Leadership
A seasoned team with 50 years of cumulative experience in real estate, environmental, and insurance fields. Clients benefit from our ability to source opportunities, assemble implementation teams, package risk mitigation measures, develop strategic and implementable exits, and extract value from each transaction.
SCG specializes in brownfields, industrial development, land entitlement, adaptive reuse of old factory space, metals extractions, environmental liability risk transfer, and bankruptcy liquidations. SCG can tap into a deep pool of resources including partners and speciality subcontractors in all geographic areas.
Executive Bios
Jay W. Shepherd » Jay Shepherd is Founder and President of Shepherd Capital Group, Inc. with over 13 years of direct investment experience for acquisitions, financing, redevelopment, and dispositions of commercial real estate. Jay delivers a suite of functions in the strategic repositioning of environmental real estate. Jay’s nationwide experience spans a wide spectrum of traditional assets including office, industrial, retail, medical, and hospitality assets; and alternative assets including energy and agriculture.
As a leader across disciplines and a team builder with an open, collaborative approach, Jay’s proven track record of sourcing, negotiating and closing deals has resulted in several tens of millions dollars in sales. His ability to understand the linkage between asset management and acquisition is key to driving profitable yields from investment. He demonstrates a personal commitment to a land ethic and stakeholder engagement by using strong interpersonal and communication skills to manage risk and find creative solutions for a problem and its many parts.
Jay’s work is guided by the James A. Graaskamp definition of rigor – comprehension of interconnections between issues and processes which, when combined with competent technical analysis, leads to sound business decision-making. Jay is grounded in a comprehensive knowledge of finance and development and the natural sciences with dual Master’s degrees in Real Estate Development (John Hopkins University – Carey Business School) and Environmental Management (Yale University – School of Forestry and Environmental Studies). Jay holds FINRA (NASD) Series 7 & 63 lincensing and is a dual American and European Union citizen. Jay also received his Real Estate Development Professional certification from the Urban Land Institute in 2003.
Rick L. Smith, CHMM » Rick Smith manages SCG projects in the Western United States and the Pacific Region; he has over 25 years of progressive professional experience related to environmental consulting. His
Rick has been the project manager and/or lead consultant on a number of complex brownfield projects; working closely with a variety of stakeholder’s, which in addition to the client, included community groups, regulators and parties involved in litigation related to off-site migration of contaminants. He has worked closely with insurance specialists responsible for crafting liability transfer and pollution liability policies, and real estate professionals tasked with repositioning compromised properties for highest and best use.
Charles Epperson » Charles “Chuck” Epperson manages SCG projects in the Southern and Central United States; he has more than 25 years of experience in managerial and technical positions as a executive director of a brownfields acquisition corporation, a senior environmental consultant, and as a manager of environmental regulatory programs. His work has generated more than $2 million in company profits from acquisition, remediation and sale of several brownfield properties. As an entrepreneur, Chuck completed numerous assessment and remediation projects that resulted in clean closure and over $15 million in increased values for clients’ redeveloped properties. During his tenure at TCEQ, Chuck provided regulatory project management and supervisory oversight of more than 500 remediation projects that generated more than $100 million in increased property values in Texas. He is an experienced government relations professional with a strong background in communications and a track record of authoring and managing the implementation of environmental statutes and regulations. Chuck graduated with a Master’s of Science in Biology from Texas State University, and is an active member of the Air and Waste Management Association and National Brownfields Association.