Our Members
The RENEW Energy Initiative prides itself in the strength of the personal relationships that are built through this network. We work together and we bring strength from those relationships. This is a network composed of people who trust one another, both for integrity and competence. Each of us has a story to tell. The links below take you to brief written biographies and to video clips in which each of us tells a little about his/her story and why he/she is engaged in this network.
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Howard L. Weldon:
Member
Howard L. Weldon is the President of Winthrop Financial Solutions, LLC a nationwide,full-service loan brokerage company, specializing in Alternative Energy Financing from$250,000 to $500 Million and conforming and non-conforming Commercial Real EstateFinancing. Mr. Weldon is a graduate of the National Commercial Lending Graduate School ofBanking at the University of Oklahoma where he received the designation of CCL,Certified Commercial Lender. He completed coursework at Williams College, WhartonSchool of Business, Duke University, advanced real estate at Harvard University and hasbeen a guest lecturer at Carlson School of Business at the University of Minnesota. Mr. Weldon served as President of Valley National Bank in Apple Valley, MN and asVice President and COO of Fidelity Bank and Trust Co. in Burnsville, MN. He was alsoa Vice President with First Bank Edina in Edina, MN, where he headed various lendingdepartments as well as being charged with Strategic Planning for the bank. He spent fouryears as a Commissioner on the Planning Commission for the City of Apple Valley, MN. Mr. Weldon served in Branch Administration for Peoples Bank in Rhode Island for overten years. Locations included Providence Main Office, Wayland Square, Barrington andJohnston. |
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Diane Guillemette:
Member
Diane Guillemette, a former manufacturing company VP, has extensive general management experience with in-depth, hands-on involvement in direct sales, sales management, marketing, CRM, cash flow management, finance strategy, IT/ERP systems implementation, HR management, workforce development grants and ISO 9001. An adjunct faculty member at RIC and NEIT, Diane teaches Operations Management, Marketing and Supply Chain Management. She is a founding board member of Music Dolce and a RI Chamber Music board member, maintaining mailing databases and developing organizational strategies. Diane holds a Master’s in Management with a concentration in Finance from Harvard. She was a Northeast Semifinalist in the CleanTech2010 Business Competition with Quixote Wind. Building CRM databases, pro-forma statements and strategic planning are her favorite business building activities. |
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Michael Woody:
Founding Member
Michael M. Woody is President of International Marketing Advantages, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in marketing, international business, and mergers and acquisitions. He was formerly Executive VP of promoOrder, a technology service provider based in Austin, TX, and VP International Sales and Marketing for The Quill Co., Inc. Mr. Woody received his MBA from Providence College in 1983, and his Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude, from Providence in1977. |
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Miriam A. Ross:
Board Member,
Founding Member
MIRIAM A. ROSS is an attorney, business mediator and community leader with extensive experience in industry, business law and ethics/compliance. Miriam started her own law firm to provide business-focused legal advice to small and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs and business owners. She serves as key legal advisor to a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit companies and organizations. Miriam also has a private mediation practice for impartial resolution of commercial and business disputes. Miriam is also an adjunct professor at Roger Williams University, School of Law. Prior to opening her private law practice, Miriam was in-house corporate counsel at Dayco Corporation, Textron Inc. and GTECH Corporation handling domestic and international business transactions and global business ethics and compliance matters. |
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Douglas Jobling:
Founding Member
Doug Jobling is the Regional Director for the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center (RISBDC) in northern Rhode Island, working in partnership with the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. He has served the northern Rhode Island area since 1998.Jobling was the original State Director of the RISBDC, launching the program in 1983. In addition to other degrees, Jobling received his MBA from Bryant University. |
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Don Saracen:
Board Member,Founding Member
Don Saracen is well-known marketing expert and business speaker. He is president and founder of SARACEN Sales & Marketing Advisors, a speaking, training and consulting firm specializing in Building Stronger Business Relationships.He collaborates with businesses, non-profits and trade associations to improve their interpersonal communication skills for bottom line results. |
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Huiting Zhuang:
Vice President/IT,
Founding Member
