Bair Energy Team

Candice McGuire
Chairman

Candice is the Chair of Bair Energy. She is also the President and Principal Project Manager at Iron Projects, a design-build company in Texas.

She has over 18 years of experience in Project Management, Project Controls and Construction Management for the energy industry. She has worked with several major corporations in various execution capacities including Shell, Chevron, Technip, Worley Parsons, Turner Construction, amongst others. As a Project Lead, she was responsible for end-to-end delivery of a portfolio of downstream manufacturing capital projects, ranging from $15-$100 million.

She has also worked on large-scale $1B+ project teams with Bechtel and Shell Midstream’s MLP. Candice began managing commercial & residential real estate projects in 2018 and has since managed multiple new development and renovation projects. She has a track record of delivering projects on target and has a real passion for leading teams across the finish line.

Candice graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.

Nicholas Bair

CEO/CFO

Meet Nicholas

Neil Piispanen

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Vice President Program Managment
Business Development

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Peder Hansen

Vice President and Chief Engineering Manager

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Cornelius Fitzgerald

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Executive President

Meet Con

Kara
Ray

Chief Information Officer

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Peter Orrell

Business Development USA

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Francis Mongeon

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Business Development International

Meet Francis

Edward Specht

Security and Compliance
Information Technology

Meet Edward

John Strawn

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Chief Operating Officer
Chief Technology Officer

Meet John

Tyler Boswell

Vice President and Health and Safety Officer

Meet Tyler

Meghan Chicoine

Meghan

Advisor

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Jerry Haugen

Jerry

Vice President Environment

Meet Jerry

Kyle Medders

Project Manager

Meet Kyle

Nicholas Bair
Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer

Nicholas has held positions in both the public and private sectors including the oil and gas industry, alternative energy industry, and state government as Chief of Staff to a Representative and Policy Advisor to a Senator. Nicholas began his career as an environmental chemist at Ch2M Hill and worked many years for Technip Stone and Webster Process Technologies evaluating new and emerging technologies and designing/constructing energy facilities.

Nicholas has lived and worked abroad, including, France, Canada and throughout the United States. He is responsible for project development and program execution management and serves as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Bair Energy. Nicholas also serves as Managing Principal for Bair Energy on the Board of Directors of Clean Energy Holdings, LLC. Clean Energy Holdings is a private equity fund that develops, owns and operates renewable energy facilities, and, is a United States based company.

Nicholas attended Montana State University and Oregon State University and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Ecosystems Analysis and Environmental Policy and Environmental Chemistry. Nicholas resides in Southern Oregon. His passion is developing and executing alternative energy projects and his weekend usually consists of fly fishing on the Rogue River with his Vizsla, Robynhood.

Neil Piispanen
Vice President Program Management and Business Development

Neil is an architect with deep expertise in planning, design, and coordination. He leads transformative change and enjoys being engaged in culturally/locally relevant facilities. Neil represents the client’s needs while balancing cost and schedule on every project he manages. Fully invested in projects from inception to completion, he functions as a guide and partner through the life of the project.

Accomplished in high efficiency buildings and providing outstanding value from an innovative perspective, he finds connections among disparate ideas to find new ways to achieve success in complicated undertakings. As an intuitive team builder, he recognizes contributions of each individual and capitalizes on enhancing their opportunities for success.

Neil has worked on many projects from inception to close out. Providing services including Cost estimating for master planning and bidding needs. With a lot of experience in construction and detailing he is able to provide both Constructability and Design reviews for life safety needs, risk identification, and value engineering needs. Planning is a large part of both his master plan experience and construction phasing and work scheduling.

He is currently a registered Architect in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon and a LEED Accredited Professional. He holds a Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Arts from Montana State University Bozeman

Peder Hansen
Vice President and Chief Engineering Manager

Peder Hansen serves as a Vice President and Chief Engineering Manager for Bair Energy. He has been working in renewable energy ever since he started with the wind turbine manufacturer Vestas in the mid-1980s. Peder advanced progressively into roles of increasing professional responsibility, including design engineering, manufacturing, process and quality controls, project development and business development.

