The British-American Business Council (BABC) of the Pacific Northwest is pleased to present its first Founders Event in Portland!
The BABC joins founding partner Miller Nash LLP, along with Business Oregon (Oregon Business Development Department) and UKTI (United Kingdom Trade & Investment) to provide advice and guidance for business growth locally and overseas in the clean tech industry.
Our panel discussion will focus on two companies in the clean tech industry, Iberdrola and RES Americas, both doing business in Oregon and the United Kingdom. This program will appeal to companies working with U.K. firms in the Northwest and those doing business or looking to do business in the U.K. and beyond. Miller Nash will provide an update and guidance on legal issues and local tax-incentives while UKTI will concentrate on concrete trade advice & support to aid your company's success abroad.
Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will follow the program at the networking reception. Join the broad spectrum of companies at various stages of local and international business development.
Registration
Visit BABC's website to register. Click Here.
Agenda
3:00 p.m.: Registration
3:30 p.m.: Panel Presentation
5:00 p.m.: Networking Reception
Speakers
Welcome & Introductions
Chris Helmer—Miller Nash LLP
Chris uses her 30+ years of experience in international law to maintain both a litigation and a business practice, and she leads the firm's international business team. Chris currently serves a number of multinational and smaller businesses with their international needs—entering foreign markets using subsidiaries, joint ventures, distribution networks, or simply sales; dealing with international issues in U.S. litigation, handling international arbitrations before a variety of institutions, or managing foreign litigation; drafting sales agreements, foreign manufacturing agreements, and private labeling arrangements; drafting BIS export and CBP import compliance programs; and defending Customs, export, and FCPA violations and conducting compliance investigations.
Moderator
Andy MacRitchie—Aequitas Capital Management British Honorary Consul, Portland
Andy MacRitchie has served as the U.K. government's representative in Oregon for 6 years. As Honorary Consul he provides support to the British Consulate in San Francisco in consular as well as trade and investment activities. He has over 25 years in general and executive management roles and brings considerable experience in strategy, regulation and large company operations with a focus on mergers and acquisitions. Andy is currently a partner and Executive VP of Aequitas Capital Management, an alternative investment manager operating both fund investments and commercial finance activities. Andy oversees operations of the company and is their Chief Compliance Officer.
Before joining Aequitas Capital, Andy was an Executive VP and member of the Board of Directors of PacifiCorp, a $10 billion electric utility operating in six western states. Andy led the federal and state approval processes for ScottishPower's 1999 acquisition of PacifiCorp. He then went on to head the business unit responsible for the operational management of PacifiCorp's $4 billion asset base with 2,600 employees involved in providing electric distribution, transmission and customer service for 1.5 million customers.
In 2006 Andy led the formation of Greenlight Greater Portland, a privately funded economic development organization focused on attracting businesses to locate in the Greater Portland region. Andy holds an honors degree in electronics and electrical engineering as well as an MBA from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Scotland. He also completed an Executive Development Program at Wharton Business School in 1996. He is a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and is a Chartered Engineer in the U.K. Andy serves on the boards of several companies as well as non-profits including Marylhurst University, Arlington Club and the Leadership Council for NW Business for Culture and the Arts.
Panelist
Kevin Devlin—Iberdrola Renewables USA
Kevin Devlin is head of Iberdrola Renewables' Commercial Operations Division in North America. In this role he is responsible for the commercial and operational management of over 4000MW of wind generation capacity across the US and a team of almost 300 people. Joining what was formerly PPM Energy in 2005, he was responsible for new business initiatives, including offering O&M services to third parties and expanding the company's wind business into Canada. Kevin previously headed up the commercial development team for Scottish Power in the UK with responsibility for originated power and gas transactions, coal trading and procurement, and environmental products.
Kevin has more than 18 years experience in the energy industry, including ten years with Exxon in various roles within the upstream natural gas business and downstream operations.Kevin holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the Queens University of Belfast.
Panelist
Scott Piscitello—RES Americas
Mr. Piscitello joined RES Americas in 2000. He was named Vice President of Development for the Northwest region in 2008, where he developed 460 MW of projects that are either operating or under construction in the Pacific Northwest and northern California, as well as managing a 1,500 MW portfolio of projects in the Pacific Northwest. He was also the project manager for a separate joint development effort between RES Americas and Nevada Power. In 2010, Mr. Piscitello was named Senior Vice President, Development where he will lead the company's development efforts in North and South America.
Mr. Piscitello has over twenty years experience in the electric power and renewable energy industries. Mr. Piscitello holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and a MSc of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Panelist
Michelle Slater
Michelle Slater represents project developers, independent power producers, and investors in renewable energy projects, including biomass, geothermal, solar, and wind, in the Pacific Northwest. Michelle advises on state and federal tax incentives and abatements, structuring and governance, financing matters, and general business and contract issues throughout the development cycle, drawing on her background in tax and complex business transactions.
Michelle is admitted to practice law in Oregon and Washington and is a member of the Business, Sustainable Future (currently serving on the Executive Committee), and Corporate Counsel sections of the Oregon State Bar. She is a member of the American Bar Association business section, and forest resources and renewable energy resources committees and serves on the special committee on energy and environmental finance.
Panelist
Erik Bakken—UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)
Eric Bakken, is the Vice Consul (Energy) for UK Trade & Investment, the British Government's international business development agency located at the British Consulate- General, San Francisco. He is responsible for the Renewables and Clean Technology sector as a part of a larger international energy team. At UKTI, he facilitates collaboration between UK and US industries, identifies key areas of opportunities for UK companies and encourages US investment in the UK in energy technology areas including: renewable and alternative energy, carbon abatement technologies, carbon trading, and power transmission, distribution and storage.
Eric joined UKTI in 2007 and has served in the Chicago, Houston and San Francisco Consulates. In his various positions he has been responsible for market research, event management and trade mission coordination activities.