ESSENTIA - Key Persons
Clint joined Essentia in March of 2021 as Accounting Manager. His can-do attitude has been instrumental in supporting Essentia's financials and administrative operations. He looks forward to helping Essentia continue to grow and prosper.
Career Highlights
Clint started his 15-year career in accounting at an electrical contractor where he was promoted to the point of becoming the Cost Controller. He became known to everyone as the go-to person for support in any situation and could be counted on to deliver. Some of his biggest accomplishments were converting an ERP system in-house, creating a user-friendly purchase order process, and eliminating redundant month-end tasks for project management that saved $30K a year in payroll.
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant
- CFO
Gina Lawrence serves as Essentia's CFO overseeing the accounting, finance, payroll, and tax departments. She holds a variety of responsibilities including cash management, budgeting, compliance, audit, financial, strategic planning, as well as leveraging enterprise corporate systems for sound financial controls.
Career Highlights
Prior to Essentia's creation from Utilipath Enterprise and Carrier Services division, Gina served for four years as Utilipath's Controller and top accounting executive. She has an impeccable 20-year career underscored by prudent financial judgment, and valuable experience in the telecommunications, construction, healthcare, and finance sectors.
Before Utilipath, Gina was the Assistant Controller at Concrete Supply Company in Charlotte, North Carolina. There she managed a wide range of accounting functions and assisted with several acquisitions. Gina also served as a Corporate Accounting Manager for Health Management Associates in Naples, Florida, where oversaw accounting for 11 healthcare facilities. Gina's previous experience includes accounting roles at CEMEX, relationship administration at FleetBoston Private Bank, and time with the advisory department at The Legend Group.
Gina is a Certified Public Accountant, as well as a member of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and Women in Wireless. She's also an auxiliary member of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, raising money and awareness for veterans in need. Gina has been the team captain for the St. Jude Walk/Run since 2013, raising money for childhood cancer research.
Jake dedicates himself to innovating new automations and tools across the company. He also manages Small Cell A&E projects in the OHPA Region.
Career Highlights
Jake got started in Telecom at American Tower Corporation where he was a Network Design Engineer. There he was responsible for Fiber and power designs for Distributed Antenna Systems in the Western U.S. During his time at American Tower, he became the go-to engineer for onboarding new equipment into their ecosystem. Jake got his start writing automations, creating a program that decreased drawing time by 90% and increased accuracy and consistency between drafters.
After American Tower, Jake branched out to the agriculture industry, joining a corn breeding start-up - and again leveraging automation to improve manufacturing and data analysis. This is where he met his new best friend, Python.
Education
B.S. Aerospace Engineering from NC State
Jarrod focuses on accelerating revenue, maximizing profitability, and building the Essentia culture.
Career Highlights
Jarrod served as Managing Member of Utilipath, LLC, a nationwide network services provider that grew to become the 120 th largest private company in North Carolina in only 10 years. Utilipath was honored with the Hire Power award from Inc. Magazine for growing by 97 employees in one year. Other growth awards included Inc. Magazine's "Inc 5000" list (3 consecutive years), North Carolina Mid-Market Fast 40 (2 consecutive years), and the Charlotte Fast 50 (2 consecutive years). Jarrod led the divestiture of the Company's Outside Plant Construction division and the spin-off of the Company's Enterprise and Carrier Network Services division into Essentia.
Prior to Utilipath, Jarrod was General Manager of Operations with First South Utility Construction, a telecommunications infrastructure services company headquartered in Greensboro, NC. At First South, he managed over 50 employees in fifteen states, including the construction, engineering, and permitting of a 1000-mile fiber network on the east coast.
Prior to joining First South, Jarrod was an Analyst with Barrington Associates, an investment banking firm headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, specializing in providing merger and acquisition and corporate finance services to middle market companies. At Barrington, Jarrod participated in a number of sell-side advisory transactions involving manufacturers of consumer products and food processing machinery, aerospace companies, and providers of telecommunications infrastructure services.
