Karl Arnold is the Vice President - Director of Global Sales & Marketing for the Insta-Pro Equipment division of Triple "F", Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa.  He has been with Triple "F" since 1983 in the following capacities:  Territory Sales Manager for the Nutrition division; Sales Manager, Vice President - National Sales & Marketing Manager for the Insta-Pro division; and Product Manger for the Nutrition division.  His practical experience is a result of being raised on a 240 sow farrow to finish farm.  He received his Associate of Applied Science Degree in Marketing and Management from Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa and received an award from USDA Rural Development for Leadership in Developing Value-Added Agriculture Projects in Rural Iowa.

Bill has an education background in Agricultural Business and Economics at Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University.  Bill has spent the past 19 years in various capacities within the agricultural industry.  He has spent time living and working throughout Europe, Australia and the Americas.  His involvement in the Industry has ranged from Sales, Market Development, International Development, Commercial Management, and Ingredient Procurement and most recently in the arena of by-product sourcing and marketing with particular interest in the utilization of renewable fuels by-products.  Bill offices out of Tomball, Texas.

Upon graduating in 1975 with a BBA from Texas A&M University Lee immediately went to work for ADA Resources, Inc.  ADA Resources is the petroleum marketing subsidiary of Adams Resources & Energy, Inc. in Houston, Texas.  Founded in 1946 by K. S. "Bud" Adams, Jr., ADA Resources has been involved with branded and unbranded fuel and lubricant distribution in the gulf coast market for over 60 years.  Lee just complete his 30th year with the organization and currently serves as its Executive Vice President.

Jim Boushka is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Smithfield BioEnergy, LLC.  Smithfield has a biodiesel plant in Cleburne, Texas.  Jim is responsible for all sales, marketing, distribution of feedstocks and finished products for the company.  Jim has been in the finished product and ethanol business since 1983 and had ethanol and sob-octane terminals in Texas.  Jim has been in the biodiesel business for four years and is currently a minority owner of Smithfield BioEnergy, LLC.

Wesley Box serves as a Business Development Manager for Holcim's Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials (AFR) Program, known commercially as Energis. Holcim (US) Inc. is one of the largest suppliers of Portland and blended cement and related mineral components in the United States.Wesley specializes in identifying industrial by-products currently being managed as wastes for use in the cement-making process. In addition to his 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the environmental services industry, Wesley served five years with the Texas agency responsible for enforcing environmental regulations.  Starting as a field investigator, Wesley was eventually promoted to Deputy Division Director of Field Operations where he managed the day-to-day operations of 14 field offices. Wesley received his Bachelor of Environmental Science degree from Texas State University and earned an MBA from St. Edward's University.

Cynthia Cherry is a Senior Manager in the Multistate Tax Practice of Deloitte Tax LLP Houston office primarily directing the excise tax function. She has directed excise tax compliance with up to 500 returns on the monthly excise tax calendar averaging over $2 Billion in annual tax payments.  Cynthia has handled audit defense for various clients and provides consulting for taxability, law, audits and reporting.  She also managed customer set-up functions as liaison with business units including accounting, terminals, refineries, retail facilities, and marketing groups and is involved in taxability determination for client customers.

Cynthia earned a BBA in Administration from Delta State University,Mississippi and is a member of National Association of Black Accountants, Inc.  Before entering public accounting, Cynthia led the excise tax reporting group at Pennzoil Corporation.

Graciela de Marzio is the Vice President – Biofuels & Feedstocks for Tecnon OrbiChem, USA, a fully owned subsidiary of Tecnon OrbiChem, a London based multinational consulting firm with over 20 years of experience in chemical, petrochemical, thermoplastic and synthetic fibre markets and industries, recently branched out to biofuels.  Prior to joining the consulting industry Ms. de Marzio worked as a petrochemical international trader for 20 years covering a wide range of products on a global basis, thus having extensive marketing and sales experience in the North American, Latin American, European and Asian markets.  Ms. de Marzio also has a sound understanding of all business aspects relating to the movement of products across national borders, including but not limited to marketing strategy, logistics, legal support and quality, sustainability and environmental related issues.  Ms. de Marzio interacts regularly with all agents in the biodiesel supply chain on a worldwide basis, which allows for a global perspective available to interested parties through Biodiesel Business Focus, a Tecnon OrbiChem monthly publication being launched in Q3, 2007 and to be distributed electronically in a PDF file format.  Ms. de Marzio has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (1983) a MBA degree from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil (2005). She also concluded the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation (2006).  Ms. de Marzio, residing currently in Houston, U.S., was born and raised in Brazil by European parents, thus having a multicultural background, being fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, English and Italian.

