BACKGROUND

Mr. Picchi began his consulting career with Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L). CP&L recruited Mr. Picchi for a leadership position in its burgeoning internal management consulting practice. As a Project Management Consultant, he worked with utility managers to improve their organizational effectiveness and resource planning, to coordinate the efforts of external consulting teams, and to assist the company in its strategic planning and performance management efforts.

Mr. Picchi began his external consulting career with Chicago-based Richard Metzler and Associates (now Navigant Consulting) and later was a founding member of the firm Hoskins Davis LLC, where he was a Principal and Vice Presiding Manager. Mr. Picchi was recruited to Utilities International as a Vice President in 1997, with the mission that he lead the telecommunications practice area. Additionally, he was tasked with the development of the firm’s non-utility consulting practice (now the ION Consulting Division of UII). Under his direction, ION grew from a concept to one of the leading national consulting firms in its practice area.

In 2003 Mr. Picchi left ION to form the Blue Ridge Advisory Services Group (BRASG). BRASG was formed to concentrate on the deployment of broadband infrastructure and related services with a particular market focus on the real estate development community. Mr. Picchi has developed numerous telecommunications strategies and business plans, conducted market assessments, and performed financial modeling and analysis for firms seeking to leverage their existing assets or create value through innovative business approaches.

Mr. Picchi has authored several articles on the convergence of telecommunications and energy and has become a nationally recognized expert in the area of creating value through the strategic deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. He is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) and is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Mr. Picchi earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan with a concentration in economics. Thereafter, he completed a Masters in Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Telecommunications and technology planning
• Agreement negotiations
• Business and strategic planning
• Leveraging assets for value creation
• Energy services business planning
• Financial analysis and risk assessment