Officers
Tara Rand
President
Tara Kathleen Rand has spent her entire 30+ year wireless career at 4 industry leaders in the New England market — Verizon Wireless, Crown Castle, SAI Group and currently at Blue Sky Towers LLC headquartered in North Reading, MA.
At Verizon Wireless, Tara played key roles in the early years designing, permitting and ground leasing core tower infrastructure throughout New England. While at Crown Castle, Tara was part of the National Sales Team responsible for the lease up and services revenue generation of all infrastructure in New England, Connecticut, portions of Upstate New York and Canada as well as nationally for emerging technologies clients. At SAI Group as Senior Manager-Business Development, she was responsible for cultivating new business and broadening existing partnerships with existing clients. In Tara’s current role as Vice President of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships at Blue Sky Towers LLC, Tara is responsible for new tower development, acquisitions and generating new co-lo’s, in addition to client relations.
Tara graduated from Regis College in Weston, MA with a BA in Political Science/Communications and Boston University’s School of Real Estate. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a holds her MA Real Estate Salespersons License.
Tara was elected President of the New England Wireless Association in 2015 and previously served as Vice President for many years prior. She is a member of the NEWA Scholarship, Membership and Finance Committees and is also Co-Chair of the annual NEWA Charity Golf event. The Tower Family Foundation recently appointed Tara to their Scholarship Committee as well. Tara served two years as the Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum City Rep-New England/CT and was a Women of NATE Mentor for many years. “Giving Back” is of utmost importance to Tara both personally and professionally.
Heather Harrington
Vice President
Heather Harrington is a Senior Project Manager at T-Mobile supporting the Northeast region focusing on network projects. She has been in the wireless industry for over 15 years working for MetroPCS, Alcatel Lucent, Sprint, and currently at T-Mobile. Her background varies from project management, financing, and event management. She is a graduate from the University of New Hampshire. Outside of work, Heather enjoys playing billiards, games, bowling, baking, entertaining, and spending time with her two children and husband. Heather has been a Board Member since 2014. She also manages all NEWA’s events throughout the year.
Ben Revette
Secretary
Ben Revette P.E., is an Associate Vice President at Dewberry Engineers Inc. where he oversees the firms national telecom and electrical vehicle (EV) engineering teams. Ben has over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunication industry at Dewberry and is responsible for the engineering design and construction oversight of a variety of wireless telecommunications facilities, small cells and distributed antenna systems (DAS) networks throughout the United States for wireless carriers, tower infrastructure companies, universities, transportation systems, and large sports/convention venues. Ben is graduate of Clarkson University with a BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering & Management, is a licensed Professional Engineer in 7 states, registered with the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He spends most of his free time chasing his 3 daughters, 2 dogs and the front tire of his MTB around the north shore of MA. Ben has been a board member since 2014 and has served as Secretary since 2015.
Brian Grossman
Treasurer
Brian Grossman is an attorney at Bowditch, where his focus is on assisting telecommunications providers, developers, renewable energy companies, financial services, and commercial clients with matters ranging from land use and development, litigation, real estate transactions, landlord-tenant disputes, and related real estate issues.
For over 20 years, Brian has represented wireless communications carriers and independent infrastructure developers in connection with leasing, permitting, and acquisition of wireless communications facilities of all types. Brian's practice also includes litigation concerning real estate, permitting and the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Brian earned his law degree from Georgetown University, and his BS from Bryant University. Outside the office, he is an avid and dedicated sports fan, particularly of the New York Islanders, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers. Brian can also be found playing in his local hockey league, traveling and scuba diving.
Brian has been a Board Member since 2016 and was elected Treasurer in 2022. He also serves on NEWA’s Hockey Charity Event Planning Committee, Finance Committee, Scholarship Committee and Educational Committee.
Board Members
Jim Rech
Board Member
Jim Rech is the President & CEO of Blue Sky Towers, LLC since its inception in 2014 and brings over 27 years of experience in the wireless infrastructure industry developing towers and wireless communication networks. Rech spent most of his professional career as an entrepreneur having owned, managed and developed multiple tower portfolios throughout the United States.
Jim Van Sicklin
Board Member
Jim Van Sicklin is the Founder and President of J. Lee Associates, Inc. a full-service wireless site development firm serving the New England Region.
Prior to forming J. Lee, Jim worked in Operation and Engineering roles within T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless and has worked in the wireless industry for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts (Boston) and served on active duty for 5 years in the United States Marine Corps. Outside of work he enjoys spending time with his family and going to the beach.
