William J. Martin is a successful pioneer in two industries. He has participated in the successful development of environmentally conscious private power, energy conservation and energy related projects, either as lead developer, team member or financier in the USA, South America, Europe and North Africa. Prior to his work in the energy field, Mr. Martin was a leader in the effort to create accessibility for people with mobility challenges, particularly paraplegics and quadriplegics.
Mr. Martin began his energy career in 1980 developing and financing energy conservation projects such as heat recovery projects in industrial facilities and developed one of the first biomass projects in the USA under PURPA located in Western Massachusetts.
After forming CME International Inc. in 1992, Mr. Martin was the lead developer of the first independent power project in North Africa, partnering with Caterpillar Corporation. The project, located near Zarzis Tunisia captures oil field gas, prior to flaring as greenhouse gases, utilizing the gas in turbines, reducing the greenhouse gas impact by over 90% while providing low cost energy to the Tunisian grid. Click here to view the CME website for more information
During the early 1990′s Mr. Martin served as an advisor to Scudder Stevens and Clark in the formation of the Latin American Trust for Independent Power. He was a key member of the team that developed the fund’s first three successful investments including Mamonal, the first independent private power project in Latin America. Throughout the 90′ s he served as an advisor to such firms as Tractebel, Duke, and Cogentrics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he served as principal advisor regarding the re-development of their cogeneration facility in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Mr. Martin was co developer with Calpine Corporation of the nominally 700+ MW gas fired combined cycle plant in Fremont Ohio, now owned and operated by AMP.
In 2011, Mr. Martin formed a joint venture, North America Project Development, LLC {NAPD} with Bill Siderewicz to develop CCGT plants, largely in the Northeast USA. They have collectively developed over 10,000 MW of private power plants on virtually every continent. NAPD is developing a 700+ CCGT facilities in Oregon Ohio, close to the facility they developed in Fremont Ohio.
Prior to his career in energy and throughout the 1970′s, Mr. Martin was a national leader in the effort to make the United States accessible for people with mobility impairments. This effort led to the creation and passage of the American’s with Disabilities Act, the reduction of many of the physical barriers to independent living, and the creation of such enhancements as curb-cuts and accessible public housing and buildings. In this regard, Mr. Martin is the cofounder of two leading organizations in the field, the Stavros Foundation, Amherst Massachusetts (www.stavros.org) and the Northeast Independent Living Program {NILP}, North Andover, Massachusetts (www.nilp.org), serving as a co-founder and director of each. In this role, Mr. Martin helped create programs, arranged project and company financing and managed the staff and operations of each organization.
Apart from his professional activities, Mr. Martin has served on a number of boards and has helped finance the development of a number of successful Off-Broadway plays and documentary films. Mr. Martin is Chairman of the Board of Epic Theatre Ensemble, a New York based Off-Broadway, OBIE award winning theatre organization (www.epictheatrectr.org). The Kumi and Bill Martin Foundation sponsors the annual Sunshine Series within EPIC, which has presented several plays for the first time including 2007 OBIE award winning “NO CHILD …” among others. Epic is the 2009 winner of the Coming Up Taller award presented by President and Michele Obama for their work in Inner City Schools through the Shakespeare Remix program. Epic has formed a relationship with one of the independent living foundations Bill founded in the ’70′s, NILP, and together they sponsor a summer theatre program in Lawrence, MA where students with severe disabilities create and publically perform their plays.
In addition, Mr. Martin has sponsored three award wining Documentaries with film maker Jocelyn Ajami. A fourth, Postcards from Lebanon, also directed by Ms. Ajami premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in October of 2008. “Queen of the Gypsies” won the Lincoln Center Award in its Dance in Film series.
Mr. Martin and his Potsdam New York team-mates are in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Canada thanks to their victory in the first International Pee Wee/Bantam Tournament, the Cradle of Hockey Silver Stick Tournament in 1957. Mr. Martin was the MVP of Potsdam High School’s 1963 New York State championship High School team and played one year at St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY and four years of football. He currently helps sponsor a hockey team in Canton, NY created for mobility impaired veterans associated with the Society of Military Engineers at Fort Drum New York
Mr. Martin is a graduate of Potsdam Central High School, Potsdam New York. He earned his B.S. from Saint Lawrence University, Canton New York and his Masters from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. The father of two and grandfather of four, Mr. Martin and his second wife Kumi live in Boston, Massachusetts.
