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Charlie is a co-founder and managing director of FreshTracks Capital, L.P., based in Middlebury, Vermont, which manages $11 million in Limited Partner capital. FreshTracks co-invests in early stage companies, primarily in New England, with Village Ventures, a national fund development group that serves a network of fourteen similar regionally or sector-based venture funds.
Before launching FreshTracks in 2000, Kireker co-founded in 1993 Green Mountain Capital, L.P., a mezzanine Small Business Investment Company that invested in more than 30 companies in northern New England. Earlier, Charlie launched Twin Birches, Ltd. in Middlebury in 1986 to specialize in downtown commercial revitalization and neighborhood development projects. Kireker also co-founded North Country Angels in 1999, which convenes regularly to source and diligence investments in companies throughout northern New England. He is an experienced angel investor, Board member and consultant to emerging growth companies in Vermont, including VEMAS, Vermont Teddy Bear, EatingWell: The Magazine of Food and Health, Autumn Harp, and eesa.
Active with numerous Boards, Kireker serves on the Investment Committees of the Vermont Community Foundation, Vermont Public Radio and Shelburne Farms, which collectively have almost $150 million under management. Charlie served ten years on Governor Dean’s Council of Economic Advisors and also Environmental Advisors; he continues to serve for Governor Douglas on the Council of Environmental Advisors, and is a Director of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the Vermont Technology Council and Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce. Kireker has worked closely with the Orton Family Foundation, and was a founding Board member of the VT Forum on Sprawl. He has been active in Addison County as a founding member of the Revolving Loan Fund and former Board member of the Middlebury Business Association.
Charlie formerly chaired the Board of the Vermont Land Trust, and recently co-chaired their successful $25 million capital campaign. He also was vice chair of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board during its first five years of operation.
During the early and mid-80's, Kireker was CEO of the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency in Boston, and before that served as the Executive Director of the Program in State and Local Government at Harvard’s JFK School. Kireker graduated from Princeton University (BA,1972) and Harvard University (MPP, 1981). He resides in Weybridge, VT, having moved to Vermont with his wife and twin sons in 1986. | 