Jim has been a member of the Board since 2021 and also now leads the Scholarship Committee which he has been on since it’s inception a few years ago.
Brian Orlandi
Board Member
Brian brings more than 28 years of industry experience in his role as Vice President and General Manager of Timberline Communications Inc. (TCI). TCI has been offering “Exceptional, No Exceptions” services to our communications clients in the Northeast for more than twenty years, expanding our services offerings along the way. Brian provides overall leadership for the organization, developing customer focused initiatives that align with Timberline’s overall growth strategies. His strong industry network, collaborative nature, and customer focus offer TCI excellent advancement opportunities.
His past experience includes business development and corporate strategy roles as well as operations and program management positions for national wireless carriers and the infrastructure development companies supporting the industry. Brian studied Architectural / Structural Technologies and Construction Management at Wentworth Institute of Technology.
He is a founder, and returning director of the New England Wireless Association (NEWA) and former trustee for the Newman School of Boston. He is the founder and current player of the AT&T Boston hockey team that competed annually in the Roger’s HockeyFest, one of the longest running industry Can-Am charity tournaments. He resides in Southern New Hampshire with his wife and their two children. Brian enjoys vacationing, golfing, and skiing with his family and friends.
Nancy Parenteau
Board Member
Nancy is a Program manager for the Transport team in New England at Verizon Wireless. She oversees the fiber build for the New England market. She has 14 years of wireless experience on both the East and the West coast. Prior to Verizon she worked for Smartlink as a Site Acquisition Manager in Irvine, Ca. She is a graduate of Worcester State University. Some of her passions outside of work include; Running- She completed the NYC marathon, and trains new runners for half marathon distance. She also enjoys live music, traveling and spending time with her family.
Patrick Robinson
Board Member
Mr. Robinson brings more than 25 years of experience in the wireless industry to his position as Vice President – Project Management with Wireless Partners LLC and Rising Tide Tower LLC. He has played an integral role in developing raw land sites around New England to help support AT&T’s FirstNet deployment in the “Ultra Rural” areas of Maine/NH/VT. His background includes Network Operations and Systems Engineering Management during his 18 years at US Cellular. As an Operations Manager, he oversaw Field Engineering that covered Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont spanning 300+ cell sites. Mr. Robinson also served as a Senior Manager, Regional Systems Engineering that oversaw design engineers for Cell site, Core and Microwave networks for the East Region. Patrick was appointed to the State of NH E911 Commission representing Wireless Communications Carriers in 2014 and is currently still serving.
Rossana Ferrante
Board Member
Rossana Ferrante is the New England Market Director for Network Building + Consulting, a full service site development and engineering firm. She is a high-energy, seasoned telecommunications professional leading high performance teams for over 20 years across the Northeast. Rossana started her career with Nextel Communications in site acquisition. In 2014, after a short hiatus working in franchising and commercial real estate, she returned to her true passion- telecommunications. Since that time, she has held several Regional Director positions overseeing projects for all the major carriers. She also specializes in government relations and negotiations. Rossana is a licensed attorney and real estate broker in Massachusetts. Additionally, she serves as the New England representative for the Women’s Wireless Leadership Forum, sits on multiple municipal commissions in her town and enjoys boxing classes and watching the sunrise.
Michael Cabral
Board Member
Michael’s 25 years of experience in a multidisciplinary field of engineering, including Wireless Telecommunications, Civil, and Structural Design, have led him to be a knowledgeable and respected leader in his field In his current role as the Northeast Executive Regional Director for Tower Engineering Professionals, LLC., Michael provides overall leadership, growth and development strategies for the organization, including diversification into additional engineering markets beyond the telecommunications industry. Prior to TEP Michael was an Engineer at Hudson Design Group, LLC. for 15+ years. There he honed his skills and his reputation as a Civil/Structural Engineer and leader. He quickly rose to the position of Structural Department Head and simultaneously managed the tower climbing crews for HDG’s sister company ProVertic. He eventually became Vice President of HDG, becoming an integral part of the leadership. Upon TEP’s acquisition of HDG in August 2022, Michael was essential in the successful transition and acclimation of the two businesses. TEP has been offering exceptional services to our telecommunications customers nationally for more than 25 years, with 30+ office locations throughout the USA and Canada.
Michael holds a BS in civil engineering, with a structural concentration, from the University of Massachusetts - Lowell.
Michael joined the board of directors of the New England Wireless Association (NEWA) in 2024 having previously served on the golf committee for 5 consecutive years. He resides in Massachusetts with his wife and their two sons. He enjoys vacationing, golfing, and playing piano and guitar.