About Us: Management
Gerry McGowan
Managing Director
Mr McGowan is a former executive of TNT and Mayne Nickless. He formed Impulse Transport Group in 1982 having won a contract with John Fairfax to distribute their products around Australia. Gerry acquired Travcour, a specialised travel industry courier in 1985, which he subsequently sold to Mayne Nickless in 1988. In 1992, he formed Impulse Airlines having bought a failed regional carrier from its administrators. Impulse grew to become the largest privately owned regional carrier in Australia. In 2000 Impulse became Australia’s third airline when it launched jet services between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Impulse employed approximately 1500 staff.
Qantas purchased Impulse in 2001 and subsequently relaunched the airline as Jetstar. Currently Gerry is Managing Director of CBD Energy. He has been involved in the company for four and a half years, initially as a Non-Executive Chairman. He became an executive in 2006 and led a restructure and turn around of the Group. He is also Executive Chairman of TRW Holdings Pty Limited, an investment company with exposure to the energy, primary production and aviation industries.
Pat Lennon
Chief Operating Officer
Until recently Pat Lennon was an executive with Hydro Tasmania holding the role of Director Business Development. Pat has broad national and international power industry experience and has held senior roles including Managing Director of NEG Micon, Executive Consultant AGL, and Business Manager Fluor Daniel. Up until recently he was a Director of Roaring 40s and a Director of the Clean Energy Council. Mr Lennon holds a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Diploma of Business Management and has achieved the qualification of Certified Cost Engineer with the American Association of Cost Engineers.
Carlo Botto
Director Strategy and Development
Carlo Botto has extensive energy industry experience, having worked in various roles in the energy supply industry in Australia and North America over almost 30 years. These roles have included senior executive positions responsible for wholesale trading, retail marketing, corporate strategy, risk management and regulatory/corporate affairs.
Caro was previously a senior executive of CLP (HK listed) in roles in its Australian subsidiaries TRUenergy and Yallourn Energy, based in Melbourne. These roles covered functional areas responsible for Strategy, Risk Management, Wholesale/Trading, Retail and Government & Regulatory Affairs. In these roles he was a member of various board and management committees including Investment and Risk Management Committees.
Prior to this, senior executive roles included Head of Risk Management & Trading at InterGen, Director of Asset Trading & Operations for PG&E's National Energy Group based in Bethesda, Maryland USA and as General Manager, Trading & Pricing for Ergon Energy, a Queensland based electricity retailer. Originally from an electrical engineering background, Carlo gained significant operational experience while working in New South Wales and Victoria where he held various positions with the SMHEA (now Snowy Hydro) in technical, production and commercial roles. Prior to the SMHEA, Carlo worked in an engineering consulting firm.
Allan McClaren
General Manager
Parmac
Allan as CEO of Parmac is responsible for leading one of the foremost mechanical services companies in Victoria. He has extensive experience in managing large scale mechanical services projects to successful completion. Allan has also been responsible for a project management team that has completed some of the more significant projects in the HVAC industry. Since Allan was appointed General Manager in 2006, Parmac has achieved significant profit growth from a loss in 2005 to a $1.2M profit in 2008.
Yuri Brodsky
General Manager
Capacitor Technology
An electrical engineer with over 30 years experience in the power and power quality aspects of high, medium and low voltage systems. As General Manager of Capacitor Technology, Yuri leads an experienced team of electrical engineers responsible for the design, manufacture and implementation of power projects including Power Factor Correction, Power Quality Systems and Electrical Control Systems for power utilities and process industries. Since the restructure and refocusing of CapTech in 2006, their results have improved from a loss in 2005 to a profit of $1.4M in 2008.
James Greer
CEO, CBD China
James has been living and working in Beijing, China since 2005, having relocated from Australia to extend his fluency in Mandarin. He joined CBD in August 2009 to establish CBD China which is now not only a successful business in its own right but a critical interface with China for all CBD group operations. China is an important component in the supply chain for CBD's global renewable energy activities. CBD China played an integral role in establishing AusChina Energy group, a joint venture between CB D and two of China's largest renewable energy companies.
James has a Bachelor of Business - International Trade and completed his studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. James has been extensively involved with the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, having been a Director for the past three years.