Awards
Jarrod was recognized as one of Jacksonville's 40 under 40.
As President of the Enterprise Division, John focuses on working with Essentia's partners and integrators to provide technology and resources to Enterprise clients. John looks to leverage Essentia's significant wins and successful track record in the Enterprise space into a full suite of tech-enabled services and solutions.
Employment History
John's experience includes managing projects, teams, and sales goals for technology solutions providers - with a focus on the Enterprise and Network Infrastructure spaces. Most recently, he served as Vice President for Automated Systems Design, where he oversaw all aspects of the company's North Carolina operation. Previously, John managed commercial installation projects at Network Communications Technologies and served as a Site Supervisor at Priority One.
Awards
For exemplary service, John was once presented with a rare coin by the chancellor of South University. It was one of 20 ever minted - and only the third he had given out. John was also given the "Rockstar Award" by a former employer for going above and beyond.
Job Titles:
- Corporate Counsel
- Member of the Board
Kevin serves as Corporate Counsel for Essentia, a role in which he is responsible for overseeing Essentia's nationwide legal affairs, including litigation, intellectual property, government affairs, and corporate matters. When not serving in his legal capacity, Kevin assists the Site Acquisition side of the business overseeing northern markets and helping to launch projects in new markets. He also works closely with clients, municipalities, and utilities to ensure compliance in the small cell process.
Career Highlights
Prior to joining Essentia, Kevin spent years in both the telecom and oil and gas industries on matters relating to title review and opinions, site/ land/ mineral acquisition, leasing, easements, right-of-way, property rights, municipal law, and government affairs. As a newly minted attorney, Kevin gained invaluable courtroom experience handling criminal, juvenile, and civil matters. He has also served as a Guardian ad Litem, representing children in matters pertaining to dependency, neglect, and abuse.
Kevin has served as a board member and volunteer to numerous local charities and Community Development Corporations.
Lindon spends his time on strategy, business and corporate development, growth initiatives, culture, innovation, marketing, small cell operations, and spending time with customers.
Lindon Hayes was the Founder and Managing Member of Utilipath, LLC. Utilipath was a nationwide network services provider and grew to become the 120th largest private company in North Carolina in only 10 years. Utilipath was honored with the Hire Power awards from Inc. Magazine for growing by 97 employees in one year. Other growth awards included Inc Magazine's 5000 list (3 consecutive years), North Carolina Mid-Market Fast 40 (2 consecutive years), and the Charlotte Fast 50 (2 consecutive years). Utilipath was sold to a private equity firm in 2013.
Employment History
Prior to founding Utilipath Lindon was General Manager of Operations with First South Utility Construction, a telecommunications infrastructure services company headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. At First South, he managed construction projects with annual sales of $25 million, specializing in federal government, plant protection, long-haul construction, and structured cabling projects. Lindon worked as an Equity Analyst and Portfolio Manager at Myers and Company before joining First South. Lindon, along with a team of three other analysts, determined capital allocation for approximately $1 billion in assets. Previous to his experience with Myers and Company, Lindon held the position of Senior Consultant with Kaiser Associates, a global strategy management consulting firm whose clients include two-thirds of the Fortune 500. At Kaiser, Lindon advised senior management of Procter and Gamble, Raytheon, NCR, John Deere, The Mutual Group, and General Motors.
Awards
Lindon has been recognized for the Charlotte 40 under 40, Florida Governor's Innovation Award, the Top 50 Charlotte Entrepreneurs, and Movers and Shakers of Charlotte.
A 30-year industry veteran, Mike's experience includes managing projects of up to $140 million in value in more than 30 states, as well as managing 500-plus employees. He is responsible for driving profitable growth and enabling operational excellence.
Mike joined Essentia in August of 2015 and began running the construction and field operations almost immediately. Since then, he's become the interface between construction, engineering , accounting, and customer care. Mike's primary role is in setting the culture of quality production, ensuring exceptional customer service, and bringing projects in ahead of schedule and within budget. Also, he holds Essentia's State Contractor licenses in Florida and Georgia.
