FeNi, LLC. : Houston, Texas : Towering to a Higher Standard

Print this Page

The Feni Team

Dustin Billman, President

Dustin Billman is a co-founder and President of FeNi. He brings more than 8 years industry experience to his role which includes identification and development of new business opportunities. He will be focusing on build to suit and management services, as well as overseeing all site acquisition and zoning activity.

Dustin came to FeNi after eight years with American Tower Corporation (ATC), the largest owner & operator of wireless & broadcast towers in the nation, where he held several key positions in tower development and sales. He has managed all phases of tower development for customers nationwide. Dustin started at Gearon & Co. as a Site Acquisition Agent in 1996. In 1997, Gearon & Co was purchased by American Tower where Dustin was promoted to Regional Zoning Manager in Houston, Texas handling large scale build-outs. He was promoted in 2000 to the position of Sales Manager to develop and manage the new Red River Area for ATC in Dallas. He went on to manage the sales teams in the Heartland Area in Kansas City and the North Central area in Detroit. During his time in the industry Dustin has gained first hand experience in site acquisition, zoning, project management, account management (leasing), and sales management.

Mr. Billman received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Phoenix.

Michelle Payne, Vice President of Marketing

Michelle Payne is a co-founder and the Vice President of Marketing for FeNi. She brings over 10 years of industry experience to the FeNi team. She will be responsible for the marketing, customer service & corporate identity for FeNi, and will also be involved in the development of new business opportunities.

Prior to joining FeNi, Michelle worked for American Tower Corporation (ATC) for over seven years. She has been involved in all sizes & phases of build outs, and has focused her career on project management, account management, marketing & sales management. In 1996, she joined American Tower; Houston based team, as the Marketing Manager, before their merger with American Tower Systems in 1997. She was promoted to the Regional Account Manager role in 1997 handling many large scale build-outs for national carriers throughout the Southwest Region. In 2000, she was promoted to the role of Sales Manager for the LoneStar area responsible for the leasing and sales team in the South Texas region. Her territory of responsibility gradually increased to include Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi. In 2002, she was promoted to the South Central Area Sales Manager, and served in that role until she resigned in January of 2004.

Mrs. Payne received her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the School of Business of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

John Douglas, Vice President of Regulatory & Operations

John Douglas is a co-founder and the Vice President of Regulatory & Operations for FeNi. John brings expertise of many phases of build outs from his career in the industry. He will be managing all regulatory and operational duties, and will be involved in the project management of all new development projects.

John brings more than seven years of telecommunications industry experience to the FeNi team. Prior to being a founding member of FeNi, John held several positions with American Tower Corporation (ATC). John started with ATC in 1996 as the construction manager responsible for all construction activity for new tower site development for the Southwest Region. He was then promoted to Senior Project Manager responsible for build to suit activity for Sprint, Nextel, AT&T & NPI Wireless. In 1999, John was promoted to Regional Collocation Manager responsible for implementing and managing collocation activity for 3500 sites in the central region of ATC. In 2001, John was asked to take a corporate position as a Senior Regulatory Compliance Specialist responsible for completing an FCC mandated audit on all ATC sites in the central region and verifying FAA/FCC compliance on new site development.

Prior to joining ATC, John worked as a Senior Project Manager for COMREN Inc. responsible for constructing telephone switch stations for GE Capital Rescom.

Mr. Douglas was awarded a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the School of Architecture at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Sandeep Patel, P.E., S.E., Vice President of Engineering

Sandeep Patel is the co-founder and Vice President of Engineering for FeNi. Sandeep brings over 18 years of management experience and engineering expertise to the team, and will be responsible for the technical guidance and construction management for FeNi.

Sandeep is the President of Sterling Engineering and Design Group (SEDG), a full service consulting firm established in the year 2000. Sandeep managed the structural engineering business at another firm in Houston prior to purchasing the practice from the firm in year 2000. Sterling Engineering has grown in the last five years with annual billings in excess of 3 million dollars in 2004. The construction value of the projects the firm designs exceeds a billion dollars every year. Sandeep is well versed in the model building codes as well as the telecom code TIA/EIA. He has developed unique solutions for reinforcing towers as well as new tower designs suitable for the revenue based collocation sector of the industry. He is a licensed structural engineer, as well as a licensed professional engineer in 46 states and several U.S. territories.

Mr. Patel received his Bachelor of Civil Engineering from M.S. University in India and holds a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Houston. In addition, he researched the behavior of confined reinforced concrete at University of Houston.

Donald Brick, Vice President of Construction

Donald Brick is a co-founder and the Vice President of Construction for FeNi. He brings hands-on expertise in the construction and structural engineering phases of tower development. His role is directly related to the construction & project management of new tower construction.

Donald held several positions at Sterling Engineering & Design Group (SEDG) before joining the FeNi team. He started with SEDG in 2000 as the construction manager responsible for reinforcement projects with different tower designs and schemes. He was promoted in 2002 to the National Sales Manager for all structural engineering related to towers. Prior to joining SEDG, Donald owned and operated Environmental Tank Testing, an underground storage tank (UST) testing company founded in 1989. He was responsible for directing and managing all employees in the day-to-day operations and provided sales and marketing to UST clients/owners along with educating clients/owners on the new laws enacted by EPA requiring this annual procedure. Donald sold the company in 1996 and invested and managed real estate properties until joining SEDG in 2000.