Team

Jeff C. Nelson is our Founder, and serves as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer. Jeff has over 25 years of infrastructure experience and has completed over $700 million in water infrastructure related transactions since forming his first company in 2012.

Prior to founding PERENfra, Jeff was the founder of BNN, which was ultimately sold to a publicly traded company in 2014. Jeff previously worked at Bechtel and Kiewit, early in his career. A Nebraska native, Jeff currently resides in Denver, CO with his family.

Gary J. Brauchle has served as our President and on our Board of Directors since 2021. Gary has over 25 years’ experience working with infrastructure companies in the Energy and Construction industries.

Prior to joining PERENfra, Gary was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of a multibillion publicly traded company from its inception in 2012 until its sale in 2020. Gary is a CPA in Texas, an Outstanding Alumnus of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University and resides with his family in Austin.

Amy Ochello serves as our EVP of ESG & Sustainability. Amy has over 15 years of experience managing environmental and regulatory affairs and sustainability for various infrastructure projects throughout the country.

Amy is an environmental scientist and holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Colorado. A Louisiana native, Amy resides in New Orleans with her family.

Kevin Kasprzak, P.E. serves as the EVP of Engineering and leads all engineering and construction for PERENfra. Kevin has over 25 years of engineering and construction experience primarily focused on water infrastructure.

Kevin is a licensed Professional Engineer in multiple states and holds a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Texas A&M University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University. He resides in Austin, Texas with his family.

Hamlet Newsom is our General Counsel. Hamlet has over 7 years of water investment and water infrastructure experience.

Prior to joining PERENfra, Hamlet served as in-house and General Counsel, at 3 publicly-traded companies, responsible for finance, M&A and governance. Hamlet has completed public and private equity and debt offerings in excess of $20 billion, private and public market M&A transactions in excess of $3 billion and has transactional, developmental and operational experience in water rights and water infrastructure projects. Hamlet resides in San Antonio, TX with his family.

Chase Walstad is our Controller. Chase has over 16 years of infrastructure experience, with the last 12 years in infrastructure accounting and finance.

Prior to joining PERENfra, Chase worked in O&G pipeline field operations and then moved to corporate finance and accounting for a midstream publicly-traded company.  A Colorado native, Chase currently resides in Longmont, CO with his family.

Henry Berkowitz is our Operations Manager. Henry has over 18 years of operations experience in a variety of industries both for-profit and non-profit. As a retired Navy SEAL he is well-suited to the operations of our small and dynamic team.

After the military, Henry held multiple roles focused on defense and aerospace, followed by strategic leadership at health and wellness organizations. He is also passionate about continuing to serve the special operations community through non-profit work. He is a Colorado native and currently lives in Denver with his family.

Shea Boynton serves as the VP of Project Delivery. Shea has over 20 years of experience in construction and holds a BS in Petroleum Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.  

Prior to joining PERENfra, Shea was the Manager of Project Execution at a multibillion dollar publicly-traded company. Shea managed the engineering, procurement, bidding, construction, and commissioning of all projects. Shea resides in Arvada, CO with his family.