The Natawa leadership represents a diverse group of talented professionals with experience in utility-related fields that's as broad as it is deep.

There are even a few celebrities on the team. Former Chicago Bears star Gary Fencik is a Board Advisor, and NBA star A.C. Green is Natawa's Director of New Business Development and a major shareholder.

David Smoot
Founder and CEO

Founder and Chief Executive Officer David Smoot - a member of the Okmulgee Creek Tribe of Oklahoma, a former professional basketball player, and a successful entrepreneur - saw an opportunity to innovate the delivery and distribution of water, wastewater, and fiber optic utilities. He founded Natawa to provide valuable benefits to developers and community residents, and is dedicated to steering the company on a course of competitive growth, environmental responsibility and philanthropic giving.

Throughout his career, Mr. Smoot has built a professional portfolio with sweeping scope. He has started several successful companies, including Tomahawk II a document imaging service for the defense contracting industry, and Airborne Remote Mapping (now Aerotec), an aerial surveying service that shows utilities how much capacity they have on an "as-built" basis. This information is paramount in the utility industry, and the company Mr. Smoot founded is the leader in the field.

Prior to moving to Arizona, Mr. Smoot served four years as President of American Indian Financial Services, Inc., where he became an expert in leasing and funding Native American transactions. Before that, he was president of Meridian Leasing. He landed that position after Meridian Leasing purchased his innovative startup, Software Funding International Inc. (SFI). The first "software only" leasing company, SFI received accolades from numerous trade magazines and newspapers, including, Inc., Business Week, and Computer World. Mr. Smoot was also twice named as an Entrepreneur-of-the-Year finalist by Ernst and Young and Inc. magazine.

An Oklahoma native, Mr. Smoot went to college on a basketball scholarship. He was drafted into the Army in 1969, which put both college and basketball on hold. When he finished his service, Mr. Smoot played eight years of professional and semi-professional basketball. His love of the game led him to found the Pro Players Classic (PPC) in 1996, which provides scholarships for Native American youth. He also ran Native Vision's basketball camp for six years on various Indian Reservations in the West and Southwest, with the coaches for the camp including Tom Chambers, Connie Hawkins and Bud Stallworth.

As CEO of Natawa, Mr. Smoot proudly cosponsors the PPC, which has awarded more than $90,000 in scholarships and has contributed $20,000, through the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale, to fund the Kidstar (KDSTAR) Radio Station on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation.

Mr. Smoot also serves as a Partner with Social Venture Partners, a leading philanthropic organization founded by Bill Gates and including significant individuals in its local membership. He is also on the Board of the Sports Legends Prostate Cancer Foundation. Recently, Smoot committed to become a benefactor for the new Desert Foothills YMCA being built in Cave Creek, AZ near Cactus Shadows High School.

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Paul Gagliardo
Vice President - Engineering Services

Paul Gagliardo is Vice President of Engineering Services for Natawa.

Paul is a nationally recognized expert in wastewater and water treatment. He is professionally close to the wastewater firms that do the work and their technologies. His experience with municipalities and engineering companies lends credibility never before had internally at Natawa.

As a Professional Engineer, with a BSME from Union College, New York and Masters of Public Health from San Diego State University, Paul provides the education and experience needed to direct our engineering activities.

Paul has extensive expertise in the following areas: groundwater asset development, groundwater treatment, water reclamation, seawater desalination, equipment technology research and development, membrane systems, water resources planning, drinking water and recycled water regulations, strategic planning, federal and state grants, water policy, treatment technology, solid waste management and hazardous waste remediation.

Paul also has extensive experience in the areas of public works construction, hazardous waste remediation and solid waste management. He is author of over 30 technical papers presented at conferences around the world.

