Founder & Managing Partner

​Mr. McDonough’s expertise is in developing, financing, constructing, owning and operating utility and infrastructure projects. Mr. McDonough’s earliest utility & infrastructure career was as part of a team that created and developed our Country’s first independent energy company and subsequently developed its first private infrastructure company both of which were taken public in the mid-1980’s.

​Goldman Sachs hired Mr. McDonough to replicate his early utility/infrastructure success as part of Goldman’s Infrastructure Privatization efforts. Mr. McDonough’s early career at Goldman was in their banking division where he was the recognized expert in project finance, alternative energy and Public Private Partnerships (“P3”). Mr. McDonough secured numerous high profile, groundbreaking privatization assignments for Goldman including the Virginia Toll Road (Dulles Greenway), America’s first private toll road in 100 years; a transportation franchise in California’s initial P3 Infrastructure Program; advising the first management buyout of a municipal wastewater treatment system; and the conversion of a public wastewater facility to private ownership. Mr. McDonough also advised Gov. Jeb Bush on Florida’s High-Speed Rail Project and helped draft federal legislation which facilitates the financing of P3 projects (TIFIA). Mr. McDonough also financed numerous alternative energy projects using various fuels including wood chips, geothermal, solid waste, pulp and similar alternative fuel stocks. Mr. McDonough was also featured in Barron’s for his successful turnaround of a boutique asset manager which specialized in investing in regulated and unregulated utilities. McDonough graduated with honors from Georgetown where he has participated on numerous governing boards and University-wide committees and has a law degree with licenses to practice in New York, Florida and the Federal courts. Mr. McDonough holds Series 7 & 63 licenses.

Credit Analysis & Capital Markets

​Mr. Culnane’s expertise is in municipal and structured finance, credit analysis and related bank relationships for Lightower Capital Partners. Previously, Mr. Culnane was a Managing Director at SL Capital Strategies, a financial advisory firm specializing in municipal and structured finance. Earlier he was a member of the capital markets group in charge of acquiring and financing various assets at Greystone & Co., Inc., a New York based finance company. Prior to joining Greystone, Robert was managing director of the Capital Markets Division at First Marblehead Corporation, and with Morgan Stanley & Co. Mr. Culnane’s financial industry career began at Goldman Sachs, where from 1981 until 2000 he was vice president and manager responsible for running the $38 billion Short Term Group. He served as lead investment banker for large state level general obligation, appropriation credits and transportation clients including The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Mr. Culnane graduated with honors from Middlebury College and holds Series 7 & 63 licenses.

Project Development and Construction

Mike Kelly’s expertise is in Project Development and Construction. Mike is responsible for all of LTCP’s engineering and construction relationships. Additionally, Mike is responsible for the development of LTCPs sewage and infrastructure projects.

Prior to working with LTCP Mike was Vice President of Land Acquisitions and Development for Pulte Homes of Long Island. He also worked for the Prudential Home Mortgage Company, Chase Manhattan Bank and the Law Firm of Meyer, Meyer and Keneally in Smithtown. Mike has over 30 years of diversified real estate industry experience.

Mike twice served as President of LIBI and was founder and Director of the Down Syndrome Advocacy Foundation. He is a member of the NY State Bar and a licensed real estate broker. He has been honored as the recipient of the Paul S. Miller “With Liberty and Justice for All” award by Touro Law School in 2006 and The Good Neighbor of the Year from The Central Islip Civic Association in 2008, as well as honoree for the American Cancer Society and New Ground.

Mike graduated from Chaminade High School, has a B.S. in Finance from Providence College, an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota and a Juris Doctorate from Touro Law School.

Strategic Planning and External Affairs

​Ted Lowen brings over 25 years’ experience in environmental technology and industrial marketing and management to Lightower Capital Partners. He has worked for Hitachi, Engelhard Corporation and BASF, in various capacities in China, Japan, Brazil, Spain and Venezuela in a range of R&D, business development and management roles. Mr. Lowen’s engineering expertise includes remediation technologies involving water purification, combustion engine exhaust controls, catalysis, and alternative energy solutions ranging from wind, solar, fuel cell, lithium battery and hydrogen cell technologies. Mr. Lowen graduated with honors from Hamilton College and holds advanced degrees in chemical engineering, international business and global affairs from Yale, NYU and Columbia Universities.

Industrial Engineering & Tax Analysis

​Mr. MacPherson’s expertise is the intersection of the US Tax Code and IRS regulations with a rigorous engineering analysis of their application to and impact on the financing of various infrastructure projects.

​Mr. MacPherson has more than forty years of analyzing infrastructure projects for Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions. He has helped developed and finance more than $40 billion in public & private infrastructure, energy and transportation projects for state and local governments, electric utilities, oil, paper, chemical and semi-conductor manufacturing companies. He is a nationally recognized engineering expert on the application of US tax laws and regulations and their impact on financial plans for infrastructure projects.

​Mr. MacPherson is a licensed professional engineer and a graduate of Colby College with a B.A. in mathematics and a master’s in engineering from University of Massachusetts.

Project Engineering and Financial Analysis

Mr. Malek’s expertise is in process engineering design evaluation, asset cost determination, and project financial analysis.

