Jon Reiter is the founder of Cavalrei (pronounced ‘Cavalry’), a consultancy offering services in the agriculture, finance, solar and water/water storage industries. From 2013-2019, Jon served as the CEO of Maricopa Orchards, a leading almond, pistachio and fresh produce grower with over 50,000 acres under management. Jon led the company on, among many other things, a multi-pronged water strategy that included federal and state surface water, long term surface water contracts and underground water storage. Jon also founded Maricopa Sun in 2009, a utility scale solar development partnership with the principals of Maricopa Orchards.
Jon sits on the boards of Wheeler Ridge Maricopa Water Storage District, White Wolf Groundwater Sustainability Agency, Arroyo Passajero Mutual Water Company, Nickel Family Farms, Dave Wilson Nursery and Sustainable Conservation.
Jon is also the sole owner of McConnell Farms, an owner-operator of almond, blueberry and pistachio ranches in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
Prior to joining Maricopa Orchards, Jon was a finance attorney for Milbank where he represented developers, lenders and investors in the water and renewable energy industries. Prior to Milbank, Jon worked for British Telecommunications (BT), a Global Fortune 500 communications company, where he was responsible for global procurement and real estate transactions as well as leading BT’s renewable energy efforts in the Americas. Jon joined BT upon the sale of his prior technology company to BT in 2004. Prior to BT, Jon was a mergers and acquisitions attorney with O’Melveny.
Jon graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree emphasizing in Political Science/Environmental Science Policy and Management. Jon went on to earn his JD/MBA from the University of Southern California. Jon is a member of the California State Bar, a California real estate broker and a private pilot.