David C. Benoit

David C. Benoit is the Director at Middlesex Health. David was previously the President & CEO of Connecticut Water from January 1996 to December 2019. During their tenure, they led 300 team members to deliver high-quality water service to communities while protecting the environment and paying above-average returns to shareholders. David cultivated positive and enduring relationships with investors, regulators and financial communities based upon trust and reliable delivery on promises. David also led and directed initiative implementing entity’s first Risk Management Program designed to mitigate entity vulnerabilities. The program, which was board supported, helped develop management capabilities while providing greater transparency to shareholders through increased expansive disclosures.

During their tenure, Connecticut Water successfully integrated over 20 private water systems in Connecticut and Maine. These acquisitions, all requiring state regulatory approval, solved public health and water supply issues for local communities and allowed for increased access to capital for needed infrastructure investment. David also implemented unregulated operations that increased annual revenue approximately 10% through offering of “Service Line Protection Plan” for existing customers.

Some of their notable accomplishments include shepherding the fifth-largest U.S. publicly traded water utility through a transformative merger to create the second-largest U.S.-based pure-play water utility, completing acquisitions that grew assets and customer base 40% during their 23-year tenure, expanding the new business line of unregulated operations, and increasing the market capitalization of the company from $100MM to $700MM during their tenure. The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of SJW group (NYSE: SJW).

David C. Benoit has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Hartford and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Central Connecticut State University. David is also certified by the Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) as a CPA.