Huiting Zhuang is an economist by trade and current president at Crebbers, a business Merger/Acquisition & international consulting firm. He specializes in helping international investors/business owners,especially those from China, to acquire business in the Unites States of America. Huiting got background in international trade,commercial real estate,economics,information technology. He had doctoral education from University of Rhode Island, graduate education in management from China Ocean University and engineering/international trade education from Hongzhou Dianzi University. Huiting designed/developed and currently maintains the REI website. |
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Michael Sokoll:
Vice President/Outreach
Founding Member
Michael Sokoll is the president of Atlantic Business Finance a company formed with his son in 2006. The business began with a focus on equipment lease brokerage, however, from its start the alternative energy sector has been a focus. Atlantic has worked with clients in many fields outside of energy as well. The back ground that Mike brings to his clients is over twenty years working in industrial sales and inventory management working with small and large companies. Understanding the needs of a client by listening is how Atlantic has achieved success, just as in his past career. Financing any project for a client is what takes from a “good idea” to a functioning enterprise. We can broker deals in North American and outside as well. Mike is also Senior Pastor of Providence Baptist Church a responsibility he accepts with joy to serve others. |
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Eric Ross:
Vice President/Energy Systems, Founding Member
Eric Ross was most recently employed by Comprehensive Power Inc., of Massachusetts, where he served as Vice President and General Manager, TeraTorq® Systems. He is an industrial operations leader and general manager, with multiple industry experience and a track record of growing profit by building operational excellence. A former USAF officer, he has held senior level and leadership positions in manufacturing, technology, and service industries, including large and small organizations. Prior to joining Comprehensive Power, Eric served as Vice President of Operations and Engineering with EarthSource Energy Solutions, a manufacturer of renewable energy / reduced energy use systems. Eric holds a B.S. and an M.S., both in engineering, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York, respectively. |
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Larry Girouard:
Vice President/Secretary,Founding Member
Lawrence A. Girouard is the CEO of The Business Avionix Company, LLC, a business consulting firm established in 2003 that focuses on the development of strategic plans, sales and marketing programs, customer satisfaction audits, and assisting companies in changing the way they do business in order to make them more competitive in their selected markets using measurement as the cornerstone for change. |
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Paul H. Fredette:
Treasurer, Founding Member
Paul H. Fredette is the President and Chief Technology Officer of Promptus Communications, Inc. and Promptus InfoCrypt, Inc. in Portsmouth, RI. Promptus designs, resells and maintains telecommunications and encryption solutions for video conferencing, and other communications networks. Paul has over 40 years experience in the design and manufacturing of electronic communications systems and has been a technology leader and founder of three RI companies. He was a civilian design engineer for the Navy at NUSC doing advanced research for submarine combat systems, worked at Bell Laboratories and was in the communications group of the RI Air National Guard. In addition to design, he managed each of the companies’ worldwide telecom and safety regulatory aspects. He has managed and mentored a number of product design teams in excess of 40 engineers. Paul maintains a broad background in a number of software and hardware technologies and been involved in designing a site planning and monitoring system for wind powered energy systems. He enjoys mentoring other engineers to remain current with rapidly changing technologies. Paul is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (1971) with a BSEE degree and holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from MIT(1975). He is also a member of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. |
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John Cronin:
Vice President/Membership,
Founding Member
John Cronin is the State Director of the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center at Johnson & Wales University. The Center provides counseling, training,networking and advocacy services to help Rhode Island’s entrepreneurs and businesses owners succeed. The Center’s core services include business planning and market development projects that help clients secure capital, increase sales, and manage best practices. Working with more than 5,000 entrepreneurs over the past three years has produced significant results: $166.8M in total client sales; $17.7M in total capital assets; 1,664 total jobs and an estimated $5.79M in tax payments.Prior to his current leadership role, he was the CEO of RIMES (RI Manufacturing Extension Services), Executive Director of the Greater RI Regional Employment and Training Board, and the Director of Operations for the Economic Innovation Center in Newport. He is a graduate of Brown University with a BA degree in Economics. He also holds a Masters in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island. |