Eric Geisler is a Director in the Houston office of Duff & Phelps, LLC and is the Southwest Area Leader for the Business Incentives Advisory Practice.  Eric has more than 15 years of experience within the areas of economic development incentives and tax credits, corporate site selection and public/private financing.  He has served in numerous economic development and incentives consulting positions including Director of National Business Development for the Texas Department of Commerce, Director of Business Development for West Texas Utilities and most recently as Senior Manager at Ernst & Young.  Eric has over 20 years of experience working in the Texas Legislature, having held various legislative and campaign positions for three state senators. He was a founding member of InvesTexas, an association which led the successful lobbying effort for the creation of the Texas franchise tax credits.  Eric has since been involved in statutory changes to these and other incentives in subsequent legislative sessions.  He is a past chairman of the Texas Economic Development Council and is an active member of CoreNet Global and, the Association for Corporate Growth.  Eric holds a BS in Finance from St. Edwards University in Austin and is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.

Geoff Haney is a trader for Cape and Son in Abilene, Texas.  Cape and Son is a feed merchandising company with a primary focus on trading, warehousing, and shipping cottonseed products and other feed ingredient commodities to the dairy and beef cattle markets in Texas, the Southwest, and the West Coast. Geoff received his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Texas Tech University.  He is a current class member of the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL) program and is a director for the Cottonseed and Feed Association.

Scott setup and ran the Washington D.C. office of the National Biodiesel Board, spearheading federal regulatory efforts, for the past one and a half years.  He previously served as State Regulatory Director for NBB, responsible for tracking regulatory and legislative initiatives impacting biodiesel nationwide.

Scott has a broad governmental affairs background having worked on Capitol Hill, the Missouri Legislature and Governor’s office, as well as in the California Legislature under the Speaker pro Tem of the House.

John Illgen is the Director of Substrate Sourcing and Logistics for Microgy, Inc., a Subsidiary of Environmental Power Corporation. He is a 1980 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a BA in Economics.  Joining Microgy in May 2006, he has been responsible for developing and executing the substrate sourcing plan for Microgy’s Huckabay Ridge Renewable Natural Gas Production facility.  John Illgen’s experience includes 10 years trading fats and oils for Anamax Corporation (now Sanimax).   

Bob King is the principal founder and president of Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. and owner of King Diesel in Hawaii.  Bob has been a diesel mechanic for almost thirty years, and owned and managed King Diesel, his first business, from 1981 until selling it in 2006 to concentrate on the biodiesel business.  King Diesel was conceived as a diesel engine service primarily for the marine industry on Maui.  Over the past fifteen years, King Diesel changed its focus to sales and service of emergency standby generator sets and became the Maui dealer for Cummins/Onan Generators and Cummins marine Engines.  Bob resides on Maui, where he founded Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. in 1996.  Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. was one of the first commercial biodiesel producers in the United States and the Maui operation boasts the first retail biodiesel pump in the country.  Pacific Biodiesel now owns and operates two biodiesel production facilities in Hawaii – one on Maui and the other on Oahu. Most of Pacific Biodiesel’s Hawaii production is currently processed from waste vegetable oil as the biodiesel plant was first developed by King to help alleviate the dumping of waste cooking oil in the landfill.  The story and mission of Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. has been recorded in a feature-length documentary, Revolution Green, produced by an independent filmmaker and has thus far screened at three film festivals, including the recent Maui Film Festival.

Pacific Biodiesel is currently researching prospects for oilseed crop production in Hawaii.  In addition to its own Hawaii-based production facilities, Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. has built commercial biodiesel production facilities for clients in Japan, Virginia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Maryland and California. In July 2005 PB opened a biodiesel production facility in Salem, Oregon of which it is the majority owner and Managing Partner.  PB is also the Managing Partner of Pacific Biodiesel Texas, a joint venture with Willie Nelson and friends.

In late 2006 Bob co-founded the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, with wife Kelly, biodiesel enthusiasts Daryl Hannah, Annie Nelson and Laura Louie, local attorneys Ed Zwick and Edward Hsi, and Mike Bowman of the 25 x 25 Group.  The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance was created to bring focus back to the original impetus for the biodiesel industry:  sustainable, community-based energy production.

Kelly King is currently the Vice President and Director of Marketing and Communications for Pacific Biodiesel.  A Maui resident for 27 years, Kelly co-founded the biodiesel company with her husband Robert King in 1996.  Pacific Biodiesel was created to help alleviate the disposal of waste cooking oil at the island’s landfill and became the first commercial retail biodiesel company in the .  In 2006, together with Daryl Hannah and Willie and Annie Nelson, Kelly co-founded the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, a non-profit organization that seeks to develop standards and criteria, as well as verification protocol, for sustainable biodiesel practices.  Hard Rock Café has committed to becoming the premier corporate sponsor for this worthy cause.  Kelly has held many volunteer positions in the community, including president of the Board of Directors for Hui Malama Learning Center.  Prior to that, she was elected and served as the Maui District representative on the Hawaii State Board of Education for four years.  She has also been on the Maui County Council of Boy Scouts’ Board of Directors, the Decisions Maui Implementation Steering Committee, the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Committee, and has been actively involved with many other community projects and organizations, including Girl Scouts, Montessori of Maui, and coordinating three public playground construction projects.

