MOCA is a full-service government relations and consulting firm based in the U.S. Virgin Islands with a focus on the entire Caribbean region. We offer our clients legislative and regulatory consultation, strategic partnering, as well as business and real estate development services. We have a demonstrated track record of providing high-impact consulting services and grassroots organizing at the highest level of the government. MOCA currently has offices in the United States Virgin Islands and Illinois.
As full-service government relations and consulting firm, MOCA has built its foundation on the ability to help clients successfully develop their business practices in the Caribbean region, with an initial focus on the US Virgin Islands. We rely on our relationships in both the private and public sectors to make strategic introductions on behalf of our clients and help develop mutually beneficial partnerships.
Our firm excels in locating funding opportunities for clients within the current state budget and during the budgetary process as well as from private sources.
We provide legislative, regulatory, and administrative branch consultation. Our firm has considerable experience monitoring legislation and regulatory issues in the US Virgin Islands. Our firm relies on many years of experience, knowledge, and professional relationships to bring continued success to a wide range of clients. We use our experience in the legislative and regulatory areas to actively monitor all relevant issues while working to defeat or modify all actions with a potentially negative impact.
Our staff has established relationships with members and staff of the government of the US Virgin Islands to provide governmental and legislative services to our clients. We create opportunities for our clients to meet with legislative and executive branch leaders to educate them about our clients’ interests and address their needs and concerns. These meetings are mutually beneficial and help us facilitate a strong relationship between our clients and members of the government.
Our firm has extensive experience providing high-quality real estate development management. We can locate and analyze sites and obtain site control for new projects, maintain responsibility for assessing the financial feasibility of project development and operation, and conduct research on housing needs and market conditions for specific projects.
Our firm has experience providing high-quality software development management; managing the financial objectives of the project, and meeting project objectives. We can be responsible for assessing the financial feasibility of software development and operation. With high expertise in conducting research on software needs and market conditions for specific projects.
Michael Pemberton is the Founder and Managing Partner of Modern Caribbean, LLC (MOCA)
Read MoreLes Hollis has two decades of experience as an investment banker, private equity investor, and entrepreneur. Recently, Les has been focused on the burgeoning legal cannabis industry, investing out of his holding company (Hollis Ventures, LLC). Les has put together investor groups and applications in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas, and Maryland. In aggregate, Les has raised over $30 million for his medical cannabis entities. Les was introduced to the legal cannabis space in 2014 by putting together a group of investors in Illinois to form Illinois Grown Medicine (“IGM”), and from 2014-2017 served as its CEO where he oversaw operational oversight for a dispensary and a cultivation site; he currently maintains an equity stake. Notably, in 2015 IGM became the only African-American-owned and operated medical cannabis company to be awarded either a cultivation or dispensary license in the State of Illinois. Prior to joining IGM, Les served as a merchant banker for his own investment banking firm (Quaestus Capital) making investments in a range of industries. Prior to founding Quaestus in 2011, Les was a founder of Bivium Capital Partners, LLC, a fund-of-funds investment manager, and served as its chief executive officer from its inception in 2002 until his departure in 2010. During his tenure as CEO, Les was a member of the firm’s investment committee and responsible for the overall direction of the firm, which raised $1.5 billion from many of the world’s largest, most-respected pension funds. His clients included the corporate pension funds for IBM and PG&E; the States of Connecticut, Maryland, and Michigan; as well as New York City, San Francisco, Alameda County, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System
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