Towers: More Tailwinds Than Headwinds, and a Few Wrinkles

Jennifer Fritzsche, a senior analyst with Wells Fargo Securities who moderated a panel session, “Towers: Coping in a Time of Turmoil,” during last week’s AGL Virtual Summit, noted that although this is a tumultuous time, “the tower industry is experiencing more tailwinds than headwinds.” She asked her panelists, Alex Gellman, CEO of Vertical Bridge, and Tony Peduto, CEO of CTI Towers, about those tailwinds and headwinds.

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Vertical Bridge REIT, LLC
750 Park of Commerce Drive
Boca Raton, Florida 33487
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Ron Bizick, II

President and Chief Executive Officer

Ronald G. Bizick, II is President and Chief Executive Officer of Vertical Bridge. He has 33 years of telecommunications industry experience, and together with the senior leadership team, oversees the company’s strategic growth initiatives of infrastructure development, sales and marketing, site leasing, and operations.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Bizick co-founded and served as CEO of Tarpon Towers, LLC, which develops, acquires, and manages wireless communication sites throughout the United States. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Global Signal, Inc., a former NYSE-listed company. During his tenure at Global Signal, the company completed a successful IPO, acquired nearly $2 billion in tower assets, raised over $2.2 billion in mortgage-backed securitizations, and tripled its portfolio from 3,500 to over 11,000 owned and managed communication sites. Prior to Global Signal, Mr. Bizick was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SBA Communications, a NASDAQ company, helping grow it from a start-up to a nationwide public company.

He received his BA in Business and Communication from the University of Pittsburgh and completed executive education programs at The Wharton School and Harvard Business School.

 

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Richard Stern

Senior Vice President of Real Estate

Richard Stern oversees the production, drafting and negotiation of all Vertical Bridge’s ground, tower and rooftop leases. He is also responsible for other property rights agreements, including management agreements with third-party real estate owners.   

Before joining the company, Richard co-founded and served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Eco-Site, a privately owned independent tower company. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Access to Money. Richard began his wireless career as general counsel for Apex Site Management before its acquisition by SpectraSite in 2000. There, he held the position of vice president for the building division where he was instrumental in establishing the in-building neutral-host model. Richard graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in economics.  

He also has a Juris Doctor from The Boston University School of Law and a Master of Laws in Taxation from The New York University School of Law. 

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Tim Shine

Senior Vice President of IT

Tim Shine is Senior Vice President of Information Technology (IT) at Vertical Bridge. Mr. Shine is responsible for implementing technology-driven solutions across all aspects of Vertical Bridge’s business to deliver more streamlined and efficient processes and solutions for clients. He brings more than 25 years of experience in IT and strategic-technology initiatives to Vertical Bridge.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Shine served as Vice President of IT at Improving (formerly Innovative Architects). Mr. Shine led Improving’s expansion to South Florida and was responsible for directing IT-focused technology projects across the region. Previously, Mr. Shine served as Vice President of IT at NationsBuilders Insurance Services, where he planned, developed, and led IT initiatives enabling the company to more effectively manage itself. Earlier in his career, Mr. Shine spent 12 years with HomeBanc Mortgage in increasing roles of responsibility, most recently as VP of Application Development.

Mr. Shine holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Florida Atlantic University.

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Bob Glosson

Senior Vice President of Real Estate Solutions

Bob Glosson is the Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Technology at Vertical Bridge. Mr. Glosson leads Vertical Bridge’s Strategic Assets Group, which is responsible for the acquisition, management and leasing of the firm’s third-party-owned assets including rooftops, billboards, and utility transmission structures.

Previous to Vertical Bridge, Mr. Glosson was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Eco-Site, a leading developer of wireless communication, tower sites and infrastructure. As President and COO of Eco-Site, Mr. Glosson was responsible for nationwide sales, tower development, and operations. Earlier, Mr. Glosson served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Bandwidth.com, an enterprise cloud communications company, and as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Shared Access, a wireless tower operator in the U.K. and Ireland. Prior to Shared Access, Mr. Glosson held increasing roles of responsibility at SpectraSite Communications, including Vice president of Business Development for its Building division and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Tower, Rooftop and In-Building division.

Mr. Glosson received a Bachelor of Science from Drexel University and a Master of Business Administration from Temple University.

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Johnny Crawford

Senior Vice President of Development

Johnny Crawford is the Executive Vice President of Tower Development at Vertical Bridge. He is responsible for overseeing all sales and delivery of build-to-suit opportunities for the company.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Crawford was Vice President of Business Development, Network Services at SBA Communications Corporation where he was responsible for sales to SBA’s national customers. Additionally, he has served as Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Airgate PCS, a Sprint PCS affiliate and as Director of Engineering and Operations for Sprint, where he launched one of the first PCS markets. Mr. Crawford was also a co-owner of Optima Towers, a South Carolina-based regional tower owner.

Mr. Crawford was recently appointed as a Board Member for Music-Movement.Org, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that develops and funds music-centric programs for children and young adults living with autism.

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Daniel Marinberg

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Dan Marinberg is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Vertical Bridge. Mr. Marinberg is responsible for legal, regulatory and government affairs, as well as Secretary to the Board of Directors. 