Peder served as Executive Vice President of Northstar Wind Towers, a designer and manufacturer of a new generation of very tall wind turbine towers. Prior to Northstar he served as the Global Sales Manager for Valmont Industries in Omaha, NE and Senior Sales Engineer for GE Wind Energy in Tehachapi, CA.

Mr. Hansen received his BS in business with a major in Mechanical Engineering from Aarhus University in Denmark. As a team-oriented business professional and analytical thinker with a technical, and team-leading background, he brings skills to the table which pulls the best out of the teams he has led. Peder applies solutions to tasks through cross functional dialogue and unique approaches to complex technical or sales issues. Along with good presentation, sales and engineering skills, he is effective in building relationships with a broad group of stakeholders.

Paul Scott
Technology Advisor

Paul advises Bair Energy in the areas of mobility, fuel cells, and green hydrogen production. He is currently Chief Scientist at RockeTruck where he focuses on integration of fuel cell/battery systems in large trucks and buses. Prior to that he served as Vice President, Advanced Technologies, with TransPower where he helped develop the largest fleet of fuel cell-powered Class 8 trucks in North America.

Earlier in his long career, he led ISE Corporation's development of four generation of fuel cell buses and a hybrid hydrogen drive system using an internal combustion engine. He was also a consultant on electrolyzer applications and technical lead on a solar hydrogen project.

He has also been an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at both MIT and the University of Southern California.

He holds three degrees, Bachelor's, Master's and Doctor of Science, in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cornelius (Con) Fitzgerald
Chief Financial Officer and Executive President

Cornelius (Con) Fitzgerald serves as Bair Energy’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive President. His expertise in several areas helps Bair Energy complement and integrate the work of Wind Harvest International (WHI), where he serves as an executive Director. He is also President of Clean Energy Holdings, LLC.

Con became the CEO of WHI in late 2015 to lead negotiations with new partners, close a round of financing and work to bring WHI turbines to the commercial market. Beyond the commercialization of the technology, he helped create the business culture that enables WHI to attract exceptional talent and partners.

Before joining WHI, Cornelius was with the top strategic planning group for a Fortune 50 Bank in San Francisco, where he dealt with numerous analytical and communication issues, including the execution side of $15B in M&A activity. He began his career designing and building businesses with a boutique management-consulting firm, Patpatia & Associates. While in the consulting field, the emphasis was not simply strategy design, but included the implementation and execution of those strategies to bring the idea to life. Cornelius was part of a team that thought up, designed, built, and implemented a new insurance product platform for insurance and asset management companies across the U.S. The platform concept went on to be leveraged by General Electric’s insurance group.

Cornelius holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona, as well as an MBA in sustainable enterprise from Dominican University of California. He lives in Marin County, CA. When he’s not working, Con enjoys his family and friends, Ironman 70.3 triathlons and spending time back on the ranch he grew up on in southeastern Oregon.

Kara Ray
Director of Operations

Kara has 14 years of experience in operations, quality, and manufacturing; including color management, global program management, process engineering, lean manufacturing, data analysis, technical writing, instructional design, graphic design, and project management.

Kara served as the Global Program Director for Apple iPhoto for 9 years in various capacities, including management of their international expansion into the Czech Republic. She specializes in workflow efficiencies, new product research and development, lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, technical writing, and data analysis. She also has a technology background managing several implementation and integration projects for HRIS, POS, CRM, and LMS systems.

Kara graduated from Southern Oregon University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Communications.

Peter Orrell
Relationship Manager

Peter is a proven global business development and strategy executive with over 25 years of successful leadership and results. He possesses a deep understanding of financial services, specialty finance, renewable energy, climate resiliency and Property Assessed Clean Energy.

