H2OProfessionals

ABOUT H2OPROFESSIONALS

 

Formed in 2007, H2OProfessionals provides immediate access to proven, executive-level professionals who understand your business and provide the benefit of that experience without the costs and long-term commitments involved in hiring and training new personnel.  We provide instant access to the tools you require to accomplish your goals without the long development cycles.  The H2OProfessionals team are members of the board of directors of many of the the most respected international and local water treatment organizations. 

 

THE H2OPROFESSIONAL TEAM

 

Shawn Meyer-Steele - Managing Director

Shawn's primary focus at H2OProfessionals is support our clients.  Whether it is clients seeking to enter new markets, introduce new products into our conservative industry, market analysis, acquisition due-diligence, brand development, marketing strategy or successful business plan implementation.  Shawn enjoys a wealth of experience with public/private/partnerships (PPP) projects (BOOT, BOO, DBO and O&M) in the water space with experience that ranges from design, build and financial modeling to water sale agreement structure and negotiation to operation.  He has been involved with the water treatment business for 30 years and has brought hundreds of projects to successful completion in over 55 countries.

​

From Jan 2008 to June 2013 Shawn was Sr. Vice President - Director of Business Development for Seven Seas Water Corporation, a leading water treatment service provider in the Caribbean and Latin America.  After the company re-launch, Shawn led business development efforts that resulted in multiple new long-term water sale agreements with governments and industrial clients in several new markets.  SSWC experienced an eight fold increase in revenue while significantly improving the EBITDA margins during that time.  He spearheaded acquisitions in the Bahamas, Peru and Curacao and the establishment of SSW offices in Mexico, Chile, and Peru.  In 2008 Shawn lead a re-branding effort that created all new marketing tools.  As one of the four SSWC executive committee members he was also jointly responsible for developing company policy and procedures. 

 

From Jan 2003 through May 2007 Shawn was Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Sales for Energy Recovery Incorporated, the world’s leading energy recovery device manufacturer.  He joined ERI as part of a management change by the board to affect a company turnaround.  He directed sales, marketing and service worldwide. He designed a sales strategy and aggressive marketing campaign that saw ERI grow from a “gadget company” with sales of US $4mm/yr at 8% EBITDA margins to the global leader with over $35 mm/yr at over 25% EBITDA margins.  By 2007 ERI was supplying ERD’s to 90% of projects being built worldwide including 18 of the 20 largest SWRO desalination plants built during that time.  Shawn negotiated global supply agreements with the largest water treatment companies in the world and brought ERI into markets in the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.  He led efforts that established ERI offices in Spain, UAE and China.  Shawn was also a primary architect of the ERI branding, website, all corporate literature and personally retrofit many of ERI’s early adapter plants.       

 

Shawn enjoyed a 12 year career at Ionics Incorporated (later acquired by GE, now part of Suez) from 1990 to 2002, during which time; it was the largest membrane-based water treatment company in the world with annual revenues in excess of $450,000,000. 

 

From 1998 to 2002 Shawn was General Sales Manager for the Southern US and the Caribbean, whose business center was the most profitable in the company.  Over a four year period increased recurring revenue sales for the region almost four fold helping convert a marginal acquisition into one of the most profitable business groups in the company.  Shawn led the on-ground due diligence for the acquisition of Aqua-Design then reorganized a diverse group of independent sales efforts into an integrated working group and co-developed a financial model for water sales agreements that is still in use today. 

 

As Manager of International Operations (1995 to 1998) he directed a global team of over 85 field engineers and was responsible for the technical sales support, installation, operation and service of hundreds of millions of dollars of Ionics equipment across the globe.  During that period he established a world-class training program and facility for Ionics field engineers and clients in the Canary Islands that dramatically improved client satisfaction and reduced costs associated with service visits and warranty repair. He converted a global service organization with offices in 16 countries from cost centers to profit centers.

 

From 1990 to 1994 he enjoyed positions as Product Manager where he led development of Ionics first standardized SWRO line and developed standard operating procedures for the installation and start-up of major equipment and processes.

 

Shawn was a Process Design and Development Engineer from 1992-1994 where he was part of an elite team responsible for evaluation, optimization and improvement of Ionics processes as well as designing and improving major plant components. 

 

From 1990 to 1992 his work in the R&D group resulted a number of product improvements including Ionics version of a "super-life electrode" which significantly reduced downtime and operating costs of the EDR units. 

 

Shawn has been on the board of directors of the International Desalination Association (IDA) since 2011 and the Caribbean Desalination Association (CaribDA) since 2009 and is presently President of CaribDA.  He is an external advisor to the Texas A&M Urban Water Sustainability Task Force and an advisor and on the board of numerous water and renewable energy companies.  He initiated the CaribDA Humanitarian Committee which has conducted water related relief efforts in Haiti, Barbuda, the Bahamas and Dominica after hurricanes and arthquakes. 

 

He has held chairs, served on panels, as well as written and presented numerous papers in industry conferences including the International Desalination Association (IDA), Water Middle East (WME), European Desalination Association (EDS), Water in Mining (WME), the Caribbean Water & Wastewater Association (CWWA), Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), Asociación Española de Desalación y Reutilización (AEDyR), as well as published in leading industry publications. Shawn is conversant in Spanish, speaks some Portuguese, Dutch, Papiamentu and German. 

 

Shawn has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston.