I am a highly successful energy entrepreneur with an exceptional track record in building businesses. In less than a decade, I built Horizon Wind Energy from a two-man company to an enterprise with hundreds of employees in a dozen states. Horizon Wind is today the third largest wind energy company in the United States, and invests $1.5 billion per year in new projects. Originally owned by the Houston-based Zilkha family, Horizon sold to Goldman Sachs in 2005. In mid-2007 Goldman Sachs sold Horizon Wind to EDP for $2.9 billion in what is considered the largest transaction to date in the burgeoning clean energy industry. I have played a leading role in several other sustainability oriented businesses, including the Rain Forest Aerial Tram. Anne, my wife of sixteen years, and I have three children, Kieran 15, Oliver 13, and Sophia 11. I came to America with his Irish immigrant parents in 1963 at the age of two, landing in New York harbor aboard the S.S. United States. One of five siblings, I grew up in Roanoke, Virginia where I attended public schools before going to the University of Notre Dame. I served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Central America before obtaining an MBA from Harvard Business School. I am fluent in Spanish. I serve on Mayor Bill White's Green Building Advisory Committee, am a longtime member of the board of the American Wind Energy Association, and have served on the boards of several other nonprofits and companies.
Dear Friends,
Today I announce my candidacy for United States Congress. The 7th District is one of the best educated and hardest working in America and it's time the citizens of this District had a representative who reflects that. I will bring new energy to Washington to work to turn things around and get this country back on track. I need your support to do that.
I came from Ireland with my family when I was a child. We had only $200 to our name and few possessions, but that didn't matter because my family believed that if you worked hard, played by the rules and got a good education, you could succeed. So that's what I did - I studied hard, went to college and got a business degree from Harvard.
I built a wind energy company from the ground up, turning a two-man operation into a multi-billion dollar business. The energy-related challenges we face cut across almost every aspect of our lives. From global warming and air quality to national security, I will use my expertise to work with both parties to solve our nation's greatest challenges. I've been blessed with opportunities to succeed and I made the most of them. I'm running for Congress to make sure everyone has those opportunities.
When it comes to the change we need in our nation, the current war in Iraq tops the list. While the war was being poorly managed, John Culberson was signing off on a blank check with no accountability. That's no way to run a foreign policy, a business, or a family budget. It is time to bring things to a close in Iraq and start looking at ways to bring our troops home.
We have a choice to make this November. We can once again send to Washington a career politician who's never met a problem he couldn't make worse. Or we can send an entrepreneur with a record of getting things done and solving problems.
You will hear a lot about my candidacy in the coming weeks, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. Please take a moment to visit my Web site - www.skellyforcongress.com - and help me bring new energy to Congress.
Thank you,
Michael Skelly
Candidate for Texas' Seventh Congressional District
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