finca las brisas development team for the finca las brisas real estate project

Al Benner - Majority Partner, Finca Las Brisas

As the Majority Partner and visionary for the Finca Las Brisas development team (Costa Rica land for sale project), Al Benner brings a wide array of skills and experience that will help keep the project moving forward to completion.

Al's background is quite diverse, but the pattern suggests a strong acumen for sales and marketing, long-term vision, combined with skills associated with motivating and empowering others. Al currently owns and operates four specialty mail order/web businesses, employs fifteen people, and has been in business for himself for fifteen years. He has partners in three of his four businesses, but he is the majority owner and founder of all four companies. Al's educational background consists of a BS degree in horticulture (thus the interest in the on site community organic farm), and an MBA with a specialization in marketing.

Al recently conducted a survey of some friends and employees for a self-enlightenment research project. The goal of the exercise was to uncover ones' true "unique ability". The surveys that came back were consistent in their feedback. Al was repeatedly described as someone who is "relentless in his pursuit of goals", "inspirational and motivational for others", and "incredibly trustworthy and dependable".

The above traits, coupled with Al's uncanny ability to repeatedly acquire real estate in regions that soon after his purchase saw rapid appreciation, point towards a project that will significantly increase in value over time. They also suggest a vision for a unique, sustainable community experience that will be in strong demand in the years to come.

When Al was asked what his greatest strength was, his answer was "anticipating what people will want in the future".  Al's long-term vision, creativity, and intense desire for aesthetically pleasing surroundings, will align with his business skills to produce a one of a kind community that will attract buyers who will be willing to pay a premium to be part of something truly unique and special.  

Wayne McDonald - Partner, Finca Las Brisas

Wayne McDonald has over 20 years of construction and design engineering experience. His background includes construction of custom homes in the Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Princeton, New Jersey areas. In addition to his hands-on experience, Wayne became an expert in fire protection systems after working as a designer for Grinnell Fire Protection. At Grinnell, he designed and laid out fire protection systems, sized fire pumps and designed underground water supply lines.

Wayne also worked as a Design Engineer for Professional Systems Engineering, a life  safety and security engineering firm. At PSE, Wayne designed, specified, and managed many large scope projects, including:

- Commercial Fire protection and alarm systems for high rise buildings.

- Access systems for universities. Information network infrastructures for university dorm rooms.

- Emergency power systems for high rise dormitories.

- Security systems and touch screen control centers for maximum security prisons.

- Water storage tank design and placement.

Wayne also performed acoustic evaluations and designed reverberation control and sound attenuation systems for schools, gymnasiums, auditoriums, television/radio stations, and commercial manufacturing facilities. His experience also includes ADA code evaluations for community buildings and government facilities. 

As Project Manager for such extensive projects, Wayne's responsibilities included assessment of client needs, surveying projects, preparation of schematic design, development of specifications and construction plans, cost analysis, preparation, and review of bids as well as recommendation for contractor selection.  He also surveyed projects and conducted team meetings during the construction phase and conducted client training for new systems.  Wayne currently refurbishes residential real estate.

Keith Jeffrey - Partner, Finca Las Brisas

Keith grew up in central Pennsylvania Keith and work during his teen years in his family's Country General Store, then worked as an intern for IBM during college. For the past 20+ years Keith has lived in Philadelphia, working in the software industry. Keith has worked primarily for two Fortune 500 firms in his career, with dozens of brand name clients, many in the Fortune 500, in management, sales and operations capacities.

In the early 90's Keith took a break from corporate life to run his own custom software company for 3 years, designing and building over 25 custom systems. The system designed for the local Philadelphia PBS station, Channel 12, continued in continuous use until 2006, with virtually no maintenance.
 
