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In addition to being a contestant on a new reality TV show about philanthropy, Stephen is happily
married to his wife of nearly 15 years, Christine. They have three daughters and Stephen’s family is his proudest
accomplishment.
Stephen’s professional journey has brought him to the position of founder and CEO Renaissance Integrated Solutions.
His career in construction started at a very early age as he worked in his families construction company, Edenwald
Contracting Co., that was started by his grandfather in 1946. After graduating from Cornell university in 1987 with
a degree in civil engineering, Stephen joined Edenwald as it had become one of the largest construction companies
in New York City. He stayed only two years. Since leaving his family business in 1989, Stephen has patented a number
of construction methodologies and founded and sold several companies.
Stephen left Edenwald to found Westmoreland Construction Corporation with his younger brother Mike. They grew the
company into one of the leading fiber network deployment construction firms in the New York metropolitan area,
specializing in building access laterals to establish "last mile" connectivity with end-users. Westmoreland developed
exclusive contract arrangements with telecommunications companies, such as MFS Communications Company, Inc., Metromedia
Fiber Networks, AT&T and other CLECs. Westmoreland also built long-haul backbone fiber systems for individual carriers
and managed numerous high-value construction projects for various city and state agencies such as the Department of
Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation.
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While cultivating Westmoreland, Stephen founded Pipelining Products, Inc. (PPI) in 1992. Based on Stephen’s patented
Sure-Line Pipe System, PPI emerged as one of the leading trenchless technology companies in the U.S., specializing in
the rehabilitation of sewer and water lines without excavation. PPI manufactured, sold, and licensed both the Sure-Line
Pipe System and the trademarked Cure-Line Pipe System throughout the U.S. and abroad. In 2000, PPI was acquired by
RePipe, Inc., a national trenchless rehabilitation corporation.
After the sale of PPI, Stephen continued on his entrepreneurial quest and launched Renaissance Integrated Solutions.
In 2000, Stephen patented a new idea that combined the fiber optic experience of Westmoreland and the trenchless
technology of Pipelining Products. What emerged was a technology known as the Dual Purpose Rehabilitation Process
(DPR). The DPR system enabled municipalities to trenchlessly rehabilitate the existing pipeline systems and
simultaneously deploy a last-mile fiber system. Renaissance offered cities across the country two new assets for
the price of one. Stephen, along with his partners, grew Renaissance until Hurricane Katrina wiped out their major
project in New Orleans in 2005.
For the last two years, Stephen has focused more of his efforts on philanthropic ventures and has fallen in love with a
life spent serving others well.
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