Our Team
Joseph Borkowski, President and Co-founder
Joe is an engineering graduate of Marquette University, and also has an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. He has a successful 25+ year career as an entrepreneur and renewable energy developer. During the last 10 years before co-founding Minnesota Solar Connection (MSC), he held leadership positions at two international renewable energy developers and has been responsible for over 500 MWs of solar and wind projects being developed and/or constructed. His last solar project prior to MSC was a 5.9 MW ground mount installation at the University of Illinois completed in November of 2015 in Champaign, Illinois.
Terrence E. Troy, Chairman and Co-founder
Terry co-founded Real Estate Equities, Inc., a 40 year old St. Paul based real-estate development and management firm. In that role he has acquired, developed and managed over 10,000 apartment units and apartment investments valued at several hundred million dollars. Services to these properties included equity syndication, mortgage financing, development services and sale of the Federal housing tax credits. Terry grew up in St Paul, attended St Thomas Academy and graduated from Dartmouth College.
Charles Nickoloff, Vice President
Charlie has co-founded and managed several successful startups in the marketing, media and publishing fields over the last 20 years. He has been involved in raising more than $150 million in public and private investment, has served in various corporate management positions, and he oversaw the creation of several award-winning products and services, including global top-selling interactive publishing titles. Charlie, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a lifelong Minnesota native and focuses on landowner relations, investor relations and sales of Community Solar Gardens for MSC.
Andrew Melka, Vice President
Andy, a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, is a veteran of approximately 350 MW of renewable energy development along with managing a team of solar developers out of San Francisco before joining MSC. He is focused on land acquisition and solar development activities.
