The Mendota Group is certified by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Supplier Clearinghouse for the Utility Supplier Diversity Program as a Women/Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE). We are also certified by Minnesota’s Small Business Procurement Program as an Asian/Pacific Owned Business.
The Name
The Mendota Group is based in the Saint Paul, Minnesota suburb of Mendota Heights. Its location inspired the company’s name. But, there’s more to the story. According to local historians, “Mendota” is derived from the Dakota Indian word “Mdote”. Mdote means “the mouth or junction of one river with another”. Mendota Heights sits above the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Naming the company after a word that means confluence seemed fitting. The American Heritage Dictionary defines confluence as, “A gathering, flowing, or meeting together at one juncture or point.” A confluence of ideas refers to a melding of ideas from different sources and perspectives into a cohesive and coherent theme. That pretty well describes The Mendota Group.
Our Principals
Grey Staples – Managing Director
Grey has more than thirty years of experience working on energy and environmental issues. He has held a variety of positions including grassroots non-profit organizer, senior staff advisor for a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee, management consultant, and utility executive. Prior to starting The Mendota Group, Grey served as Director of Financial Forecasting for Xcel Energy, a utility holding company based in Minneapolis. With Xcel Energy, he also held positions related to energy efficiency, demand response, and renewable energy. Before Xcel Energy, he was a utilities Strategy Consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting (now part of IBM). Grey holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a B.A. in Economics from Occidental College in Los Angeles.
David Sagara – Managing Director
For more than twenty years Mr. Sagara has provided strategy and business process consulting services to clients in the electric energy industry. His current work is focused on energy efficiency and demand response. In addition, he has provided regulatory advice, market entry strategy, M&A analysis, business plan specification, benchmarking analysis, business process improvement, and project management/systems implementation services for electric utilities and deregulated entities. Prior to his consulting career, Mr. Sagara worked for seven years in the engineering/construction industry. He designed several utility systems for large industrial facilities and performed both project management and business development roles. David holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a registered Professional Engineer.
Lisa Silverberg – Director
Lisa has more than twenty-five years of experience in administrative, legal, legislative, and organizational strategy. Her experience includes advising the Honorable Leon Panetta on legal and public policy matters including: crime, Western water, constitutional issues, and civil rights. Ms. Silverberg also worked in the Clinton Administration as a special assistant and counsel in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this capacity, she managed all high-impact cases related to discrimination in health care and worked across federal agencies and with high-level administration officials on health care, civil rights and government reorganization. Lisa holds a J.D. from Arizona State University. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with B.A. degrees in Psychology and Philosophy (Magna Cum Laude) from the The University of Arizona.