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Steve Sagouspe
Vice President of Corporate Sales

A certified real estate broker and owner/president of Sagouspe' Real Estate, Inc. The company is primarily focused on:

• Ag Sales
• Development
• Water
• Waste Water
• Water Reuse
• Fiber Optics

A private pilot, graduate of California Agricultural Leadership Program XXVI and recipient of a Bachelor's Degree from California State University, Fresno. Steve is and has been involved in the community in various leadership positions including:

• Past Chairperson of the 19th Congressional Business Council
• Member of the 19th Congressional Water & Ag Council
• Supporter and former member of the Madera County Ag Boosters
• Active member of the North Valley Friant Water Committee
• Member representing the local business community for Sister City Program with I-Lan, Taiwan
• Member of the Fresno State Alumni Association
• Member of the Agricultural Leadership Alumni (ALA)
• Member of the Farm Bureau
• Former member of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
• Member of Cellar Masters
• Extended Review Form Member of the Department of Water Resources
• Appointed to the Madera County Water Commission
• Member of the Quiet Birdmen (aviation)

In 1993 Steve joined a team working to transfer water from Arizona to California. The water project was located in Cibola, Arizona. The purpose of the transfer was to help stabilize agriculture water delivery and price to farmers in San Diego County and to secure drought year water for the greater San Diego area. This project is still under consideration but water project move at glacier speed.

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Scott Berka
Vice President of Business Development

Mr. Berka has more than 16 years of telecom industry related experience in the coordination, development and management of telecommunication network design and construction. He has spent the last five years as a Senior Director with Idaho Power (NYSE: IDA) telecom company IDACOMM, Inc. IDACOMM was a registered CLEC in the Rocky Mountain West that owned and operated fiber metro networks in Boise, Reno, and Las Vegas. He was instrumental in winning long-term (20-year) design-build fiber contracts with national carriers and city/government agencies such as the Las Vegas Valley Water District, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Idaho Department of Water Resources, and various other city and government agencies. Mr. Berka and the senior management team were able to successfully grow the organization to attract national attention and eventually sold that company to a New York firm in May 2007. Before joining IDACOMM, he spent several years in Hong Kong and Japan developing U.S. telecom assets in 13 Asian countries. In addition to his Business Development activities at Natawa, he is responsible for the management of Engineering and Construction of Fiber Network Services. His day-to-day responsibilities include the determination of strategic vendor partnerships, business case development, project funding, design oversight, client coordination, production management, project deliverables, management of utility project budgets and schedule tracking.

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Robert Sabelhaus
Board of Directors

Robert G. Sabelhaus, was elected Executive Vice President of Legg Mason in July 2001 and of Legg Mason Wood Walker in August 1993. Mr. Sabelhaus is an executive officer responsible for the private client brokerage division of Legg Mason Wood Walker.

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Joseph Gray
Board of Directors

A life long entrepreneur, Mr. Gray founded J.I. Gray and Associates, a manufacturers' representative company in 1969. For nearly forty years, J.I. Gray has provided sales, marketing, and sales force management services, to start up manufacturers and multinational corporations alike. Specializing in the chemicals and plastics industries, J.I. Gray has represented major manufacturers' such as Honeywell, Allied Signal and Occidental Petroleum, while marketing directly to a client base that includes Alcoa, Certainteed, Owens Corning, Ford Motor Co., and General Motors. He has been instrumental in the marketing and development phase of many new and innovative products.

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Gary Fencik
Board Advisor

Gary Fencik is a partner - and head of business development - at Adams Street Partners, LLC, a leading private equity firm providing both partnership and direct investment services for institutional clients worldwide. Adams Street Partners has been investing in private equity partnerships since 1979, and has been managing direct investments in private equity since 1972. The firm currently manages over $12 billion in assets and has offices in Chicago, Palo Alto, and London.

Mr. Fencik joined Adams Street Partners in 2001, after five years as Managing Director of Business Development at Brinson Partners, Inc./UBS Asset Management. At Brinson Partners, Mr. Fencik was responsible for business development and consultant relationship activities in North America.

Prior to his successful corporate career, Mr. Fencik spent twelve seasons with the Chicago Bears football club, and was a co-captain for the 1985 Super Bowl Champion team.

Mr. Fencik received a BA from Yale University (1976) and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (1985).

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