Peter held a number of senior executive roles for American Express Company prior to becoming CEO of a mid-market private equity held company which he built and subsequently sold. Most recently, he has acquired deep experience in Property Assessed Clean Energy, a Private Public Partnership facilitating energy efficiency and climate resiliency financing.

Peter has excelled in privately held smaller mid-market organizations as well as Fortune 500 environments.

He possesses both depth and breadth in terms of building international businesses, particularly in Europe and Asia. He has lived and worked in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Peter holds an Honors degree in International Marketing from McGill University.

Francis Mongeon
Business Development International

Francis acts as Canadian Advisor to Bair Energy, advising the team on technical sales, business development, construction materials, and field services in Canada and for international projects. Francis has spent his career as a Professional Engineer with a strong background in technical sales and business development in the heavy industrial and power markets. He graduated in mechanical engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal and speaks fluent English and French. Francis currently completes his Executive MBA remotely.

Francis started his engineering career in pipeline regulations with project technical compliance and advising on public hearings. Following this work, Francis’ desire for action attracted him to become a Project Engineer for constructing a large-scale petrochemical project in Fort McMurray. He then moved across Canada to supervise and inspect the installation of wind turbines in Québec.

Relocating to Toronto, Francis made a career change towards business development and technical sales, where he built relationship skills and developed a wide network at various levels. He conducted different specialized pieces of training on high-performance products in the energy and heavy industrial sectors. He managed the approval process for various product approvals in renewable and nuclear power generation. He presented diverse technical presentations to engineers and owners, including with the International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) and the Canadian Wind Energy Association.

Along with his current position with Bair Energy, Francis occupies a National Business Development and Strategy Manager with a large-scale industrial and commercial construction supply distributor and manufacturer. While guiding sales strategies and market business intelligence, he also supports technical sales and oversees the sales strategies and development of specialized engineered materials.

Kevin Wolf
Technology Advisor

Kevin acts as Technology Advisor to Bair Energy providing advise in the area of relevant technologies. He is a co-founder and CEO of Wind Harvest International, Inc. (WHI), a producer of vertical axis wind turbines, and has held several other executive leadership roles, including COO and CEO. Most recently, Kevin oversaw the science, engineering, and pilot project permitting and development as WHI's Chief Operations Officer.

Kevin facilitated the engineering team that developed the Harvester V1.1. In addition, his paper “How to harvest plentiful low-level winds on existing wind farms" was published in Windpower Engineering in 2018.

Kevin is the chair of the California Clean Money Action Fund which has been leading the fight for more disclosure and fairness in the state's election and politics.

Kevin graduated with a degree in Evolution and Ecology (Zoology) from UC Davis in 1980.

windharvest.com

Edward Specht
Security and Compliance

Edward oversees Bair Energy's Security and Compliance. Ed has over 30 years of experience in Data Automation, providing enterprise grade design, development, and support on a variety technology platforms. These platforms include most of Microsoft, AutoCAD, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from ESRI, and several other environments.

After a double major in Computer Science and Aerospace Engineering at the U of MN, Edward worked a number of years at a local government entity providing non-point source pollution abatement through agricultural engineering. In 1997, with the red tape and bureaucracy far greater then Ed could stand, he struck out on his own and formed Spatial System Designs. This software engineering company has been producing solutions from Point of Sales (POS) to Accounting, GIS, Payment Transaction Processing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and so much more for the past 25 years.

John Strawn
Chief Operating Officer/Chief Technology Officer

John is Bair Energy’s Chief Operating Officer and also serves as Chief Technology Officer. John is a Registered professional engineer with over thirty-five years of progressively more responsible engineering and management experience. John’s background also includes management of technical organizations, project management, contracting, project controls, and regulatory issues. Most recently John was Vice President – Operations for Technip USA, Inc., Claremont, California. In that role he led all operational aspects of the Claremont office including Operations, Project Management, Procurement and the Construction Services Group. He was responsible for Operations and EPC activities for all projects executed by the Claremont office. He also led the Technical and Administrative group of 220 professionals. He was responsible for Technology Development support in the areas of renewable energy (wind, solar, geothermal, GTL and biomass to energy).

