About Us

Liberty Towers, LLC (Liberty) is a Washington, D.C. area based communications tower company formed to develop, acquire and manage wireless communications towers in the continental United States. Liberty’s well known and respected executives and managers have over 130 years of combined experience in the wireless and communications tower industries. Liberty is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Towers Development, LLC. Currently, Liberty is actively developing tower sites in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. If you are a wireless carrier and have a build plan that requires the development of tower sites, please contact us to discuss your needs.

Liberty is owned and managed by Chesapeake Towers Development, LLC. The officers and operating staff of Liberty consist of:

Michael E. Hofe – Founder, President and COO, Managing Director

Mr. Hofe has been involved in the wireless telecommunications industry for the past 27 years, participating in every aspect of system design, deployment and on-going operations. At Liberty, Mr. Hofe is the President & COO and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company to support Marketing, and Business Development, as well as its new tower development activities, regulatory compliance and due diligence for potential new tower site development.

Prior to co-founding Liberty, Mr. Hofe was a founder of Integrated Site Development Company (ISDC), a leading East Coast-based telecommunications engineering and construction firm. ISDC was sold to Clear Holdings, Inc. in 1997 where Mr. Hofe held several senior positions as the company grew to over 600 employees and held an Initial Public Offering. Additionally, Mr. Hofe was a founding management team member of Horizon Cellular Group, a highly successful cellular Rural Service Area (“RSA”) owner/operator that was sold in 1997 in various transactions for value in excess of $570 million. At Horizon, Mr. Hofe was responsible for the design, implementation and operation of the company’s network assets, including the day-to-day operation of several hundred tower sites. Since 1999, Mr. Hofe has also served as a Managing Director of ForceNine, LLC, a finance and consulting firm which caters to the telecommunications industry.

In addition to these accomplishments, Mr. Hofe has been an industry consultant and is often invited to speak at various industry conferences. Mr. Hofe holds several Federal Communications Commission Licenses, including a Lifetime General Radiotelephone Operator license, and he is a past member of the National Association of Tower Erectors Safety and Education Committee.

B. Eric Sivertsen – Founder, CEO & Managing Director

An attorney, Mr. Sivertsen has over 20 years experience in financing, acquiring, managing, developing and otherwise operating communications towers and other telecommunications businesses. At Liberty, Mr. Sivertsen is the CEO and responsible for the oversight of the Company’s administrative and legal activities, along with the raising of equity and debt capital. In early 1990, Mr. Sivertsen co-founded and served as Executive Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of TeleCom Towers, which grew into a company that owned approximately 400 towers and managed over 2,000 other sites. TeleCom Towers was sold to American Tower (NYSE) in 1999 for a value in excess of $200 million.

In addition to his activities with Liberty, Mr. Sivertsen serves on the Board and advises several communications companies including RCC Consultants, LLC, one of the leading communications consulting firms in the country, with expertise in the design, development and implementation of public safety telecommunications systems and InSite MediaCom, LLC, an outdoor advertising company. Since 1999, Mr. Sivertsen has also served as a Managing Director of ForceNine, LLC, a finance and consulting firm which caters to the telecommunications industry.

Richard J. Lemanowicz – General Counsel

Mr. Lemanowicz joins Liberty Towers from Lemanowicz, LLP, a suburban Philadelphia law firm he founded in 2003, dedicated to aggressively representing wireless communications service providers, telecommunications infrastructure providers, financial institutions and investment companies. In his role as General Counsel at Liberty, Mr. Lemanowicz oversees all matters pertaining to the Company’s legal and corporate affairs, protecting and advocating Liberty’s interests in all aspects of tower site development, asset acquisition and asset management.

In private practice, Mr. Lemanowicz served as counsel to several major wireless communications service providers as well as communications tower companies such as Liberty Towers. Mr. Lemanowicz brings extensive experience in the areas of telecommunications law and land use law at the local and federal level which allows for early corporate level risk assessment and matter resolution. Mr. Lemanowicz secured trend-setting federal district court legal opinions that continually guide professionals in tower development applications, establishing him as an authority in these practice areas.

Prior to forming Lemanowicz, LLP, Mr. Lemanowicz privately practiced real estate law and construction law, directing the successful completion of construction and land development projects through real estate financing, purchase and sale transactions, contract negotiations, contract management, business entity formation and operation, and regulatory compliance. Aside from his current position with Liberty, Mr. Lemanowicz regularly conducts lectures in the areas of telecommunications law and land use law for lawyers and design professionals. Mr. Lemanowicz is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is a member of the Federal Communications Bar Association. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Temple University and obtained his juris doctorate degree from Widener University School of Law.

Philip F. Wagner – Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Wagner brings over 30 years of experience in accounting, management, financial reporting and financial planning, including 15 years in the telecommunications industry. At Liberty, Mr. Wagner is responsible for financial analysis, budgeting and long-term financial strategy, to include cost control initiatives and identification of additional financing options.

Prior to joining Liberty, Mr. Wagner had served as Controller, Director of Financial Operations and Director of Financial Planning and Analysis for Horizon Cellular and Dobson Communications Corporation for a total of 12 years, until Dobson’s acquisition by AT&T in 2007. At Dobson, he was responsible for regional accounting operations, including the combination of multiple local offices into a regional headquarters and provided analytical support for a Regional Vice-President. Mr. Wagner organized and managed a regional financial operations team, while directing regional facilities and information technology professionals. Beginning in 2005, he organized and led the corporate financial planning department, preparing detailed financial budgets and long-term projection models for Dobson, until the acquisition by AT&T.