Keith's career profiles a competitive agility along with a capacity to understand and integrate clients' systems, while maintaining the integrity of the client's culture and business process. This has resulted in numerous strong client relationships, and many successes over the years. For his most prominent employer, Keith designed a methodology and tool kit for accelerating project completion that became a national standard. Recently, Keith led the sales team for the northeastern US, coaching them and sometimes taking lead in winning brand name deals like Xerox, IBM, Comcast, GE, Nestle, Sony and many others. Along the way, Keith has created new sales collateral, new presentation material and has changed established business practices that has improved competitive viability and expanded market share.
 
With strong individual performances and tenured corporate team leadership in sales and project management as a backdrop, Keith delivers results through strategic relationships, analytic agility, and culturally sensitized innovation. Relative to the FLB project, Keith is a lead member on the construction team, and was in charge of the road project. Using planning and negotiating skills learned in his side interest of restoring old homes, and in his cultural experiences gained in overseas charity work, he guided the project gently, but firmly to completion. Check out the progression of the road, from open field, gullies and cow path to outline, and then a finished product. When you travel to the site on the local roads, you will appreciate the results of the road project.
  
In his rare but cherished leisure time Keith loves to travel, fly fish and spend time with his daughter, Sarah. Keith has traveled to 17 countries so far, and strives to take one destination trip each year. The fly fishing trips to Alaska and Jackson Hole are the most memorable to date. The sights and sounds of Africa and Indonesia are the most exotic so far.  Sarah is an energetic, happy, thoughtful little girl. She has provided Keith a reason to slow down a bit, and really enjoy life. Keith is energized by the project - spend a few minutes talking with him about it, and you'll get a clear sense of his role and his vision for this property over the next 20 to 30 years.
 

Ray Coker - Partner, Finca Las Brisas

Ray is from Seattle and during college worked for one of the first private nature developments in the country at the foot of Mt. Pilchuck in Washington State. The concept was to put in a private state park-like development with the difference being that people purchased lots for their permanent camp sites. It was a new idea at the right time. When the first gas crisis hit in the 70s and people could no longer afford to drive their Winnebagos all over the Northwest state and the federal park systems so they flocked to this development. In a few years the concept turned into one of the largest (in acres) development companies in the country.

Over the years Ray has dreamed of working on a project like this again and when the Finca Las Brisas opportunity (real estate for sale in Costa Rica) came up he didn't need to think twice.

The last 20 years Ray has owned three project management consulting/training firms. Currently his company (PSSI) deploys Microsoft's Enterprise Project Management system.

Ray's company has taught project management tools, techniques, and project management software to thousands of people throughout North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. They have worked as both business and technical consultants with a wide range of fortune 500 companies such as IBM, AT&T, GE and Lockheed Martin, along with government agencies such as the FDA, USDA, Secret Service, and NASA. 

As a management consultant Ray has been able to do what he enjoys more than anything else - traveling to interesting places and working with all kinds of people across a wide range of industries. If he isn't at Sears corporate or down in the middle of Hoover Dam or at the US Naval Academy helping them with their 10 year strategic plan, you might just as likely find him in Ozark Alabama working with a group of guys that refurbish UH-1H/V/N helicopters, or in upstate New York at a  research lab with people doing research on hepatitis in the middle of a Hassidic village. 

Before being employed as a project management consultant at Symantec, Ray taught at several colleges and universities including Portland State University, University of Arizona, Wharton, and Temple University.

Ray has presented numerous papers at professional conferences such as Project World and the Project Management Institute. The International Communication Association awarded his research at annual meetings in Boston, Montreal, and Dublin.

Darlene Coker - Partner, Finca Las Brisas

Darlene has over 16 years experience in sales, training and communication. She has focused her efforts on the continued pursuit of new and innovative learning methods. Prior to founding her own company - the Organic Learning Company, as a designer/consultant/developer of cutting edge training, she served as Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at a Tampa Florida-based training games provider. She led the development and launch of cutting-edge training programs while also overseeing the marketing department.