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Marinberg was a partner at top international law firm Greenberg Traurig where his practice focused on real estate including, acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate, financings, leasing, development, and joint venture structuring for individual properties and multi-asset portfolios. He also assisted clients with international issues arising from these transactions.

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Bob Paige

Senior Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions

Bob Paige is the Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Development of Vertical Bridge. Mr. Paige is responsible for all portfolio acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic transactions.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Paige was a Principal and Telecom M&A Group Head at Brown Brothers Harriman where he led all assignments for companies in the telecommunications industry with a specific focus on the wireline and wireless sector. He also served as the Managing Director at Falkenberg Capital Corporation where he advised wireline and wireless companies in M&A transactions.

Mr. Paige started his career as a telecom lending executive with Northern Telecom and GE Capital.

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Dale Carey

Executive Vice President of Strategy and Convergence

Dale Carey is the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Convergence at Vertical Bridge. Mr. Carey is responsible for identifying new convergence opportunities across the digital infrastructure ecosystem and coordinating with other providers, particularly those within the Digital Colony portfolio, to bring new infrastructure offerings to our customers.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Carey was Founder, Chairman and CEO of Eco-Site, a leading developer of wireless communication, tower sites and infrastructure. As CEO of Eco-Site, Mr. Carey led the firm from its inception to become the sixth largest privately held tower company in the U.S., with 700 towers across 38 states. Prior to Eco-Site, Mr. Carey was President and COO of Shared Access, a wireless tower operator in the U.K. and Ireland. He also served as President of SpectraSite Communications’ U.S. Wireless division, which encompassed 8,000 towers and 20,000 rooftops, and was also President of its Building division, where he pioneered the firm’s use of the neutral-host distributed antenna system model. Earlier in his career, Mr. Carey spent 11 years at AT&T/Vanguard Cellular Systems, most recently serving as Vice President for the mid-Atlantic region.

Mr. Carey holds a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University. He serves on the Board of Advisors at the J.D. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship at York College.

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Michael Romaniw

Chief Financial Officer

Mike Romaniw is the Chief Financial Officer of Vertical Bridge. He is responsible for all financial aspects of the company including accounting, finance, tax, treasury, budgeting, forecasting, and investor relations.

Prior to joining Vertical Bridge, Mr. Romaniw was Chief Financial Officer of the Sterling Organization, Senior Vice President of Finance for Parmenter Realty Partners, and held various tax and financial management roles at the AES Corporation. Mr. Romaniw started his career with Ernst & Young and has Master of Business Administration and Master of Taxation degrees from Canisius College, a BA from McMaster University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

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Michael Belski

Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing and Co-Founder

Michael Belski is the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Vertical Bridge. He is responsible for creating deep relationships with clients, working with some of the country’s largest carriers to develop leasing contracts.

Prior to co-founding Vertical Bridge, Mr. Belski was the Senior Vice President of Leasing & Marketing at Global Tower Partners (GTP), where he was responsible for leasing and marketing the company’s portfolio of assets and securing build-to-suit contracts.

Mr. Belski previously held senior positions at Morrison Hershfield Corporation and SBA Communications Corporation.

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Alex Gellman

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

Alex Gellman is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Vertical Bridge, the largest private owner and operator of wireless communications infrastructure in the US. As Executive Chairman, he is responsible for developing and leading the firm’s overall strategy and growth. Mr. Gellman is also a co-founder of DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG), a leading global digital infrastructure REIT that owns, operates and invests across the full spectrum of digital infrastructure and real estate.

Prior to co-founding Vertical Bridge, Mr. Gellman was President and COO of Global Tower Partners. Mr. Gellman was instrumental in growing the company into what was the largest privately-held tower company in the United States at the time of its sale to American Tower Corporation in 2013 for over $4.8 billion. Previously, Mr. Gellman served as President and COO of Sonitrol Corporation, a leading provider of verified electronic security in North America, which was sold to Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK) in 2008.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Gellman co-founded Apex Site Management, the largest third-party manager of wireless and wireline communications sites in the U.S., which merged with SpectraSite Communications in 2000 to create the largest telecommunications site portfolio in the country. Mr. Gellman also co-founded and was VP of Development of Horizon Cellular Group, a McCaw Cellular-backed company that acquired, developed and operated rural cellular franchises in the eastern United States.

Mr. Gellman received an MBA in Finance and Accounting from The Wharton School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Tufts University. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Wireless Infrastructure Association, serving as Vice Chairman, and is also on the Boards of Directors of EdgePoint Infrastructure and Highline do Brasil. 

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Marc Ganzi

Vice Chairman

Marc Ganzi is a successful real estate and telecommunications entrepreneur. In addition to serving as Vice Chairman of Vertical Bridge, he is the President and Chief Executive Officer of DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG), a leading global digital infrastructure REIT that owns, operates and invests across the full spectrum of digital infrastructure and real estate. He previously co-founded Global Tower Partners (GTP), an owner and operator of communications, real estate and related companies, where he played an instrumental role in building the business, which was ultimately sold in 2013 for over $4.8 billion.

Prior to GTP, Mr. Ganzi was a consulting partner at Deutsche Bank’s DB Capital Partners overseeing the institution’s radio tower sector investments in Latin and North America. His other earlier experience includes Apex Site Management and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service Department.

Mr. Ganzi is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization, a Director of Olympus Media, LLC, and a three-time finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Florida. He is a graduate of Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

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