Conterra's Board of Directors is responsible for the oversight of our company's business and financial affairs and our executive management team.

Stephen R. Leeolou

Mr. Leeolou has spent the past 30 years in the telecommunications and communications industries. From 1982 to 1999, Mr. Leeolou held positions of co-founder, COO and CEO of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc., one of the first cellular telephone companies in the United States.

Headquartered in Greensboro, NC, Vanguard operated in 28 suburban and rural markets in the eastern U.S. under the Cellular One brand name. Mr. Leeolou helped guide the company through more than $1 billion of private and public financing transactions, dozens of acquisitions, and operating growth that reached nearly one million subscribers. Publicly listed on NASDAQ, Vanguard was sold to AT&T in 1999 for nearly $2 billion and is now part of AT&T Mobility.

After the sale of Vanguard, Mr. Leeolou served as Chairman and CEO of InterAct Electronic Marketing, Inc. which provided on-line and in-store targeted promotional services in the U.S. and U.K. retail grocery and pharmacy industries. In 2002, he formed SouthStar Capital, LLC, a private investment firm owned primarily by Mr. Leeolou and his family which in 2004 became, and remains, one of Conterra's largest investors and owners.

Prior to his 23 years in wireless communications, Mr. Leeolou was a print, radio and television journalist, primarily in the southeastern U.S. He is a 1978 graduate of James Madison University and was appointed by former Governor Warner of Virginia to serve on the JMU's Board of Visitors, a position he still holds.

Richard B. Bates

Richard Bates is Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions for Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in the United States. He joined Duke Energy in 2000 as Managing Director of Mergers and Acquisitions. Before joining the company, he served as Senior Vice President of Sonat Inc. and President of Sonat Energy Services Inc. in Birmingham, Ala. from 1994 to 1999. He also served as an executive for Sonat Exploration Company in Houston, Texas, for nine years, last holding the position of Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

Prior to his employment with Sonat, Bates served as General Counsel of ITT Eason Oil Company, and Vice President and General Counsel for an independent oil and gas producer and drilling contractor. He was also an attorney in private practice in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Mr. Bates graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in economics and history from the University of Oklahoma. He also holds a juris doctor degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association and the American Economic Association.

S. Tony Gore, III

Tony Gore has more than 20 years of experience on the corporate development and finance side of the telecommunications industry. Currently, he is a Managing Partner and an owner of SouthStar Capital, LLC, one of Conterra’s current largest investors and owners.

From 1985-1999, Mr. Gore was Executive Vice-President of Mergers and Acquisitions at Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc. where he directed tens of millions of dollars of M & A transactions.

Mr. Gore is a former member of the Governors Task Force for International Economic Development for the state of North Carolina. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Peter J. Perrone

Peter Perrone is a Managing Director of the global financial services institution, Goldman Sachs. He joined the firm in 1999 in Silicon Valley focusing on the telecommunications and information technology sectors, investing in growth stage companies.

Mr. Perrone currently serves on the Board of Directors for Limelight Networks and a number of private companies including Pano Logic, Tervela and Next New Networks. He also led Goldman Sachs' investments in Acopia Networks, Kazeon and Vixel and previously served on the Board of Directors of Alltel Wireless.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Perrone held positions in engineering and finance with Westinghouse Electric and with Applied Synergistics, a startup company servicing the power industry. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Duke University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Chris J. Smith

Chris Smith is a Partner at Circumference Group. Prior to joining Circumference Group, Mr. Smith was the Executive Vice President of Network Services of Alltel Corporation, the fifth largest wireless company in the U.S. Prior to its acquisition by Verizon in January 2009, Alltel served over 14 million customers with revenues of approximately $9 billion.

As the EVP of Network, Mr. Smith was responsible for short- and long-term network planning, engineering, operations, LD network planning and operations, capital budgeting and management for the entire company, and wholesale roaming contracts and budgeting.

Mr. Smith joined Alltel in 1991 in a management role within sales and marketing. He subsequently served as a General Manager of Operations in two of Alltel's largest markets. In 1997, when Alltel merged their wireless and wireline companies, Mr. Smith became President of the Southeast region. In this capacity, he was responsible for all aspects of market operations. He was promoted to the EVP of Network Services in 2000.

Prior to Alltel, Mr. Smith worked within marketing at Dillard's headquarters and Acxiom's headquarters, both located in Little Rock. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a degree in Business Management.