Founders

William J. McConnell, PE

Mr. McConnell is the co-founder of The Vertex Companies and serves as President of Vertex Construction Services, Inc. He has been responsible for managing its construction services since inception in 1995.

Mr. McConnell has experience with all divisions of construction and excels at large, complex and diversified files. Mr. McConnell is intimately involved in all aspects of the technical construction services offered by Vertex, most frequently working as an expert witness with Construction Claims and as a Surety Consultant.

Mr. McConnell received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine, earned a continuing education certificate from MIT and is in his final year of law school at the University of Denver. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado.

James B. O'Brien, LSP

Mr. O'Brien is the co-founder of the family of The Vertex Companies and continues to actively manage Vertex's operations. He has a broad range of technical and management expertise in environmental consulting, remediation, construction management, risk management, due diligence and energy services.

Mr. O'Brien has provided senior management on many of the projects completed by Vertex and has worked directly for some of the largest industrial, insurance and financial companies in the world. His work is geographically diverse as he has worked throughout the United States, Latin America, Asia and Europe on industrial, commercial and residential properties.

Mr. O'Brien received his undergraduate degree from St. Michael's College with a dual emphasis in Environmental Science and Biology and is a Licensed Site Professional in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Jeffrey E. Picard

Mr. Picard is the co-founder of the family of The Vertex Companies and serves as President of Vertex Environmental Insurance Services, Inc., and has been responsible for Management, Operations, Strategy and Business Development roles and responsibilities since VERTEX's inception in 1995. More specifically Mr. Picard has established and managed new profit centers, managed operations, been a leader in developing and launching corporate strategy, and has developed and managed large VERTEX accounts and markets.

In addition, Mr. Picard developed and launched VERTEX's international strategy in 2002. Mr. Picard also works on numerous technical projects in the construction and environmental fields. Mr. Picard has been a speaker at numerous customer and industry association meetings and conferences in both the environmental and construction markets. Mr. Picard holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Rhode Island, and graduated from Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program in 2002.