John’s specific industry experience includes Execution of the Engineering and Design for the Hydrogen, Ethylene, Dorr Oliver and Renewable Energy product lines. Project Manager of HMP3 110 MMSCFD hydrogen plant (Korea) the development phase of a 7,500Nm/H CO Plant (Korea) and Management of HMP2 – 110 MMSCFD hydrogen plant (Korea). Additionally, John was responsible for overall management of the Engineering Company including business development, P&L/financial reporting, technical staff development and project development. Primary clients were key players in the large energy sector.

Tyler Boswell
Health and Safety Officer

Tyler serves as Bair Energy’s Health and Safety Officer. Tyler served as Jacobs Engineering Group's Buildings and Infrastructure’s Northwest Geographic HSE Manager and as a Project Health and Safety Manager on Design Build projects. As such, he has been responsible for implementing field HSE programs, conducting comprehensive reviews of potential risks on projects (HSE, contracting, and training), identifying potential mitigation measures, and conducting verification audits. He has over 14 years of experience in the health and safety profession.

Tyler holds a Master of Science in Occupational Safety and Health from Columbia Southern University American Society of Safety Professionals, Big Sky Chapter, Bozeman, MT.

Will Bergey
Operations Manager

Will is Bair Energy’s Operations responsible for the management, implementation, and usability of information and technologies and has over twenty years of experience working closely with mid to large accounts in high impact, high visibility environments. This includes eighteen years demonstrated project management experience. Most recently, he was Technology Program Manager for Jacobs Engineering Group

Will is currently working to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Project Management, and obtain his Project Management Professional Certification.

Chris Chicoine
Chief Legal Compliance Officer

Chris serves as Bair Energy’s Chief Compliance Officer, responsible for legal compliance, including permitting and regulatory matters.

Chris has been practicing law as an attorney for 15 years, licensed in the states of Arizona, California and Washington. Chris’ practice focused on bankruptcy reorganizations, creditors’ rights, complex bankruptcy and commercial litigation. Chris represented individual and business debtors under Chapter 11, creditors in cases under Chapters 7, 11 and 13, financial institutions, private lenders and investors, secured and unsecured creditors, landlords, and distressed asset buyers.

Chris has conducted bench and jury trials in State Court, U.S. Tax Court, and Bankruptcy Court with multiple noted published decisions.

Chris obtained his Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Business Economics with an Accounting emphasis from University of California, Santa Barbara. Chris later obtained his Juris Doctorate from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Meghan Chicoine
Advisor

Meghan is a seasoned investment professional with 20 years of experience in a variety of executive level roles including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Managing Director of Alternative Investments. As President, Compliance, Meghan is responsible for vigilantly developing and overseeing Bair Energy’s direction and operational due diligence.

She spent 4 years as an independent financial consultant within the alternative investment space helping to navigate her clients through the complexities of efficient compliance, due diligence, and investment operations. Prior to that, Meghan worked for over a decade at Freestone Capital Management, a Seattle based wealth management firm with over $2 billion in AUM at the time of her departure. At Freestone, Meghan served as Managing Director and oversaw the firm’s investment operations, operational due diligence, fund structuring, and investor relations. Additionally, Meghan was responsible for overseeing the firm’s emerging manager platform, which entailed including operational and investment due diligence, manager selection, and capital allocations. She is also Director of Investor Relations with Clean Energy Holdings LLC.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Communications from the University of Portland. She is a Past President and Board Member of the Seattle Alternative Investment Association. Additionally, Meghan is an Investment Advisor Certified Compliance Professional (IACCP).

Jerry Haugen
Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer

Jerry Haugen serves as Bair Energy’s Vice President and Chief Environmental officer. He is also owner of Global Creations LLC a web service and production company. He has decades of experience developing and maintaining websites for his related companies and for a variety of clients. He also wrote and published The Mushroom Growers' Newsletter for over 30 years.