Between 1980 and 1991, Mr. Wagner was employed by Peat Marwick Mitchell and Co. (now part of KPMG), as Audit Senior, Joseph A. Bank, Clothiers, as Accounting Manager, and The Essex Company, as Controller. In 1991, he joined Dispatch Communications (later acquired by Nextel) as Controller, where he worked until coming to Horizon Cellular in December of 1994.

Most recently, Mr. Wagner has served The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore as Controller from 2008 until joining Liberty in September, 2010.

Floyd D. Jenkins - Vice President of Tower Operations

Mr. Jenkins experience in the wireless telecommunications industry has spanned the past 25 years, where he has participated in network design and engineering, network vendor evaluation and selection, network construction, and ongoing operations of wireless infrastructure and facilities. At Liberty, Mr. Jenkins is the Vice President of Tower Operations and is responsible for Marketing and Business Development, as well as diligence activities for new tower development opportunities.

Prior to joining Liberty Towers, Mr. Jenkins was Director of Network Operations for AT&T Mobility/Dobson Communications Corporation for 13 years, prior to Dobson being acquired by AT&T in 2007. In his role at Dobson, Mr. Jenkins organized and led an operations team that developed and operated 6 metropolitan statistical areas ("MSA") and 13 rural service areas ("RSA") across 5 states. Mr. Jenkins had direct responsibility for budget planning, forecasting, network design and implementation and the operation of over 1,200 cell sites, 5 switches and 1 media gateway, along with the supervision of 68 employees.

Between 1995 and 1986, Mr. Jenkins was employed by Horizon Cellular Telephone Company in various engineering and management capacities, prior to their acquisition by Dobson Communications Corporation. Prior to Horizon, Mr. Jenkins was employed by Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems ("BAMS").

Samuel C. Kraus - Director of Program Management

Mr. Kraus has spent over 30 years in the communications industry in the areas of engineering and program management. As the Director of Program Management for Liberty, he is responsible for overseeing all project management, construction, and engineering operations. In addition, he is responsible for the creation and monitoring of all company program management and engineering procedures and policies. Mr. Kraus also creates all project critical path method schedules and monitors the job costs on all company construction projects.

A graduate civil engineer, Mr. Kraus has worked for Grasis Corporation; Wagner, Hohns & Inglis; Minerich, Inc., and o2 Wireless Solutions. He has managed the construction of hundreds of communication sites in the US, as well as managing projects in Saudi Arabia, Central America, and the north slope of Alaska. A partial list of Mr. Kraus’ previous clients includes: Sprint, Xcel Energy, Cricket Communications, MCI, Norfolk Southern Railroad, Motorola, Cingular, Santa Fe Railroad, Cinergy, Union Electric, and the US Department of Energy.

Edward T. Richardson - Sr. Project Manager

Mr. Richardson has worked in the Wireless & Telecommunications industry for more than 20 years. In his current capacity with Liberty, he manages the day-to-day operations of all towers to include maintenance, repair, and lighting as well as oversees new tower site construction.

Prior to Liberty, Mr. Richardson was employed by SBA Network Services working under the parent SBA Towers. There he was involved directly with new tower builds and tenant additions on SBA and other existing towers, adding wireless infrastructure throughout the Northeast region. Before that, Mr. Richardson worked for o2wireless Solutions, a publically traded Wireless Telecommunications & Construction firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. There he coordinated the engineering and deployment of a 700 site PCS carrier network, along with managing new installations for various wireless carriers. Additionally, he managed an RF Safety project for a major tower site management firm gathering data and completing reports on 65 plus wireless sites across the country.

From 1990 to 1996 Mr. Richardson was employed by companies such as Alcatel, Sprint and Atlantic Cellular in various Engineering and Management capacities operating and maintaining Retail centers, cell sites, cellular switches and microwave transmission systems.

Mr. Richardson holds degrees from The Pennsylvania State University in Telecommunications Technology and Electrical Engineering Technology. He has been previously involved with the National Association of Tower Erectors in an associate capacity on the RF Safety Committee.

Clark T. Madigan - Founder & Managing Director

In the late 1980’s, Mr. Madigan identified communications towers as one of the main infrastructure components of the wireless industry with similar growth prospects as the wireless carriers, but with much higher operating margins. In early 1990, Mr. Madigan co-founded and served as President of TeleCom Towers, along with Mr. Sivertsen. Over the last six years, Mr. Madigan has also consulted with a number of small independent tower companies.

Mr. Madigan is a past Chairman of the Site Owners and Managers Division of PCIA, and has appeared frequently as a speaker on panels related to the finance and operations of tower companies. Since 1999, Mr. Madigan has served as a Managing Director of ForceNine, LLC, a finance and consulting firm which caters to the telecommunications industry. From 1999 to present, Mr. Madigan has served on the Boards of Westburg Media Capital Corp., Sierra Towers Investment Group, LLC (Mexico), Shared Towers Sites, LLC, Bay Communications, LLC, Mariner Towers LLC, and Real User Corporation.