Our Management
Our team is made up of veteran entrepreneurs and petroleum industry chemical engineers with proven track records in building companies and chemical production plants.
Our executive team members have many years of combined experience in large-scale infrastructure intensive business start-ups, executive management, chemical engineering and fuels production. We have assembled a management team and business partners that collectively, give us the ability to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously and to maximize the profit potential of new products while at the same time managing the risks associated with significant capital investments.
Chief Executive Officer
Ed Driscoll is an entrepreneur who has founded a variety of high-growth service and infrastructure companies. As co-founder, chairman and CEO of WAM!NET Inc., Driscoll led the company from a two person start-up to a global IT service provider with more than $1 billion in contracted revenue. In the process, he raised over $1 billion in capital through a range of financial facilities. Today the company is owned by Harris Corporation, and manages the entire Internet infrastructure for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Ernst and Young selected Mr. Driscoll as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000. He serves on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards, including the Science Museum of Minnesota where he serves as audit committee chair. Formerly, he served on the board of the Center of Graphic Communications Management and Technology at New York University. A native Minnesotan, Driscoll is a graduate of St. John's University and holds an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.
Chief Financial Officer
Geoff Boyd is a veteran CFO with over 17 years of experience in business and finance. He has arranged over $3 billion of financings in a variety of forms including private and public debt and equity. From 2000 to 2007, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Eschelon Telecom where he was instrumental in helping to grow the business from a private company with approximately $40 million in revenue to a public company with over $345 million in revenue. The company was generating EBITDA of approximately $80 million and was solidly profitable at the time of its sale to its closest competitor for $711 million in September of 2007. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Boyd served in a variety of executive roles at Dobson Communications, one of the largest rural cellular telephone providers in the United States. He started his career in banking, working for CoreStates Bank in telecommunications finance. He is currently on the board of Worldgate Communications (ticker WGAT.OB) and is the audit committee chair. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1989.
Chief Technology Officer
Ian Mackay has 30 years of experience commercializing technology, forming and managing high-technology companies. He is a published author of scientific research and a patent holder for integrated biofuels production processes. Trained as a chemist, with a Masters degree in Material Science and Engineering, he started his career working on clean tech applications for a Fortune 50 chemical products company. He later founded a high-technology research and development organization that developed novel methods for thin and thick film processing. He also spent 18 years in the computer industry during which time he founded a computer company (Epoch) that developed a unique file server product based on his design. Epoch was eventually acquired by EMC, a leader in computer storage systems. In addition, Mackay has worked at Digital Equipment, Data General Corporation and Tricord Systems of Minneapolis, Minnesota. At these organizations, his roles included executive management, strategic planning, product management, marketing, sales, sales management and systems engineering. He has led new product development programs, developed sales and business development teams, created strategic partnerships and closed major new business deals with Fortune 50 companies. Mackay has a BS in Chemistry from Tufts University, an MS in Material Science and Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, an MPA from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the Carlson School at the University of Minnesota.
Vice President of Operations
Erik Schuck is a proven leader with extensive experience in the waste hauling and waste processing business. He started his career at Cintas Corporation, which Forbes named as on of the world's 400 "most attractive big public companies for investors." Schuck quickly worked his way into a senior leadership role by turning around struggling businesses and as a result was one of the youngest General Managers at Cintas. He then moved to the environmental services industry with leaders Allied Waste and most recently with Republic Services. During his tenure he successfully led the integration and merger of three separate Business Units bringing his scope of responsibility to $100 Million in annual revenue. He oversaw six divisions that included Hauling Operations, Transfer Stations, and two Material Recovery Facilities (MRF's). The combined recycle volumes at the Material Recovery Facilities put them as one of the largest and most respected producers in the Midwest. Schuck also successfully executed a multi-million dollar retro fit of state of the art recycling equipment at one of his MRF's. Schuck graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
General Counsel
James B. Lockhart is an entrepreneur and attorney with deep experience in business formation, corporate strategy, intellectual property and green energy development projects. He is "of counsel" to the law firm of Smith Partners PLLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and previously served as General Counsel to Bill Graham Archives, LLC d/b/a Wolfgang's Vault, an internet-based business from 2005 to 2008. From 2001 to 2005, Lockhart was General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Fiserv Health, Inc., one of the country's largest third party payers of medical claims on behalf of self-insured employers. From 2000 to 2001, he served as Chief Financial Officer for Medtox Scientific, Inc., a toxicology company and drug testing company. Prior to that, Lockhart practiced law for over 25 years with two national law firms specializing in business formations and mergers and acquisitions. Lockhart has a law degree from the University of Minnesota and a BA degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.
Vice President Of Business Development
Steven Wachter is an established leader with a 25+ year history of building businesses. Initially trained as a scientist, he has substantial experience in developing sales platforms and formulating business growth plans in a variety of industries.Most recently, Steve was active developing new markets in the telecommunications business with long-tenured assignments at Ameritech (AT&T), Eschelon, and Integra Telecom and held positions of EVP of Sales, SVP/General Manager, and COO. Prior to his experience in telecommunications, Steve held progressive sales leadership positions in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industries. During his 8 year tenure at Eschelon, Steve was a key contributor in transforming the company from a sub $40 million private company, to a fast growing $340 million+ public company with consistent quarter over quarter sales volume growth and profit. He started his career in laboratory sciences after graduating from State University of New York at Geneseo.
Business Advisory Board Chair
Nate Garvis is an accomplished business executive, communications and public engagement expert and political strategist. He is Founder of Naked Civics and For many years was the Vice President of Government Affairs for Target Corporation, responsible for political, legislative, and regulatory affairs at all levels of government. Garvis is recognized as a thought leader in integrated public engagement strategies and emerging trends in relationships between multi-national corporations, non-governmental advocacy groups, and government institutions. He is a past chairman of the Washington, D.C.–based Public Affairs Council, and immediate past chairman of the Foundation for Public Affairs. He serves on the executive committees of several business and academic boards, including the California Business Properties Association, on which he serves as chairman, and the Boston College International Center for Corporate Citizenship. A former policy fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota, he serves on the board of the Institute's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, and on the executive committee of the non-partisan Citizens League. He holds a BA in History from the University of Minnesota and a JD from the University of Oregon.
Technical Advisory Board Chair
Lanny Schmidt, PhD Chemistry, is a Regents professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. After earning a BS in Chemistry from Wheaton College, Schmidt began working as a research scientist for Abbott Laboratories. At the same time, he earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, and conducted postdoctoral research, at the University of Chicago. At the University of Minnesota, Schmidt has supervised approximately 85 Ph.D. theses and 15 M.S. theses at Minnesota, and 11 of his former students hold university teaching positions. He holds 15 patents, and has published more than 340 papers in refereed journals. Schmidt has served on advisory committees for the University of Wisconsin and UCLA, on a review panel for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and on a technical advisory board for Dow Chemical Company. He has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a founding fellow of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota. Schmidt is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and of the Working Group Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment. ^