Darlene's career experience includes extensive training program design and development, focusing on sales and customer service. As a custom project leader and portfolio manager for one of the industry's largest sales training provider, she was responsible for the customization and life-cycle management of the entire suite of sales training programs. She also co-authored the popular "High Performance Sales Organizations" book for McGraw Hill, and consulted extensively with Fortune 500 organizations.

For Kepner-Tregoe she worked as a management consulting with expertise in the areas of project management and problem solving and decision making.

Darlene holds a Master's degree in Organizational Communication from Temple University in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. When she is not creating learning experiences, she is with her husband and son. She enjoys running (she ran the Chicago Marathon this year) or exploring their home city of Tampa or the farm in Costa Rica.

Mark Sernatinger - Interpreter/Assistant Project Manager

Mark is the founder of MEC and has been focusing on Latin America in one way or another for the last 7 years.  He is fluent in Spanish and functionally fluent in Portuguese.  In July of 2002 he received his MBA from Pace University in International Business with a Latin American focus (during which time he also lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for 5 months).  He has been traveling (100+ days per year) and working in Latin America for over three years in almost every country in that region.

Mark Sernatinger has a BA from Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, PA) where he double-majored in Government and Spanish.  He also has an MBA in International Business from Pace University (NY, New York).  He is fluent in Spanish and functionally fluent in Portuguese.  He has lived in Madrid, Spain (1996 - 5 months), Guadalajara, Mexico (2001 - 5 months), and Sevilla, Spain (2002 - 3 months). He also worked for UUNET (Wayne, PA) as an account executive from 1997-2000. While in graduate school Mark also worked with Pershing (A division of DLJ - Jersey City, NJ) in their stock loan department.

Christoph Hubmann - Costa Rica Land Reforestation Expert and Project Manager

Originally from Switzerland, Christoph has resided in nearby Nosara for over nine years.  Married to a tica, Magda, Christoph is the father of three children.  His passion is the land and trees, and as a Swiss Forester, he believes in a more sustainable way of managing natural forests. 

Christoph has been involved with many reforestation efforts throughout Costa Rica for several years, and he is currently acting as a reforestation consultant and site management supervisor for the Las Brisas project. His enthusiasm, vast knowledge of the local flora, experience with construction, as well as his willingness to help out on a wide range of projects, brings real value to the team. Plus he's a great tour guide if you really want to learn about the natural world around you in detail. It also doesn't hurt that this highly intelligent man speaks four languages.

Working under Christoph are 4-5 hardworking and highly skilled men from the surrounding mountain communities.  Christoph has selected the most dependable guys from a ready and willing local labor force, and provided them with good paying jobs as independent contractors on the FLB site. These jobs come complete with liability insurance in place, paid for by FLB. This protects workers in the event of injury while on site. 

It is the vision of the team to promote these men to higher levels of responsibility and compensation as the project expands, making them more responsible and instilling in them a sense of ownership for the project and making them feel a part of the community.  Once the construction begins, some of these workers will most likely transition to a construction team, while some will remain doing site work, including reforestation, and helping to establish organic gardens, landscaping, hiking trails, etc.

Steve Gallant - Special Projects Coordinator

Steve hales from British Columbia and has now resided in CR for five years, having married a Costa Rican girl from San Jose. He has a young son close to a year old he refers to as his "rooster", as he wakes him up most mornings by 5 a.m.  Steve has proven to be very helpful when it comes to locating construction materials and supplies at favorable pricing within CR. He also built our block press that is currently being tested for the purposes of constructing compressed earthen building blocks from on site clay and sand mixed with a small amount of cement. 

Steve is also in the process of turning a moth-balled 20' ocean container into a temporary work and storage building for the FLB site. This structure will also be fitted out with solar panels on top to power the pump for the new well.  Steve's background is in heavy construction, welding, and project management, he has also demonstrated a keen ability to think critically and in detail when it comes to analyzing a construction project.  He also knows his way around a cad-cam program.  Steve may play many roles as the development process unfolds.

