​​Charles Cooper Jr., Sr. V.P. of Construction
Mr. Cooper (Founding Partner) oversees design/build operations for AIRRAIL. Mr. Cooper was instrumental in building the design/build team for Brooklyn Health Partners, which included minority/majority joint ventures for construction management and architecture on the $1 billion Long Island College Hospital redevelopment.
He began his career at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems as assistant project manager for the U.S. Navy’s late model battleship Program. In 2013, Mr. Cooper completed work as a research consultant for the United States Agency for International Development on a $50 million project in Liberia.
Mr. Cooper served as the vice chair of Manhattan Community Board 9, where he worked on Columbia University’s $7 billion campus expansion, with focus on local business inclusion and worked on the first rezoning of West Harlem in 60 years. He serves as Chairman for the African Advisory Council of the Bronx Borough President, which represents over 120,000 Africans and African businesses in the borough.
Mr. Cooper holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island, a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Administration from the College of Saint Rose and is currently pursuing an executive MBA at Cornell University.
Peter Lai, Senior Consultant
Peter Lai is a leader in civil/transportation engineer with international experience in both public and private sectors. Mr. Lai brings 42+ years of experience and expertise in multi-disciplined infrastructure projects that involve urban planning, transportation planning and engineering, multimodal system design and integration, project implementation and technical quality assurance. He was responsible for many studies and master planning associated with urban land use and transport systems, and has supervised numerous projects in U.S., China, and the Asia region, including over 200 toll roads in China.
Mr. Lai previously served as vice president and project director for Parsons Brinckerhoff International, managing the civil and transportation operations in Hong Kong and China region. Working for Parsons Brinckerhoff also extended Mr. Lai's experience globally, in particular, to the fast-growing region like Southeast Asia and China, where he managed the civil and transportation operations and participated in various types of large-scale infrastructure projects such as toll roads, rails, light-rail, airports and multimodal transfer facilities. Furthermore, his technical team had played major roles on many Infrastructure related Initial Public Offers (IPO) projects that are successfully listed in China and SE Asia Stock Exchanges.
Mr. Lai has a long-term relationship with New York Polytechnic University (now part of the New York University) where he earned his BS in civil engineering, MS in structural engineering, MS in transportation planning and engineering, and a post-graduate Degree of Engineer in transportation engineering.
He is currently an adjunct professor with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)and had served as graduate program lecturer for Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management of Hong Kong University.
Vince Morgan, Sr. V.P. of Development
Vincent Morgan has experience as a successful banker and management professional with expertise across several industry sectors. Mr. Morgan served as Vice President/Community Development Manager for New York State with TD Bank. He led the team responsible for the federally-mandated CRA obligations of the bank statewide. His primary focus was commercial lending to affordable housing developers, funding organizations that provide services to low-to-moderate income families and small business lending.
Mr. Morgan is credited with building bank relationships with some of the state’s most prominent business, real estate, non-profit and community entities. He was instrumental in over $10 million in investment in Upper Manhattan during his tenure at the bank. During this time Mr. Morgan also served as Chairman of the 125th Street Business Improvement District (BID), where he championed revitalization efforts of one of the world's most famous thoroughfares.
Additionally, Mr. Morgan served as the Director of Marketing and Information for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation. From 2001 thru 2004, Mr. Morgan was Special Assistant to Congressman Charles B. Rangel in his district office. In 2002, he served as the Campaign Director for Rangel's successful re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. Morgan currently serves as a board member of The Black Institute and Capital Prep Harlem, which is a new Charter High School opening in 2016.
Educated at Howard University, Mr. Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University's prestigious School of International and Public Affairs.