Mr. Malek has two decades of engineering and design experience in the power utility market and more than three decades of industrial project design evaluation and financial cost analysis. He has provided his professional services to Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions in conjunction with the development and issuance of private activity tax-exempt project financing transactions. His experience and expertise span both the public and private industrial sectors including project analysis for electric power generation, water furnishing and wastewater treatment facilities, chemical manufacturing, oil refining, mining, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor manufacturing business sectors.

Mr. Malek is a licensed professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Business Administration – Finance from Boston College.

Real Estate & Project Development

​Mr. Mirante’s expertise is in Real Estate and Project Development.

Prior to Lightower Capital Partners, Mr. Mirante analyzed the REIT sector for Forum Securities and KeyBanc Capital Markets using fundamental research to recommend investments in office, industrial, retail, commercial and residential projects.Mr. Mirante’s early banking career was focused on the equity capital markets for Merrill Lynch, First Boston and JP Morgan. Mr. Mirante has a B.S. in Business from Boston University and an MBA from New York University.

Government Relations, Regulatory Affairs and Public Private Partnerships

Peter A. Peyser’s expertise is in Government Relations, Regulatory Affairs and Public Private Partnerships (“P3”). Mr. Peyser’s 35 years of public affairs and strategic business consulting includes the planning, financing and executing major infrastructure projects. Mr. Peyser focuses on navigating various governmental, regulatory and project approval processes as well as how government funding/financing can assist infrastrucuture development.

Mr Peyser has advised Governors, Mayors, state and local officials, regional transportation agencies, engineering and construction firms, bankers, equipment vendors and developers with major infrastrucuture projects. He has contributed to some of our Nation’s largest infrastructure programs including the Third Harbor Tunnel/Central Artery project in Boston, California High Speed Rail, the Gateway Program in New York/New Jersey, Hudson Yards and the light rail development programs in Seattle, Portland (OR) and San Diego. He has secured billions of dollars in federal grants and loans while expediting project approvals.

Prior to his private practice, Mr. Peyser served on the staffs of three Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Mayor of New York City.

Mr. Peyser is a fellow in the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) in London and is the former Chair of the RSA-US. A graduate of Williams College, with a Masters from George Washington University he is a New York native and lives in Washington, DC.

Fixed Income Markets

​Mr. Testa’s expertise is in fixed income credits and fixed income capital markets.

Chris Testa brings three decades of financial industry experience to Lightower Capital Partners. Mr. Testa served in a series of senior roles at leading investment firms including Delaware Investments, Drake Management and Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Mr. Testa’s fixed income market expertise and business acumen helped him develop successful investment strategies through rigorous research and analysis which generated superior returns over various market cycles. Mr. Testa was Senior Vice President and Co-manager of Delaware Investments High Yield and Investment Grade assets, overseeing their Corporate Bond and High Yield Opportunities portfolios.

While at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Mr. Testa started the corporate bond research team. He also launched and was Portfolio Manager for Goldman’s High Yield Fund. Additional roles at GSAM included Portfolio Management, Risk Management, Credit Research and Capital Structure analysis for various fixed income portfolios. Chris holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance with an emphasis on investments from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School as well as a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from Hamilton College.

Capital Markets

Mr. Tierney’s expertise is in Capital Markets and Private Activity Bond Financing.

Mr. Tierney was a member of the Public Finance Investment Banking Department at Goldman Sachs & Co. for 27 years. He was Group Manager responsible for private activity bond financing. A primary focus of that group was environmental financings including solid waste disposal and recycling facilities for the firm’s corporate clients as well as general corporate infrastructure projects.

Mr. Tierney was the lead banker and sole or senior manager for numerous environmental financings for Dow Chemical, General Electric, Intel, Hoechst Celanese, Kimberley-Clark, Scott Paper, Union Camp, ExxonMobil and Amerada Hess at manufacturing and similar plants throughout the United States. He also served as lead banker and senior manager on many tax-exempt financings for American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, FedEx, Japan Air Lines, United Airlines and UPS for airport terminals and related facilities throughout the United States.

Representative transactions include a $470 million issue of Environmental Revenue Bonds for Dow Chemical and two financings exceeding $1billion for Continental Airlines’ Global Gateway Project at Newark Liberty International Airport. The Continental Airlines Global Gateway Project bonds were issued through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. This transaction was Institutional Investor Magazine’s “Deal of the Year”. The Bond Buyer named it “a market yardstick” for tax exempt sub investment grade transactions.

Mr. Tierney is a former member of the Board of Trustees of Xavier High School in New York City and is a current member of Xavier’s Board of Regents. He is also a Co-Founder, Past President and Board chair of The Epiphany School Foundation in New York City.

Mr. Tierney has an AB degree from the College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from the Rutgers University Graduate School of Business.

Data Analytics

​Mr. Vachris’ expertise is in researching and analyzing Big Data. Mr. Vachris has more than three decades of working in the financial industry, with an emphasis on developing Excel/VBA financial applications. Mr. Vachris has assisted prominent financial industry firms manage their financial data including Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Fortress Investment Group and JP Morgan Chase.

​Mr. Vachris is a graduate of Notre Dame University and has a master’s degree from Polytechnic Institute of NY University in both Applied Mathematics and Astronautics. He is a NYS licensed professional engineer.