West Monroe Partners Announces Dedicated Energy and Utilities Practice
CHICAGO, Illinois - August 12, 2008 - West Monroe Partners, a full-service business and technology consultancy, today announced that it has established an Energy & Utilities (E & U) industry focused consulting practice area. Industry veterans Tom Hulsebosch and Dan Belmont are joining West Monroe Partners’ Chicago office as a managing director and principal, respectively, to provide leadership for the firm’s new practice area, with an initial focus on serving West Monroe Partners’ utilities industry clients.
Initially, the practice will focus on applying deep wireless communications expertise in conjunction with utilities’ adoption of Smart Grid and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) technologies. Over the next decade, most electric utilities in the United States will need to apply these technologies to address changing regulatory requirements, operate more efficiently, and support distributed generation such as solar and wind, as well as handle the additional electrical load that charging plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles will put on their networks. Hulsebosch and Belmont have significant experience with these new technologies as well as leveraging their backgrounds in wireless communications technologies, complementing West Monroe Partners’ own experience working with utilities to address IT infrastructure change.
“Through our work with several prominent energy and utilities clients over the past few years on mergers and acquisitions, data warehousing, and infrastructure upgrade initiatives including Smart Grid and AMI, West Monroe Partners recognized that the time is right to increase our focus and depth in this industry,” said Kevin McCarty, who leads West Monroe Partners’ Chicago Office and is supporting development of the new practice. “Tom Hulsebosch and Dan Belmont offer an excellent fit with West Monroe Partners’ culture and capabilities, with complementary skills, strong entrepreneurial backgrounds, and excellent reputations for client delivery execution.”
Hulsebosch is a 20-year veteran of the wireless telecommunication industry with extensive experience in defining new products, solutions, and business models for wireless solutions that serve enterprises, public safety agencies, and service providers. He joins West Monroe Partners from Strategy 2 Solution, LLC, a wireless solutions consulting firm of which he was president and founder. Prior to starting Strategy 2 Solution, he was the vice president of municipal network sales for EarthLink. He also spent 19 years with Motorola, most recently leading sales, marketing, and product management for the company’s Canopy wireless broadband product portfolio.
“Smart Grid and Advanced Metering Infrastructure projects are technically challenging, requiring not only communications expertise, but also significant experience in IP engineering, IP security, process automation, new and evolving enterprise applications, and significant project management skills—all established areas of strength for West Monroe Partners” said Hulsebosch. “We are excited about the opportunity to bring this combined expertise to help utilities of all sizes that are confronting significant change in their operations. The challenge of optimally supporting plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles will be a key driver in the adoption of Smart Grid Solutions in utilities of all sizes in the next decade.”
Belmont was vice president, general manager and founder of db3 Broadband, LLC, a high-growth wireless Internet service provider in Lake County, Illinois, that was acquired by E-Vergent wireless earlier this year. He established the company’s business model, secured financing, built the company’s staff, and played an instrumental role in acquiring networks that complemented db3’s own offerings. Previously, Belmont held sales, marketing, and project management positions with several Chicago-area technical and industrial enterprises, developing a strong reputation for business development, customer satisfaction, and technology innovation.
The Energy & Utilities solution line is the latest industry-based practice established by West Monroe Partners as part of its increasing focus on packaging vertical knowledge and experience to address clients’ needs. The firm also has established vertically aligned industry teams serving the financial services industry, including banking, insurance, options, futures and commodities trading, private equity, professional services, healthcare, and manufacturing and distribution.