of the Trustee of Cayman Islands National Museum, the Cayman Islands Airports Authority, the Cayman Islands Port Authority, Cayman Islands Turtle Farm, Cayman Islands Airways, the Cayman Islands Civil Service Co-operative Credit Union, the Housing Development Corporation, the Water Authority — Cayman and the National Roads Authority.
Mr. Ebanks, who was nominated to serve on our Board of Directors by the Cayman Islands government, was selected to serve as a member of our Board of Directors because of his knowledge of government affairs, his contacts within the Cayman Islands government and his experience in the water industry.
Clarence B. Flowers, Jr., age 67, has been a director of our Company since 1991. Mr. Flowers is, and has been since 1985, the principal of Orchid Development Company, a real estate developer in the Cayman Islands. Mr. Flowers also serves as a director of C.L. Flowers & Sons, which is the largest manufacturer of wall systems in the Cayman Islands, and Cayman National Bank, a retail bank.
Mr. Flowers was selected to serve as a member of our Board of Directors because of his more than 40 years of experience in the construction industry as a real estate developer in the Cayman Islands.
Frederick W. McTaggart, age 60, has been a director of our Company since 1998, the Company’s President since October 2000 and its Chief Executive Officer since January 1, 2004. Mr. McTaggart served as Chief Financial Officer of the Company from February 2001 to January 1, 2004. From April 1994 to October 2000, Mr. McTaggart was the Managing Director of the Water Authority — Cayman, the government-owned water utility serving certain areas of the Cayman Islands. From March 1987 to April 1994, he held the positions of Deputy Director and Operations Engineer with the Water Authority — Cayman. He received his B.S. degree in Building Construction from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1985.
Mr. McTaggart was selected to serve as a member of our Board of Directors because of his extensive technical and managerial experience in the water industry, and his knowledge and managerial experience within both public and private sector water utilities.
Wilmer F. Pergande, age 83, has been a director of our Company since 1978 and Chairman since 2009. He has more than 55 years of management, sales, manufacturing and engineering experience in the desalination and chemical processing industries. Mr. Pergande is the principal of WF Pergande Consulting LLC and currently provides consulting engineering services with respect to marine industry, metallurgy, fluid dynamics and aqueous chemical solutions separation technologies. He retired in 2006 as the Global Leader for Desalination and Process Equipment for GE Infrastructure, Water and Process Technologies, which position he held since 2002. Mr. Pergande previously held the position of Vice President of Special Projects of Osmonics Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of the desalination subsidiary of Osmonics Inc., a publicly traded water treatment and purification company, until its acquisition by General Electric Co. Before joining Osmonics, Mr. Pergande was the Chief Executive Officer of Licon International Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer of liquid chemical separation, purification and processing equipment. Previously, Mr. Pergande was the President of Mechanical Equipment Company Inc. (MECO) for 14 years and held engineering, sales and executive managerial positions with AquaChem Inc. a subsidiary of Coca Cola Co, at the time, both companies being manufacturers of seawater desalination equipment. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University and Post Graduate Studies in Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy, Heat Transfer and Business Management from Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin. Mr. Pergande served three terms as a Director of the International Desalination Association, in which he held the positions of Treasurer and Secretary. He is a Member of Five Technical Societies related to the Business and has presented numerous Technical Papers at Society Meetings.
Mr. Pergande was selected to serve as a member of our Board of Directors because of his management and engineering experience in the desalination industry, and for his management, engineering, sales and marketing skills.
Leonard J. Sokolow, age 66, became a director of our Company on June 1, 2006. Since 2015, Mr. Sokolow has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Newbridge Financial, Inc., a financial service holding company. From 2015 through 2022 he served as Chairman of Newbridge Securities Corporation, its full-service broker-dealer and from 2022 he has been its Chief Executive Officer as well as the Chief Executive Officer of its affiliated SEC Registered Investment Adviser, Newbridge Financial Services Group, Inc., and the Chief Executive Officer and President of its affiliate Bridge Line Advisors LLC, an SEC Exempt Reporting Adviser.