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Velocitel Management Team
Jim Estes
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Jim Estes was named Chairman of Velocitel, LLC in November 2002 and has been a member of the Velocitel Board of Directors since February 2001. He has 20 years of experience in the wireless communications industry, most recently as an officer of Motorola, Inc. His experience covers the spectrum from product development to large-scale turnkey network deployment, end user markets from wireless carriers to public safety, manufacturing and broad global experience including a five-year executive assignment in Europe. Mr. Estes has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University and an MBA in Business Policy and Finance from the University of Chicago.
Randy Gayer
Chief Operations Officer
Randy Gayer has been Chief Operations Officer since 2005. Prior to that, he held the position of President of Operations for Velocitel since 2002. In his tenure in that role, he has grown the Operations Department of Velocitel to over 200 employees in 15 Markets. Prior to that time, he was Vice President of Domestic Operations for Velocitel, Inc. and its predecessor companies including National Site Development, Inc which Mr. Gayer grew to over 40 employees in seven wireless communications site development markets from 1998 until 2000. From 1997 to 1998, Mr. Gayer held the position of Vice President and Partner for MVP, Inc. From 1994 until 1997, he was Project Director / Market Team Leader and later Director of Operations for the Northeast and Midwest Regions of Whalen & Company, Inc. Mr. Gayer earned his Bachelors Degree from the University of Michigan.
Steve Chiotti
Chief Financial Officer
Steve Chiotti was named Chief Financial Officer in 2002. He spent three years as an auditor for a major accounting firm and then 15 years in a broad range of Motorola's wireless businesses gaining experience in manufacturing, service, distribution, joint ventures, and wireless carrier operations. Most recent Motorola positions include Director of Finance for the Strategy & Business Development organization, a three year assignment in Japan as Director of Finance Operations, and Chief Financial Officer of Nexnet, Inc., a wireless network operator in Japan. Mr. Chiotti is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelors of Science in Accounting from the University of Kansas and an MBA in Finance from University of Chicago.
John Meyer
Vice President & Director of RF Engineering Services
John Meyer is a communications veteran with over 20 years experience in the industry. He has worked at Los Angeles Cellular, o2Wireless Solutions, the U.S. subsidiary of Mobile Systems International, one of the leading engineering service firms supporting the wireless industry, Bell Labs and the Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group. John has a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the Keller School of Management. Mr. Meyer served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Conflict. John has recently authored 3G Wireless with 802.16 and 802.11, published by McGraw Hill.
Ken Czosnowski
Vice President of Sales & Business Development
Ken Czosnowski joined Velocitel as Senior Director of Sales in 2006. He has 20 years of experience in the wireless & wireline communications industry. Throughout his years in the industry, Ken has held the positions of Senior Account Manager at Motorola, Vice President of Global OEM Sales at Allen Telecom, Director of Global OEM Sales at EMS Wireless, Regional Vice President of Sales at Prism Communications, Director of Sales at AT&T Business Services and Director of North & South American Operator Sales at Powerwave Technologies. His experiences cover product development, marketing platforms and sales efforts for large-scale turnkey network deployments. Mr. Czosnowski earned a Bachelors of Science degree in both Marketing and Psychology from Illinois State University.
Thor Erickson
Vice President & General Counsel
Thor Erickson has been General Counsel for Velocitel since 2002. Mr. Erickson is responsible for all Velocitel legal matters, including transactions in national and international markets, general risk management and contracts administration. Previous experience includes implementing and managing major broadband infrastructure agreements in Latin America for Diveo Broadband Networks, Inc., advising foreign companies in the rapid privatization of the Brazilian energy and telecommunications industries while at the Maine law firm of Curtis, Thaxter, Stevens, Broder & Micoleau, and consultant to the Brazilian law firm Azevedo Sodre Advogados. Mr. Erickson is a graduate of Yale University, where he received his Bachelors of Arts in Ethics, Politics and Economics, and of the University of Maine School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate.
