About Velerity

Velerity provides best-in-class market research and business intelligence, translating data and intelligence into market leading strategies and tactics.  Fundamental to Velerity's work is conducting in-depth primary market research, bringing the voice of the customer to every assignment and organization.  We integrate this second-to-none market intelligence into compelling actionable business strategies and tactics to help our clients achieve their goals and ambitions.  

Velerity has a depth of experience in energy, utilities, telecommunications and industrial gas.  A significant portion of the work has focused on working with utility companies developing new businesses and products and services, as well as with high technology clean energy companies.  Velerity has direct experience in energy storage, photovoltaics, energy management, smart meters, energy efficiency, demand-side management, energy services, hydrogen and backup power, district energy, information technology and telecommunications.

Brad Bradshaw

Founder & President

Velerity was founded by Brad Bradshaw.  Mr. Bradshaw is an accomplished executive skilled in leading and building high growth technology companies in energy and telecommunications. Depth of experience and market knowledge working for and providing strategic counsel to companies in photovoltaics, energy storage, energy management, smart meters, energy efficiency, demand side management, energy services, hydrogen and backup power, district energy, and telecommunications. Effective leadership, communication and analytical skills with ability to build teams, motivate individuals, and achieve results. Held C-level positions in manufacturing and service companies as well as senior positions in several renowned research and consulting firms.

Mr. Bradshaw was the Chief Executive Officer of Hy9 Corporation, a high technology clean energy company focused on the global back-up power market for telecommunications, where he led the turn-around of the company, repositioning to focus on the $3 billion global backup power market., and led the establishment and development of the company's new and globally unique flagship product that converts methanol into pure hydrogen to provide power to cellular telecommunications infrastructure in developing countries. 

Additionally, Mr. Bradshaw was a consultant with Arthur D. Little in the Utility practice, Marketing and Customer Management practice and the Advanced Energy practice, advising utility companies on growth strategies around the world.  Mr. Bradshaw also headed up the Utility Communications and Retail Energy Planning Services at the Yankee Group, a global research and consulting company.  Additionally, Mr. Bradshaw was the Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for NEON Communications, a regional telecommunications company that was acquired by RCN in 2007 for $260 million.  Mr. Bradshaw was also a senior consultant at DMC Services, an energy services company that was acquired by Honeywell for approximately $80 million.  Mr. Bradshaw held earlier positions consulting to the US Department of Energy on their energy efficiency investment and implementation programs, and worked in various positions in photovoltaics and robotics.  

Mr. Bradshaw has an engineering degree from Dartmouth College, and an MBA in Finance from Babson College, graduating with High Distinction.  He has also completed coursework in economics, accounting and solar system design at Harvard College and Northeastern University.  Mr Bradshaw has worked with utility companies around the country and the world to develop and implement growth strategies in telecommunications and energy products and services.  Capabilities and experience includes:

  • Strategy Development

  • Sales and Market Leadership

  • Financial Planning and Execution

  • Raising Capital

  • Public Relations and Media Affairs    

  • Board Governance

  • Team Building and Performance Enhancement

  • Market Research and Product Development

  • Led Technology Teams in Mechanical, Chemical, Electronic and Thermal Systems

  • Conference Management

  • Non-Profit Leadership

  • Turn-Around Expertise

  • Practiced Business Strategy Consultant

  • Growth Strategy Development

Katherine Birnie

Senior Consultant

Katherine Birnie has 25 years of experience at the intersection of business and the environment, including renewable energy (hydrogen), land-based environmental offsets (mitigation banking), and land conservation.

Katherine is a skilled leader with deep cross-disciplinary experience in project management, business development, sales, and finance. As Senior Project Manager at Peaks Renewables (a subsidiary of natural gas utility Summit Utilities), she led hydrogen project development, focusing on green hydrogen as an industrial decarbonization application and in the natural gas distribution system. As Managing Director at Ecosystem Investment Partners, she led all commercial transactions, structuring over $320mm in environmental offset sales.