Career Highlights
Prior to Essentia, Mike worked for Utilipath as Vice President of Operations. In this role, Mike was responsible for managing high profile contracts for several customers in the South East region as well as bid operations for the company nationwide. Before serving as Vice President of Operations, Mike held the position of General Manager in the New Orleans area managing an AT&T master contract valued at $12 million
Mike has worked in the construction field in almost every capacity starting in 1985, working his way up from a laborer to own a construction business. From 1996 to 2002, Mike worked for First South Utility, where he was in charge of many multi-million dollar projects, including international fiber for AT&T, crossing New York vis NYSTA for MFS, many MCI projects, and others.
Mike leads Essentia's marketing program, from performing sales enablement to brand management. He equally enjoys the challenges of solving the strategy puzzle while telling a story that resonates just right with a given audience. Mike consulted with Essentia on the agency side for several years before joining the team full-time.
Employment History
For the decade leading up to Mike joining Essentia, he ran a content marketing firm, Milepost 0 Creative, where he supported verticals including telecom, energy, construction, economic development, and travel. Prior to that, Mike led marketing departments and content teams for companies including PartnerMD, a concierge healthcare outfit, as well as Snagajob, an hourly employment job site and software company. Before entering marketing, Mike trained and worked as a journalist, including stints as a news reporter, movie critic, and editor for publications including Richmond.com and Newsday. He recently served as a family columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- FDH Engineering As a Field Engineer
- Small Cell Team Lead
Paul focuses on transforming the way Small Cell Site Acquisition and Engineering is done. He is passionate about leading Essentia to new territory with groundbreaking engineering speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Career Highlights
After graduating from NC State, Paul joined the FDH Engineering as a Field Engineer, completing above and below grade structural mappings and inspections on mainly macro cell towers. After a couple years, he traded in his harness and helmet for a desk managing field crews and high volumes of clients and project counts.
He would later take a job with CLS Group as a Project Engineer in their A&E division, creating Construction Drawings and Structural Analysis for Carrier Upgrade Projects. As Small Cell emerged within the industry, Paul made the transition over, with a number of Carriers leveraging his experience to manage their Small Cell projects.
When not accelerating the growth of 5G at Essentia, Paul is an assistant basketball coach at a local high school. He believes in building the community by working with youth and serving as a positive role model.
Ron's role at Essentia is to grow the Cable MSO Division and form lasting relationships with his customers. He is excited to support the cable industry by providing services cutting-edge solutions designed to improve the way the industry currently works. Ron believes in the words "Work Smarter, Not Harder." He also believes in people, relationships, and trust - principles on which the cable industry was originally founded on and still exist today.
Employment History
Ron has more than 25 years of experience in the Cable industry overseeing Technology, Engineering, Operations, and Business Development. During his early career working with Blue Ridge Cable in Pennsylvania, Ron deployed the first proprietary high speed cable modem network in the world. (The groundbreaking deployment was the subject of two feature stories in major U.S. newspapers). He followed this up by helping to deploy Adelphia's first cable modem network, and eventually, also deploy their DOCSIS 1.0 cable modem network throughout the United States. As part of the Adelphia acquisition, Ron moved on to Comcast where he served 12 years working with the East Division, Northeast Division, West Division, and Corporate HQ to stand up a highly successful network capacity program, which is still in use today.
As A&E Manager, Spencer provides clients with deliverables with a hyper-focus on speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Spencer works hard to grow our products in Small Cell and other markets.
Zack's role at Essentia is to strengthen our innovative culture. He coaches team members on what is possible using technology, which helps each member enhance their innovative mindset. His capabilities help Essentia push the boundaries of technology in the engineering and site acquisition space. This helps our employees focus on the work that truly matters instead of focusing on manual data entry.