Wealth of Knowledge

David R. Coates is a member of the Board of Directors of Green Mountain Power Corporation (GMP) since 1999.  GMP is an investor owned electric utility located in Vermont and was a New York Stock Exchange listed company until its acquisition in 2007 by GazMetro of Montreal, Quebec.  David is also a member of the Board of Vermont Electric Power Company, the high voltage transmission company jointly owned by the Vermont electric utilities, since 1999. 

David is also a Director of National Life Group, A.N. Deringer, Inc. and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.

David is a retired managing partner of KPMG’s Burlington, Vermont, office, and also held several key leadership positions at the New England Culinary Institute.

David was elected as the Vermont Chamber’s Citizen of the Year in August of 2003. He is a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers, the Vermont Debt Affordability Advisory Committee, the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank and the American Institute of CPAs.

Mr. Connolly is the Managing Partner of Lainston International Management (Cayman) Limited, a fiduciary and financial services firm established in the Cayman Islands in 2006.

He has previously served as a Member of Parliament of the Cayman Islands and is a former equity partner at HighWater Ltd, where he served as a non-executive director on alternative investment vehicles and legal counsel.

Mr Connolly is also a former associate at two major Cayman Islands law firms: Maples and Calder and Walkers, where he specialized in investment funds. He remains called to the Bar in the Cayman Islands.

During his over 22 years in the financial services industry in the Cayman Islands he has worked as a Banking Analyst for the Financial Services Supervision Department (now the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority) and as a Mutual Fund Administrator with Citco Fund Services (Cayman) Ltd.

Mr Connolly is a Notary Public, past Chairman of the Cayman Islands Financial Services Council, past Secretary and Executive Board Member of the Caymanian Bar Association, past Deputy Chairman of the Cayman Islands Immigration Business Staffing Plan Board and past President of Rotary Sunrise. With community service as his passion, he has also served in various roles in Cayman Islands philanthropic and service associations including the Cayman Islands Angel Investors Network, the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming association and the Cayman Islands Cancer Society.

Mr Connolly remains a member of Rotary Sunrise and the Caymanian Bar Association.

For years until 2008, Christopher Dutton was the president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (GMP), an investor owned electric utility in Vermont and a New York Stock Exchange listed company until its acquisition in by GazMetro of Montreal, Quebec.  During his tenure as CEO, Chris led the transformation of GMP from a precarious financial and regulatory position to one of financial strength and regulatory trust.  Prior to becoming CEO, Chris held various executive positions in GMP, including Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel. 

Most recently, Chris was the former president and chief executive officer of Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO), the high voltage transmission company jointly owned by the electric utilities in Vermont, from to .  He was also a member of the board of directors of VELCO.

Chris served on the Vermont Law School Board of Trustees for 11 years until 2017, the last three of those years as Chair of the Board. He has served as chair and as a member of the Fletcher Allen Health Care Board of Trustees and a director on the boards of the United Way of Chittenden County, the Vermont Business Round-Table, and the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

Chris is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and Vanderbilt University Law School.

Shawn Meyer-Steele has been Managing Director of H2OPROFESSIONALS since 2013 where he supports those responsible for water treatment and energy infrastructure and services with an emphasis on water re-use, sustainable water development and renewable energy.  Shawn enjoys a wealth of experience with public/private/partnerships (PPP) projects (BOOT/BOO/DBO/O&M) in the water and renewable energy space that range from design and financial modeling to water sale agreement structure and negotiation to operation.  He has been involved with the water treatment business for 27 years and has brought hundreds of projects to successful completion in over 55 countries.

From Jan 2008 to June 2013 Shawn was Sr. Vice President – Director of Business Development for Seven Seas Water Corporation, a leading “water as a service” provider in the Americas.  From Jan 2003 through May 2007 Shawn was Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Energy Recovery Incorporated, the world’s leading energy recovery device manufacturer.   Shawn enjoyed a 12 year career at Ionics Incorporated (acquired by GE and now part of SUEZ) from 1990 to 2002, during which time, with $470,000,000 in yearly revenue, was the largest membrane-based water treatment company in the world, where he was General Sales Manager for the Southern US and the Caribbean, and prior to that Manager of International Operations.

Shawn is President of board of directors of the Caribbean Desalination Association (CaribDA) and has been an active board member since 2009.  He has been a director of the International Desalination Association (IDA) since 2011.  He founded the CaribDA Humanitarian Committee and Young Leaders Program and has chaired, served on panels, as well as written and presented numerous papers in industry conferences and has been published in leading industry publications.  He is also on the editorial board of the Water: Desalination + Reuse Journal.

 Shawn is conversant in Spanish, speaks some German, Dutch and Papiamento.

 Shawn has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston.

Steve Terry is a veteran observer of the Vermont political scene as a result of life-long experience in journalism, business, politics, and non-profit and civic organizations in Vermont.

Steve retired in 2014 as a senior officer at Green Mountain Power (GMP) after a career at the utility that spanned from 1985 to January 2014.

He also spent 16 years in the newspaper business where is his last post was Managing Editor of the Rutland Herald from 1977 to 1985.  During his newspaper career he was the founding editor of the Sunday Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. He also managed coverage of Statehouse government and politics from 1965 to 1969 for the Vermont Press Bureau.

After his initial stint in journalism, Steve was Legislative Assistant to former U. S. Sen. George D. Aiken, R-Vt., from 1969 to 1975 in Washington during an action-packed time of U. S. history with the Vietnam War, Watergate and the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

After returning to his native state, Steve spent 10 more years in journalism before joining GMP in 1985.

Since retirement from GMP, Steve through his firm, Addison Consulting, is continuing consulting engagements for Vermont energy and non-profit organizations.  Also, he is currently a political commentator for WCAX-TV.

A writer, and published author, Steve has written and edited with the late UVM Professor Samuel Hand in 2005 “The Essential Aiken”, a book of leading speeches by Senator Aiken. He also wrote a 2011 book with Professor Hand and Tony Marro,  “Philip Hoff : How Red Turned Blue in the Green Mountain State.”

Steve is currently writing a book on Senator Aiken of Vermont and Vietnam.

The Vermont State Chamber of Commerce named Steve as its 2014 Citizen of the Year.

He serves on the several non-profit boards and the Town of Middlebury Planning Commission.

Married to Faith Terry, they live in a restored 1799 home in Middlebury. He is a 1964 graduate of the University of Vermont.