Katherine holds a BA in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies, cum laude, from Williams College. She also holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She is on the Board of the Exemplary Forest Investment Fund and the Advisory Board of the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Charles Kruger

Senior Consultant

Charles Krueger is an expert in the fields of chemical, process, and materials technologies primarily applied to alternative energy, energy storage, and energy efficiency. Recent projects include hydrogen materials, waste-to-energy processing, compressed air energy storage, and thermal energy storage. Mr. Krueger has particular expertise in the field of catalysis and complex chemical transformations.

Mr. Krueger was the Chief Technology Officer of Hy9 Corporation, where he oversaw technology innovation and product development including developing hydrogen separation technology for producing PEM fuel cell quality hydrogen and the HGS-M 5 kWe methanol-to-hydrogen generator for the backup power market. In addition, Mr. Krueger was the co-inventor on on 9 issued US patents, and served as the primary investigator on several federally funded grants to advance hydrogen purification technology

Mr. Krueger has a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT, and Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Krueger’s capabilities and experience includes:

  • Technology and product feasibility assessment

  • Value proposition analysis

  • Cost estimation

  • Intellectual and patent strategy

  • Business strategy

  • Research and development support

  • Process troubleshooting

  • Root cause failure analysis

Steven Thomas

Senior Consultant

STEVEN THOMAS is a senior sales executive with a long track-record building profitable revenue growth for advanced IT and renewable energy companies in Japan and across Asia.   Steven has led successful launches of US and European entities in Japan.  As lead sales executive he was responsible for start-up execution, leading direct sales, partnership strategy, product localization, recruitment and team building.  In leadership roles Steven has closed or supported the closing of strategic OEM agreements valued at 10Ms USD with Panasonic Corporation, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Steven specializes in solar project finance, enterprise software, data analytics, distributed computing, IIOT systems to support corporate initiatives in digital transformation and business development in Japan and Southeast Asia.  Education M.I.T. Graduate degrees in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science.

Sam Matsumoto

Senior Consultant

SAM MATSUMOTO is a veteran bi-language market entry professional who has supported over 100 companies formulate their business development strategies to enter Japan and Japanese companies to develop global partnerships.  Sam is highly skilled at examining new technologies to identify the strategic value and design go-to-market plans to commercialize such technologies and services in Japan’s energy sector.

Sam has served as Executive Director at a major wholesale energy settlement company and Managing Director of a leading energy consulting services company in Japan, and held leadership roles for multiple demand response programs sponsored by the Ministry of Economics, Trade & Industry of Japan.  His expertise is in system design for wholesale energy procurement, demand response, integration of distributed energy resources, IOT applications, tele-communication systems and cybersecurity.

Rick Smith

Senior Consultant

Mr. Smith is the Founder and first President of the Hydrogen Energy Center, beginning in 1992. Over many years, Mr. Smith engaged hydrogen and fuel cell industry participants around the world to advance the industry, playing a key role in nearly all of the HEC initiatives.

From 2005 to 2017 Mr. Smith was Of Counsel with Bernstein Shur in its Real Estate and Environmental and Energy practice groups, and was recognized by Best Lawyers and Chambers in Maine and New Hampshire. Earlier, Mr. Smith held legal and management positions with Ticor, Commonwealth Land, Lawyers and Chicago Title Insurance Companies. Mr. Smith is also a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional and served as volunteer counsel to the NH Chapter of the USGBC and as a member of the Alternative Energy Committee in Cape Elizabeth, ME.

Kathleen McKenna

Analyst - Energy Engineering

MS. KcKenna provides research and analyst support on Velerity projects. Ms. McKenna has in-depth knowledge of energy engineering associated with energy end-uses principally in commercial and institutional buildings. Ms. McKenna has an understanding of end-use equipment with respect to efficiency and performance. Ms. McKenna has participated on multiple hydrogen projects, modelling complex energy systems including renewable energy to hydrogen to ammonia.