Dec 08, 2023

Viridi Energy Further Expands Team in Q4 with Focus on Industry-Leading Project Execution and Value Capture

Viridi Energy, a leading renewable natural gas (“RNG”) platform, is expanding its team for the second time in recent months, adding two additional team members to further strengthen the firm’s waste-to-value renewable energy work. Dan Shirley has been named Vice President of Tax, Credits, and Incentives, a role that will focus on capturing the full value of Viridi’s RNG projects. Joshua Bush has been appointed Project Director and will lead multiple RNG developments, utilizing a variety of feedstocks to generate diverse revenue streams.

“Everyone at Viridi is excited to welcome Dan and Joshua aboard and to leverage their deep expertise in ways that enhance our overall firm momentum,” said Chet Benham, President and COO of Viridi. “Superb project execution is a foundational element of Viridi’s approach to value creation, and our team is also highly attentive to the evolving ways that federal tax, credit, and incentive policies impact our work. We are delighted to have Dan and Joshua supporting our team on these fronts.”

Shirley joins the Viridi team after a lengthy career in tax-related roles across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Most recently, he worked as the outsourced tax director for a publicly traded regional bank and as Senior Advisor to a newly launched energy and infrastructure firm. Previously, he was Head of Tax at Rice Energy. Before that, he was a tax partner at one of the “big four” accounting firms, focused on state and local tax and tax credits across the energy and financial services spaces.

Meanwhile, Bush brings more than two-and-a-half decades of management, engineering, design, and construction expertise to Viridi. With a five-year track record working specifically in the renewable energy space, he also has experience in the petrochemical, refining, natural gas, wastewater, manufacturing, and paper mill industries. In his previous role as Regional Construction Manager at Montauk Renewables, Bush helped lead the successful development, construction, and commissioning of new RNG facilities, while also supporting existing assets nationwide.

The hiring of Shirley and Bush caps a momentum-filled year for Viridi. In late September, the firm announced the hiring of Mark Cresanti as Executive Vice President of Operations and Tamara Siskind as Director of Business Development. In Q2, the firm finalized its partnership with American Organic Energy to develop a large food waste-to-RNG project in Yaphank, NY. Earlier in the year, Viridi announced landfill RNG projects in Marathon County, Wisconsin and in Baldwin County, Alabama.