CHRIS MILLIGAN, PE

Creating value at the intersection of Water and Business

Leading businesses & driving results in the water industry for 20 years.

An Extensive background in a wide range of areas everything from start-ups to multibillion dollar companies, consulting to manufacturing & facility design to contract operations to push water focused businesses to the forefront of their industry.

Education

Civil Engineering Water Resources , MA

University of Oklahoma | Norman , OK

Civil Engineering Enviromental , BS

University of Arkansas | Fayetteville , AR

Recognition

Fastest Growing Companies: BlueInGreen

Inc 5000 | 2020

Young Water Professionals: The Next Generation

Water and Wastes Digest | 2016

40 Under 40

Northwest Arkansas Business Journal | 2013

Expertise

Experience

Successfully leading teams at water-focused companies large & small for 20 years

ChartWater, Chart Industries

Period: 2020-2022
Address: AR, GA, MN

President

Integrated acquired business & created water platform for a publicly traded multibillion-dollar company while leading internal training & knowledge transfer across sales, engineering &  manufacturing.

  •  Grew revenues more than 50% YoY through a combination of larger project values, increased focus on industrial markets & recurring revenue opportunities

  • Created vision, branding & roadmap for ChartWater, the water division of Chart Industries,  championing the idea through executive leadership & board of director approval

  • Championed all integration efforts & developed relationships with key management team members to enable growth & scale within larger organization

  • Led the process to acquire AdEdge ($40M) & leverage Chart Industries pressure vessel capabilities to tap into the PFAS market, specifically targeting Treatment-as-a-Service (TaaS)

  • Expanded into India & Brazil, capturing several high-visibility, multimillion-dollar projects within just two years

BlueInGreen

Period: 2017-2020
Address: Fayetteville, AR

CEO, President

Gained a deeper understanding & appreciation of true business value creation while positioning water technology company & leading the sale process which resulted in acquisition by a publicly traded major industrial player.

  • Secured new financing to keep business in operation – i.e. working with investment bankers, creating & delivering presentations, selecting appropriate structure & partner

  • Made tough decisions required to right size the business by developing guiding principles & measurable metrics to minimize cash burn & maximize success.

  •  Drove company to profitability, growing its existing municipal sales base by replicating proper representative engagement, identifying key industrial verticals to attack & developing a recurring revenue stream – Treatment-as-a-Service (TaaS)

  •  Identified synergies with industries beyond the traditional water market & engaged key players to gain their support, create a strong value proposition & champion their leaders to pursue newly created partnership opportunities.

  • Engaged investment banker while overseeing deck & data room development to ultimately sell the business for over 15x TTM EBITDA in cash with up to 20x earn-out potential.

BlueInGreen

Period: 2012-2017
Address: Fayetteville, AR

Vice President

Commercialized innovative water technology from IP concept & simultaneously brought four new products with numerous proven applications in municipal & industrial water & wastewater treatment to market.

  •  Generated standard designs for all products, including engineering documentation & marketing collateral, leading to 500%+ in sales pipeline & first commercial installations

  • Negotiated supplier agreements for key components & worked with contract manufacturers to reduce costs by more than 40% while enhancing quality & market credibility.

  •  Implemented innovative instrumentation & control concepts, increasing average sales price by nearly 50% & reducing start-up & warranty costs by more than 30%.

  • Managed & grew patent portfolio, protecting licensed patents with continuations & international coverage while developing new patents in-house

  •  Took on sales territory, quickly turning it around from zero projects in the pipeline to the highest producing area through proper engagement with manufacturer representatives

Menen Group

Period: 2011-2017
Address: Fayetteville, AR

President, Founder

Built company from scratch, growing it & sustaining operations while transforming it into a thriving consulting business focused on exploring design opportunities & more in industrial & international water markets.

  • Developed successful consulting business – added staff, secured recurring revenues & achieved profitability within first year of operation.

  • Expanded into South America food & beverage market, generating revenues annually by designing wastewater treatment for poultry, beef & fish operations.

  • Created standard modular treatment plant designs for agricultural industry manufacturer (10,000-gpd to 1-MGD) & developed all supporting documentation from specifications & operations to maintenance manuals for 10 different plant configurations .

  • Executed & maintained contract wastewater operations agreements with small municipalities & private developments.

  • Assisted other water businesses with growth, targeted marketing & business development programs, pilots & special projects along with design & intellectual property.

Garver

Period: 2003-2011
Address: AR, OK, TX

Design Center Lead

Identified connections between key stakeholders – consulting engineers, equipment manufacturers, sales representatives & contractors – to gain valuable insight into the workings of US municipal water markets.

  •  Led internal rebranding & restructuring of water group to achieve greater than 70% YoY growth & represent more than 50% of total business

  • Expanded proposal development team, creating interview preparation & presentation standards which resulted in a 40% greater project capture rate

  • Negotiated & managed client contracts to ensure compliance & profitability while consistently earning top spots on the firm’s most profitable group & leader lists

  • Managed all aspects of treatment facility design for water & wastewater projects, winning numerous awards for innovative, cost-effective designs

  • Penned standard water & wastewater specification details to develop consistent standards for use in the company’s water business line