Sitesafe, Inc.
Elizabeth Nash
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Elizabeth Nash joined Velocitel as Vice President of Sales & Marketing in December 2005. She has spent more than 11 years in the wireless industry, and her experience includes site acquisition, zoning, architecture and engineering (A&E), tower leasing, and marketing. From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Nash was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Sitesafe, Inc., a firm specializing in regulatory compliance and engineering services for wireless carriers. Prior to joining Sitesafe, she was the Southeast Regional Sales Manager for Crown Castle USA, and in her other previous employment held senior level sales positions with both qServe Communications and SBA Communications. Ms. Nash has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Centenary College of Louisiana.
Matthew J. Butcher, P.E.
Vice President Engineering and Development
Mr. Butcher has been with Sitesafe since 2000, and leads the Engineering and Software Development groups. In his 20 years as an engineer Matt has supervised the development, testing and implementation of software-based engineering tools, remote monitoring systems, and RF modeling and analysis systems. Matt's team at Sitesafe develops and maintains the SpectrumWatchSM system for FCC Land Mobile licensing; Peoplesafe®, Sitesafe's premier RF health and safety training program; SitesafeTC for EME analysis; and Sitesafe's industry leading AM tool, which provides AM Interference screening and analysis. Matt has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and is a Professional Engineer in Virginia.
Bill Zlotnick
Vice President of Operations
Bill Zlotnick has 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry beginning with MCI in 1978 and has been VP of Operations at Sitesafe since December 2003. Bill's experience covers regulatory, project management, cellular network deployment, wireless network deployment, and general management in cellular and integrated telecom service providers with full P & L responsibility. Prior to Sitesafe, Bill was General Manager for Eureka Networks in Washington DC. Before Eureka , Bill was Vice President, Network Services for Winstar Communications with project management responsibility for the build out of Winstar's nationwide wireless network. From 1986 to 1996 Bill ran organizations which built and operated several cellular networks in the Western Pennsylvania area culminating in his position as Chief Operating Officer of Sygnet Wireless prior to its acquisition by Dobson Communications. Bill's operations have been characterized by industry leading levels of customer satisfaction and steadily improving EBITDA margins. Bill has a bachelor's degree in International Commerce and Finance from Georgetown University.
PS Engineering, LLC
William Panek, P.E.
Vice President of Engineering
Mr. Panek has over 30 years experience in the consulting engineering field in various business sectors to include telecommunications, industrial facilities, the federal government and the Department of Defense. He has specialized in the telecommunications arena since 1998 and has held executive vice president positions with Alcoa Wireless Services, o2 Wireless Solutions, and O’Brien and Gere Engineers, Inc. Mr. Panek has been the director of nationwide engineering services for the last 4 years at o2 Wireless and Alcoa Wireless Services. In April of 2004, Mr. Panek, along with Dan Southwick helped established PS&W Engineering, LLC, with Mr. Panek assuming the role of President. In 2006 PS&W Engineering, LLC. was purchased by Velocitel, Inc.
Dan Southwick, P.E.
Vice President of Engineering
Mr. Southwick has over 17 years of engineering experience including the design and management of major wireless and wire line telecommunication programs. These programs included switches, POPS and fiber optic equipment shelters/tenant improvements. Mr. Southwick has managed programs for ATT Wireless, Bechtel Telecommunications, SBA, Nextel, Sprint PCS, Alamosa PCS, Triton PCS, Crown Castle Communications, Cricket Communications, American Tower, Carolina West and SpectraSite. Mr. Southwick has managed a full range of A & E Services including civil, electrical, structural design and environmental reviews (phase I environmental site assessments and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) screenings/assessments). In April of 2004, Mr. Southwick, along with Bill Panek helped established PS&W Engineering, LLC, with Mr. Southwick assuming the role of Executive Vice President. In 2006 PS&W Engineering, LLC. was purchased by Velocitel, Inc. Mr. Southwick has a B.S in Civil Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