Prior to joining Bair Energy, he worked with the U.S. Forest Service for 31 years in various roles, primarily as an Operations Research Analyst, but also as a civil engineer, transportation planner, land use planner, environmental coordinator, and rural community assistance coordinator. He worked for the Forest Service in West Virginia, Montana, and Oregon. Prior to that he was employed as a Highway Engineer with the Federal Highway Administration in Indiana, Oklahoma, and New York. He has extensive experience integrating diverse scientific specialties into comprehensive plans for land use and management. Most of his career involved insuring plan and project compliance with the mandates of the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act.

Jerry holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering (focus: surveying, mapping, and photogrammetry) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Master of Science in Forest Management (focus: numerical analysis) from Oregon State University, both with honors. He lives with his wife and puppy in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He enjoys exploring the outdoors and producing photos and videos to accompany articles on his adventures.

Kyle Medders
Project Manager

Kyle serves as Project Manager for Bair Energy. His areas of expertise include supervision of plant process control, laboratory procedures and regulatory compliance and reporting. He is fluent in control drawings and relay logic controls. Kyle has extensive experience with wiring diagrams and control circuit troubleshooting. During his 19 year career, Kyle has operated and supervised water and wastewater treatment plant operations and facility. He has worked in all aspects of the water and wastewater utilities and previously served as the Commissioning Manager at the Northern Treatment Plant Project in Brighton Colorado and Project Manager for the Rio Rancho Utilities project in New Mexico.

Kyle is experienced with standard MCC and smart MCC installations and operation along with medium voltage switchgear and monitoring equipment. He has worked with all the major generator suppliers and automatic transfer equipment manufactures and been involved in several startups.

Adrian Romo
Client Liaison

Adrian is Bair Energy’s Client Liaison. He supports all areas of the development process for the group and works closely with clients and associates to move projects forward.

Before joining Bair Energy, Adrian was employed by Next Generation Management Corporation (NGMC), a development company designing a renewable center in Iowa to produce power, hydrogen and biofuels from various feedstocks. Adrian supported the creation of the business plan, investor relations, and identifying the best available technologies. Prior to his work at NGMC Adrian worked with a private commercial real estate investor in the Southern California area where he analyzed market data and potential sites for acquisition.

Adrian is currently furthering his education at Fullerton College in Construction Management and Real Estate Finance.

Bair Energy Team

Candice McGuireChairman

Nicholas Bair

CEO/CFO

Neil Piispanen

Vice President Program ManagmentBusiness Development

Peder Hansen

Vice President and Chief Engineering Manager

Cornelius Fitzgerald

Executive President

Kara Ray

Chief Information Officer

Peter Orrell

Business Development USA

Francis Mongeon

Business Development International

Edward Specht

Security and ComplianceInformation Technology

John Strawn

Chief Operating OfficerChief Technology Officer

Tyler Boswell

Vice President and Health and Safety Officer

Meghan Chicoine

Advisor

Jerry Haugen

Vice President Environment

Kyle Medders

Project Manager

Nicholas BairChief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer

Neil PiispanenVice President Program Management and Business Development

Peder HansenVice President and Chief Engineering Manager

Paul ScottTechnology Advisor

Cornelius (Con) FitzgeraldChief Financial Officer and Executive President

Kara RayDirector of Operations

Peter OrrellRelationship Manager

Francis MongeonBusiness Development International

Kevin WolfTechnology Advisor

Edward SpechtSecurity and Compliance

John StrawnChief Operating Officer/Chief Technology Officer

Tyler BoswellHealth and Safety Officer

Will BergeyOperations Manager

Chris ChicoineChief Legal Compliance Officer

Meghan ChicoineAdvisor

Jerry HaugenVice President and Chief Environmental Officer

Kyle MeddersProject Manager

Adrian RomoClient Liaison