Fiscal board submits names for revitalization coordinator
Under the PROMESA law passed in Washington D.C. earlier this year, the revitalization coordinator will be tasked with identifying, coordinating and accelerating the execution of critical infrastructure projects.
The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico announced Sunday it has submitted the names of three candidates for possible designation as revitalization coordinator to Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla.
The three candidates, Aaron Bielenberg, Joseph Fontana and Riz Shah, were selected from a pool of names received from professional services proposals and referrals received by the Board, as per Section 502 of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA.)
Under PROMESA, the revitalization coordinator will be tasked with identifying, coordinating and accelerating the execution of critical infrastructure projects.
Bielenberg is an expert associate partner in McKinsey & Co.’s Infrastructure Practice, based in the Washington D.C. office. He works with investors, developers, lenders, utilities and governments as support on infrastructure topics and on complex restructurings and transformations, including involvement in major transformation of national utility companies.
He has more than 14 years of restructuring and infrastructure transaction advisory experience. He has a Bachelor’s in Arts from Brown University, a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law, and was a Fullbright Scholar.
Fontana is America’s Power & Utility Transaction Leader for Ernst & Young, based in the New York office. He has more than 30 years of corporate finance and transaction experience of which the last 25 years have been focused on power generation and the utility industry.
He also has experience with water and wastewater utilities. Fontana has a B.A. in Accounting from West Chester University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant in New York State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Shah is the national public sector leader for PwC’s Capital Projects & Infrastructure practice, based in the Washington D.C. office. He is an architectural engineer with more than 18 years of professional services experience, and has advised clients in both the public and commercial sectors on improving infrastructure delivery and capital project performance on some of the largest and highest profile construction programs around the world in the heavy civil, transportation, power/utilities, real estate, and oil and gas sectors.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Engineering, Construction Management from Penn State University and is a member of the board of the College of Architectural Engineering at Penn State University.
As previously announced, the Board has begun a search and selection process for the best candidates available at a local and global level for a series of positions created under PROMESA, including the positions of executive director, internal legal counsel and revitalization coordinator.
The Board has selected the firm Heidrick & Struggles to assist them in the search and evaluation of the best candidates available for these positions at a local and global level. The process is expected to conclude within the next 90 to 120 days, approximately.
PROMESA requires, nonetheless, that the Board submit a list of three nominees for possible designation as revitalization coordinator within 60 days of the appointment of the members to the Oversight Board. Board members were appointed on Sept. 1, 2016; accordingly, the Board presented the list of three nominees to the governor on Sunday.
The candidate the governor selects will serve on an interim basis while the Board completes the more substantial search, evaluation and selection process that it is undertaking and will be able to be part of the list of candidates that will be submitted once again to the governor upon conclusion of said process, the Board said in a statement.
