Barbuda Bay Developers
For many years, native Barbudan, Edmond Lavann took his family to Palm Beach on Low Bay in Barbuda for Sunday picnics and weekends. In 1949 he planted the first palm trees and built a cinder block weekend home. His grandson, Mike Branker, born in Queens, NY in 1952, went to elementary and high school in Antigua.
Mr. Branker graduated from Notre Dame in 1974 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He worked at Xerox in Rochester, NY while earning an MBA from the University of Rochester. He moved to Lincoln, NE in 1985 to open a Buick dealership.
Over the years, Mr. Branker often recalled with fondness his childhood memories of growing up on what he considered the most beautiful beach in the world. In 2000, he sold his business in order to pursue his dream of developing Lighthouse Bay. With its natural beauty and seclusion, it was easy to imagine Lighthouse Bay as the crown jewel of the Caribbean.
In 2001, Mr. Branker’s company, the Palm Beach Holding Company Limited, leased 16 acres of beautiful beach property from the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. Mr. Branker was one step closer to his vision as be became one of only a handful of businesses allowed to lease and develop properties on Barbudan land. A lease of an additional 30 acres of pristine beachfront land was later acquired. The lease grants the company the right to construct Barbuda Bay and Lighthouse Bay Resort, together with a limited number of private villas (“Barbuda Bay Villas”).
Patrick Kerrigan and Donald Dillon were engaged in 2003 to assist with the development of Lighthouse Bay. Mr. Dillon, a native Nebraskan and graduate of the University of Nebraska, spent ten years in the banking industry before founding Information Technology, Inc. (“ITI”). The company’s software and services were a success within the financial industry, capturing nearly 40% of market share by 1995. At this time, the company was sold to one of the largest providers of global banking services, Fiserv, Inc. Mr. Dillon retired as President and CEO of Fiserv, Inc. in 1999 and now serves as its chairman.
Mr. Kerrigan, also a native Nebraskan with a B.A. from the University of Nebraska, served as Chief Operating Officer of ITI and retired at the same time as Mr. Dillon in 1999. Mr. Kerrigan currently serves as the chairman of Solid State Inc., a Phoenix, AZ based company specializing in content delivery over the Internet.
Mr. Branker lives in Lincoln, NE. Mr. Kerrigan and Mr. Dillon both currently reside in Barefoot Beach, FL.
