Mr. Morash’s career in financing the development of renewable energy and environmental projects dates back 29 years to his first professional assignment at Bankers Trust Company in 1979 in the Electric Utilities Division. Long a provider of capital to entrepreneurial developers and acquirers of major energy and infrastructure projects, his ultimate career goal has been to start his own project development and financing company. There are abundant opportunities for renewable energy and environmental projects in the current high energy cost, “green” market environment. However, very few new technologies have been commercialized successfully. The goal of his efforts is to partner with technology R&D companies to help them develop and finance commercial projects that bring their technology to life. Towards this end, he formed his new company, Renewable Energy Development and Finance, LLC (“REDF”), in 2007.
In April, 2008, REDF made an equity investment in Organic Recovery, LLC (“OR”), to help fund the construction of OR’s project in Pompano Beach, Florida. OR’s technology converts recycled fresh food into a high quality soil amendment, through an aerobic enzymatic digestion process. OR solves one problem - how to recycle food waste – by solving another: how to enhance soil microbiology and increase crop yields. REDF has formed Organic Recovery Development, LLC (“ORD”) to license the OR technology and develop OR projects in numerous locations.
Prior to founding REDF earlier in 2007, Mr. Morash was Managing Director and global head of Energy & Infrastructure Project Finance for CIT, based in New York, with offices in London and Toronto. Since 1996, Mr. Morash has been Managing Director and head of Newcourt Capital’s Project Finance unit, acquired by CIT in 1999. Mr. Morash and his colleagues from Chemical Securities opened Newcourt’s New York office and started its project finance practice in 1996.
Mr. Morash has been active in corporate finance, leveraged leasing, private placements, and project financing of power, energy, environmental and infrastructure facilities since 1979. Mr. Morash and his team have acted as financial advisor, both for issuers and investors; underwriter and syndicator; and principal investor in power, energy, environmental and infrastructure transactions. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for the successful conclusion of over $20 billion in financings. At CIT, Mr. Morash managed a team of 40 professionals. This team grew from a start-up venture in 1996 to produce sustained earnings of over $50 million per annum, with after-tax equity returns consistently in excess of 25%.
After Mr. Morash began his career Bankers Trust Company, he joined Connell Finance in 1984, where he was responsible for arranging equipment and facility leveraged lease transactions for U.S. utility companies. He then moved to The Deerpath Group in 1990, advising institutional investors in power project lease and partnership investments. In 1993, he joined Chemical Securities where he was Vice President and founder of the Project Finance Advisory Group. This team acted as project financial advisor and financing arranger to Chemical Bank’s clients in the power, energy, petrochemical, forest products, and metals and mining sectors.
Mr. Morash received his MBA from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck school in 1979, and his BA from Yale University in 1977.
Daniel Morash
Managing Partner
Han Derksen
Managing Partner, Europe
David McKerroll
Investment Member
Richard Morash
Investment Member
Mikael Salovaara
Investment Member
Robert Sexton
Partner, Northeast Region
Janice Thies
Professor, Cornell University
Bernadette Thavarajah
Consultant, Organic Recovery
