Sam Fairchild

Sam Fairchild PhotoSam Fairchild heads the Tadpole Group, a firm focused on harvesting value from the transformation of business models, industries, institutions and technologies. He is a respected businessman and former government leader, with a special set of experiences and expertise in manufacturing, transportation, energy and trade. Sam is the founder of Chiapas Organic Farms, the landmark agricultural organization employing thousands of farmers in the State of Chiapas, Mexico on a supra-fair trade basis, and is a member of the holding companyʼs Board of Directors.

Sam currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Director of Energy Composites Corporation, a Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of composite structures and holding tanks for the alternative energy (wind and biofuels), environmental compliance (flue gas desulfurization) and municipal infrastructure (water and sewer) industries. ECC trades on the NASDAQ under the symbol ENCC.

Sam is Board Chairman of Schiphol International, the global organization that developed and operates, among other things, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and JFK Airportʼs Terminal Four. Until Summer of 2007, he served as CEO and Director of Tower Tech Holdings, Inc. (now Broadwind Energy BWEN:NASDAQ), a Manitowoc, Wisconsin-based manufacturer of wind turbine towers, His leadership there delivered more than a tenfold increase in shareholder value in less than three years. In the 1980ʼs and early 1990ʼs he was a vice-minister of transport for the United States as well as advisor on transport and environmental policy to the President and the Vice President. Sam served as a lead negotiator for the President at the OECD on a number of trade and environmental issues, and co-authored the National Transportation Policy.

Sam was a member of the management team at the Carlyle Group, and served as shadow-CEO for Air New Zealand, where he helped to turn around the carrier following the demise of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ansett Airlines. He has advised a number of Fortune 100 companies, including American Express, Philip Morris, Boeing, Honeywell, Motorola and Kraft. Sam holds a B.A. and a B.S. from the Christopher Newport College of the College of William and Mary in Virginia (jointly with the University of Virginia).

Sam is active in Boy Scouting, enjoying a 45-year career as a Scout and Scouter. He founded, with William Hillcourt, the non-profit Scouting Century Foundation, and has been a faithful supporter of Mikey Weinsteinʼs courageous efforts at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Sam founded the Freedomʼs Echo Foundation, and produced its landmark film, “Freedom Ride.” He also serves as a member of the Mendham Township Historic Preservation Commission. Sam lives with his wife, Linda, daughter, Elizabeth and son, Sammy in the historic Axtell House (circa 1739) in Brookside, New Jersey.