the electric power industry.
Dr. Mintzer holds a Ph.D. in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also received BS and MBA degrees.
Ben duPont, Venture Partner
Mr. duPont has more than 20 years of experience in materials science and principal investing.
Mr. duPont has cleantech venture capital experience as Managing Director of yet2Ventures. He was involved in the firm’s investments in Versify Solutions, NanoPack, Ganeden Biotech, 6062 Holdings and Electro-Petroleum. Mr. duPont is also the founder and President of yet2.com, the world’s largest marketplace for intellectual property. Previously, he spent 14 years as an executive at DuPont Corporation, where his responsibilities included management of DuPont's patent portfolio.
Mr. duPont is a member of the Board of Directors of Morgan Stanley Capital International (NYSE: MXB), Bessemer Trust and Longwood Gardens.
Mr. duPont holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University.
Dan Nadash, Principal
Mr. Nadash has more than 15 years of experience in energy policy and regulatory affairs.
Prior to joining Potomac, Mr. Nadash led the Environmental Policy group for the National Association of Realtors as Senior Legislative and Political Director. He also worked in the offices and election campaigns of several Members of U.S. Congress, including Representatives John P. Murtha, C. Thomas McMillen and Tony Coelho. Additionally, Mr. Nadash has held key executive positions in business development for two software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies: Kintera, Inc. (NASD: KNTA) and eContributor.com.
Mr. Nadash currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Maryland Clean Energy Center and the Board of Directors of HID Laboratories, a developer of energy-efficient, intelligent lighting solutions for commercial and industrial applications.
Mr. Nadash holds a BS in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.
Chris Weir, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Weir has more than 20 years of experience in regulatory compliance and accounting. Mr. Weir joined Potomac in 2001 as Chief Compliance Officer, and is responsible for all regulatory reporting to the SEC and FINRA, and managing Potomac's back-office operations.
Prior to joining Potomac, Mr. Weir was President of The House of Securities Company, a special purpose broker dealer which was acquired by QUADS Financial Group. He subsequently served as a board member of QUADS Financial Group, which managed over 17,000 clients and $650 million in assets.
Mr. Weir is a member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and holds Series 6, 7, 24, 27, 63 and 65 securities licenses.
Mr. Weir earned a BS in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University.
Blake Briddell, Associate
Mr. Briddell is involved in deal sourcing, due diligence, transaction structuring and portfolio company support. He currently serves as a Board Observer of Turbine Air Systems, a leading provider of packaged cooling and renewable energy generation systems, and Versify Solutions, a developer of software solutions for the electric power industry. Mr. Briddell has prior cleantech operating experience at Waste Management Inc., where he worked in internal consulting.
Mr. Briddell is a graduate of the University of Virginia, earning a BS with Distinction from the McIntire School of Commerce. He also holds an MS in Environmental Policy from The Johns Hopkins University.
|
