Prior to founding Red Maple Homes, Mr. Bates spent 7 years in public accounting, including 5 years with the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, L.L.P., leaving as a Senior Associate in the Financial Services audit group. He then joined The Carlyle Group in Washington, DC, working in the Partnership Accounting and Tax Accounting groups and left as a Manager on the Tax Planning & Analysis team. Mr. Bates received a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia, and is a certified public accountant (VA).