Leadership

Industry Experience:  35+ years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  35

Mr. Sutherland, founder of the company, has guided the development of Pace Global into an internationally recognized consulting and asset management firm with extensive client relationships throughout the energy, transportation, and financial communities and in over 60 countries. Mr. Sutherland has led the firm’s development in the areas of strategic planning & strategy implementation, counterparty negotiations, comprehensive fuel supply planning & acquisition, financial structuring evaluation, and private placements within the energy and transportation industries.  He is an active participant on energy industry and industrial panels dealing with the market impacts of competitive restructuring.  Mr. Sutherland holds an M.B.A. from New York University and a B.A. from Knox College.

Division: Consulting
Industry Experience:  25+ years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  14

Mr. Diemer leads Pace Global’s consulting practice.  He has played a leading role in the development, financing and the acquisition and divestiture of numerous domestic and international energy infrastructure projects and he has formulated the strategies for enterprises developing and operating these assets.  His experience and expertise spans all energy forms but is principally focused on natural gas markets and procurement across the full supply chain from production to the burner tip including gathering, processing, pipeline transportation and storage.  He also has experience in coal, petroleum, electric power, and air emissions issues associated with the combustion of fuel.  He has testified as an expert witness in (i) natural gas procurement and markets before a federal court and (ii) pipeline rate design matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  He has represented large energy consumers in contract negotiations for pipeline capacity and commodity supply, overseen all aspects of natural gas pipeline development and developed fuel procurement and management plans for over 2 Bcf/d of natural gas demand in North America for power plants and large industrial facilities.  Additionally he is a recognized expert in natural gas midstream frequent speaking and moderating panels at industry conferences and events. 

Mr. Diemer holds an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He has also completed the Executive Integral Leadership Program at the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business.  

Division:  Renewable Energy Development
Industry Experience:  24 years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  16

Throughout his career, Mr. James has assisted energy-intensive industry and energy asset owners and developers in achieving desired results under changing market conditions. He is well-versed in worldwide energy markets, having directed projects on six continents. His industrial work includes enterprise-wide energy strategies; asset-based energy contracting; cogeneration development and utilities optimization; energy management; energy efficiency; and sustainability. Mr. James has also led conventional and renewable generation project development, owner’s engineering and asset management projects for industrial, utility and private power clients. Most recently, Mr. James is focused on the development of clean energy technologies.  Mr. James studied Chemical Engineering and Materials Engineering at the University of Connecticut.

Industry Experience:  30+ years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  11

Mrs. Jones is the CFO and a Certified Public Accountant. She serves as an advisor to the CEO, other Officers, and Platform Leaders.  She is responsible for the offices of Accounting, Human Resources, Office Management, Information Services, Administration and Legal. With over 30 years of experience, she provides comprehensive analysis, planning and evaluation for the firm.

Prior to joining Pace Global, Mrs. Jones held the position of Vice President for twelve years in the field of international trade with a company specializing in the sale of NBC Defense Equipment to U.S. State Department-approved countries. She also spent four years as a Controller for a company involved in carpentry, custom homes, and rental properties. Mrs. Jones holds a B.S. in Accounting from George Mason University.

Division:  Information Technology
Industry Experience:  23 years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  13

Mr. Pfeifer’s over twenty years of experience has covered a variety of functions in the information technology space. He is well-versed in computer architecture, networking, software development, and change management. His experience includes full lifecycle software development and implementation for both supply-side and demand-side energy information systems, energy modeling, and energy metering and monitoring. He has full responsibility for the company’s technology goals, direction, and operations. Prior to joining Pace Global, he was an associate partner in an information systems consulting firm responsible for program and project management for both private industry and federal government clients. Mr. Pfeifer holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Indiana University.

Pace Financial Services
Industry Experience:  30 years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  14

Mr. Poats heads Pace Financial Services, the broker dealer affiliate of Pace Global.  He has 30 years of energy project development, structuring and valuation experience across domestic and international markets. Mr. Poats has led or supported over 100 energy sector transactions, covering infrastructure development, energy asset finance, and re-structured asset portfolio financings for a wide range of strategic, debt and private equity capital sources.  Recent engagements include bio-fuels, solar, wind, gas & clean coal technologies. Mr. Poats also has extensive experience in company business planning, risk and financial analysis, due diligence, and transactional support. Mr. Poats has served as an expert witness on cases, covering company and contract valuation, best practice in trading, hedging, and project development activity. Mr. Poats holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in economics from the College of William & Mary and University of Virginia, respectively.

Division:  Energy & Carbon Management
Industry Experience:  20 years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  12

Mr. Smith heads Pace Global’s Energy & Carbon Management Services Division which provides energy management and sustainability services to global manufacturing, industrial and commercial companies.  Mr. Smith has been instrumental in merging the company’s leading energy & data management services with emerging carbon & sustainability solutions that are aligned with the dynamic needs of global corporations.  Mr. Smith has broad experience in the energy sector working on behalf of energy intensive industrials to lower their energy costs, reduce risk and make informed global siting and investment decisions.  Mr. Smith has led multiple energy strategies and steering teams to implement energy management best practices and programs.  Mr. Smith’s areas of expertise include energy and sustainability strategy, environmental markets, capital investment analysis, fossil & renewable power project development and power supply contract negotiations.  Mr. Smith holds an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Tennessee and a B.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University.

Division:  Consulting
Industry Experience:  20 years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  20

Mr. Vessey has a broad range of experience across global energy markets.  He has led strategic planning assignments for major energy companies ranging from international oil and gas companies to energy asset developers.  He has led the development and implementation of tools to provide a quantitative approach to evaluating strategic alternatives and associated capital allocation decisions.  He has deep knowledge of natural gas and LNG market dynamics throughout the full value chain.  He has extensive experience in managing fuel and electricity market assessments, contract & asset valuation projects and energy procurement efforts.  Mr. Vessey has also supported negotiations of energy sales and fuel purchase contracts for power project developers as well as numerous power and natural gas contracts for industrial end users throughout Europe and the U.S.  He has performed project work in the U.S., Europe, Former Soviet Union, Africa and Latin America.  Mr. Vessey holds a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia.

Division:  Consulting
Industry Experience:  30+ years
Number of Years at Pace Global:  9

Mr. Vicinus is responsible for planning, power, fuels, environmental and financial consulting service offerings at Pace Global.  He has over thirty years experience in the energy business both in industry and as a management consultant. His areas of expertise include corporate strategy, electric restructuring, asset positioning, power & fuel market assessments, resource planning, fuel procurement, negotiation support, and contracting and environmental assessments. He has been an expert witness on many of these issues before state regulatory commissions, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), arbitration judges & panels, and both state & federal courts. Mr. Vicinus holds an M.A. in Economics from North Carolina State University and a B.A. in Economics from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.