Andrew Zwick - Costa Rica Land Environmental Consultant 

Andrew is just getting his feet wet with the project, having recently moved back to CR following his engagement to his lovely bi-lingual Costa Rican bride to be, Andrea.  Currently residing in Monteverde, CR, the couple may move closer to the Samara area as it continues to take shape.  Andrew's degrees are in the environmental sciences, but he also has considerable experience around the world and in CR designing and implementing renewable energy and waste management systems.  He is currently supporting the FLB team in this capacity, helping them specify, source and design the various systems that will be critical elements of the sustainable development.  He and Andrea may become more intimately involved with the project moving forward as the level activity and construction shifts gears beginning in 2008.

Mark Janiczek - Real Estate Developer and Builder

Mark is an experienced Philadelphia "Mainline" builder who has recently gone "green", building an entire high-end spec home to meet the next to highest level of LEED green build standards.  Mark's passion for architecture and vast knowledge of the development and construction process, combined with his new found love of Costa Rica, continue to be a valuable asset to the team. Mark has generously played the roll of "sounding board", sharing many experiences with the group during the early stages of the development process, and he continues to act as a mentor to the team on an as needed basis. Mark also recently launched a new enterprise by the name of www.Greenable.com that certifies, recommends, and distributes environmentally friendly and sustainable green building materials to builders, architects and homeowners.

Deppat -  Costa Rica Real Estate and Land Engineering Environmental Firm

Eugenio Bermudez and his father Alfredo are owners and managing partners

for the engineering firm, Deppat, from San Jose.  Deppat is a full service engineering firm with vast experience throughout Costa Rica for over 20 years.

DEPPAT was founded by Mr. Alfredo Bermudez, along with three other partners in 1985, as a response to key frustrations of clients with development projects. Those frustrations were centered in a lack of clarity as to how to manage the planning, proposal and approval processes for projects in the physical and environmental planning fields.

Mr. Alfredo Bermudez has more than 30 years of experience in land use planning, architecture and environmental planning. He has been involved in many projects as the leader/planner with a creative solution to our clients and the communities needs throughout the country.

Eugenio Bermudez, Master in Project Management and General Manager

Mr. Eugenio Bermudez is the son of Alfredo Bermudez and was incorporated to the firm in 1990. His experience is managing the firm's projects and developing administrative and marketing activities.

His degree in project management, allows him to incorporate many tools and keys to improve the development of the projects, such as scope, timing, cost, and risks management.  

Deppat has been selected for provide all site engineering work, including Master Plan, individual plot (lot) plans, and all necessary environmental studies, surveys, and permits necessary for the development process.

Several firms were thoroughly profiled before the FLB team decided upon Deppat for this very critical stage of the project. It was Deppat's attention to detail, follow through, and responsiveness, as well as their ability to clearly define the scope and flow for the various stages of the process that ultimately won them the contract.  More information about the firm and their services can be found at:  www.Deppat.com 

Vanessa Calvo -   Legal Counsel, Costa Rica Real Estate and Land Development

Garland Baker - Costa Rica Real Estate and Land Legal and Business Consultant

Garland is our Costa Rica legal and business counsel. He and his team has exceeded all of our expectations and clearly we would not be able to do this project without his help. We are looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship with Garland.

Costa Rica Expertise (http://www.crexpertise.com) was created in 1987 as a direct result of having learned the ins-and-outs of Costa Rica from personal experience. Unfortunately, Garland often found that navigating the Costa Rican tramites (red tape) required perseverance, fortitude and an absolute unwillingness to throw in the towel. Garland made it a personal challenge to learn all that was necessary to know so that doing business in Costa Rica could be a less daunting task.

Garland has been a resident of Costa Rica since 1972 and is now a naturalized citizen. He provides multidisciplinary professional services to the international community. His articles can be found at: http://www.crexpertise.info.

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Development Site Crew - Local Ticos