Leamon Brice became town administrator for the Town of Davidson, N.C. in April 1990, and town manager in 1991.  After receiving an MA in political science from Appalachian State University in 1981, he served as assistant city manager of Plymouth, N.C. and town manager of Fairmont, N.C. Internally, he has led the way for Davidson employees to utilize learning organization techniques for better communication. Brice has been instrumental in the regional transit management group and co-operative economic development agreements with neighboring communities.

Mr. Ferguson is currently a Professor and the Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Prior to this he was a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Coordinator for the Focused Research Program on Next Generation Lighting at Georgia Tech.   He is an international researcher with active collaborations in Europe and Asia.  He has authored over 260 referred publications  and has edited ten conference proceedings, two books and multiple patents.  Mr. Ferguson has given over 300 invited and contributed talks and seminars throughout the US, Europe and Asia.  He founded the International Conference on Solid State Lighting which is now in its ninth year.  Mr. Ferguson has also been actively involved in the entrepreneurial process of establishing new companies, receiving a National Small Business Association Tibbets Award at the White House for contributions to the SBIR program.

Mr. Haupt serves as an Investment Advisor with Sperry Van Ness specializing in the sale of investment properties in North and South Carolina. After receiving his MBA from Cornell University, Mr. Haupt began his career in the energy field with Transco Energy Company. Ultimately, he was a Senior Vice President of Project Development for International Power, plc, a London based international independent energy company. During his career, he was responsible for all aspects of power plant development from site selection to commence construction. Locally, Haupt is Board Secretary for Downtown Davidson, Inc. which promotes the growth of downtown Davidson.

William J. (Bill) McCoy is the retired Director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, and former Associate Vice Chancellor for Extended Academic Programs at University of North Carolina (UNCC). Among community activities, he served on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission for six years, chaired the Citizens Advisory Committee for the 2005 Transportation Plan, served on the Planning Board of the Town of Davidson for six years and served as Chair from 2003 to 2006, and served five years as the Executive Director of Leadership Charlotte. 

Ms. Rose is Founder and Executive Director of PiES. She is President of Rose & Associates Southeast, Inc. a consulting firm assisting both private and public sector clients. Bringing nearly two decades of commercial real estate experience as a corporate executive and as an independent consultant. Ms. Rose has assisted clients in the analysis and positioning of land use plans and economic development initiatives, including public private partnerships. She has managed the analysis, planning, development and marketing of retail, industrial, hotel, office and mixed-use projects throughout the eastern United States. She is also Managing Partner of Urban Organic I, LLC a property company which created South Main Square, in downtown Davidson, NC, a mixed use project that was the catalyst for forming the arts district in the South Main Street corridor. 

Rick J. Sabath is a founding partner of Quantarus Capital Partners. He is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience owning and building successful enterprises. Mr. Sabath has developed core competencies in manufacturing, operations, sales, finance, product development and most importantly, identifying and developing talent. By virtue of his successful operations experience, Mr. Sabath enjoys professional relationships at such companies as Boeing, GE, GM, Ford, Northup Grumman, Occidental Petroleum, CSX, Areva, General Dynamics and Baxter Healthcare.