Kelly’s current project with Pacific Biodiesel involves developing an expansive project to test biodiesel fuel crops in Hawaii.  To this end, she helped create the Biodiesel Consortium of Hawaii, an informal working group which has brought industry, researchers, local agriculture interests and government entities together to share ideas and support mutually beneficial efforts.  In addition, working through Clean Cities, Honolulu, Kelly was recently instrumental in securing an EPA grant to test selected crop species for their biodiesel potential.  Other marketing successes of late include Pacific Biodiesel’s inclusion in an October 2006 Time Magazine article on recycling and the recent openings of biodiesel pumps at two Union 76 stations on Oahu.

Mayor Frederick Reed O’Connor is a graduate of St. Thomas High School, Houston, Texas and University of Notre Dame.  Fred and his wife of 40 years, Patsy, and their three children settled in the city of Oak Ridge North.  Mayor O’Connor was elected to his position four years ago and prior to that was a city counsel member for eight years. He serves on the board of directors for Town Center Improvement District in The Woodlands, Texas on their executive committee and serves as their treasurer.
He also holds the position of Director of BioFuels Power Corporation. Biofuels is the company that produces “green” power to the residents and business’s of Oak Ridge North. In the future he is developing a plan to convert The Woodlands, Texas to “green” power, The Woodlands is one of the fastest growing planned communities in the country.  In his spare time, Fred is on the Board of Directors of The Woodlands Kiwanis (community service organization) where he chairs the local elementary mentoring program and works with the club on the annual Special Olympics program.

Chris Pepper is an associate attorney with the Austin Office of Jackson Walker, LLP.  His client work focuses on air quality and environmental permitting matters. Chris received his JD and MS (Environmental Toxicology) from Texas Tech University and his BA (Biology) from Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Jackson Walker, Chris was in private practice where he represented a variety of biodiesel producers, distributors, and marketers.  He has also served as a Staff Attorney in the Air and Water Quality Sections at the TCEQ, and as a Senior Research Associate with the Institute of Environmental and Human Health in Lubbock, Texas.  He is a member of the State Bar of Texas (Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Intellectual Property Law Sections) and licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Jeff Plowman is president/co-founder of Austin Biofuels, LLC and vice-president/treasurer of the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas (BCOT).  Mr. Plowman has been involved in biodiesel related issues since 2000 and has worked in all aspects of the business from feedstock procurement to product placement.  Currently, he is working to develop new Texas based feedstocks for biodiesel production.  He holds a B.A. in Geography from The University of Texas at Austin.

Austin Biofuels, LLC is a clean-energy company focused on the production and distribution of biodiesel.  Austin Biofuels was founded in 2003 and was one of the first biodiesel retailers in the State of Texas.  Austin Biofuels has expanded their capabilities in Central Texas by working with petroleum distributors to deliver a full range of biodiesel blends.  Expanded capabilities include a local biodiesel blending rack and a custom processing agreement with SafeFuels, Inc. to produce biodiesel to our own specifications.  This insures that we sell only the highest quality ASTM6751 biodiesel. "Our goal is to reduce emissions in our city, as well as, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, all while keeping more of our energy dollar in our own community".  Austin Biofuels, LLC is a Clean Energy Incubator member company.

Mr. Scott joined the National Biodiesel Board in February of this year as their Technical & Regulatory Engineer.  His background is in environmental engineering.  He previously worked for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources where he served as chief of drinking water permits and chief of surface water.

David Shiflett joined World Energy Alternatives, LLC in May 2006 as the VP of Business Development for the Southeast Region of the U.S.  Prior to joining World Energy, David spent 15 years in the petroleum business with a large regional wholesaler and retailer.  He served as Vice President of Supply and Distribution and supervised the sales, purchasing, and distribution of over 200,000,000 gallons annually of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Chelsea, MA based World Energy Alternatives, LLC is the nation’s premier distributor of biodiesel--an alternative, biodegradable, and clean-burning fuel made from renewable resources such as vegetable oils.  With regional offices in Georgia, Ohio, California, and Europe, World Energy prides itself on quality products, reliable supply, and innovative thinking to alternative energy solutions.  World Energy also owns and operates a biodiesel production facility in Lakeland, FL.

David earned his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Business Administration from the University of Georgia in 1990.

Kathy Shugart has 29 years experience in the fuels & lubricants industry. She began her career with Hermar Oil Company where she spent 8 years as Administrative Assistant before Hermar was acquired by Threadgill Oil Company. She spent 10 years with Threadgill Oil  as their Operations Manager and outside fuel and Mobil lubricants Sales Representative. 

Triple S Petroleum bought Threadgill Oil Co. in 1995 where she continued as an outside Sales Representative for their fuels division and began marketing various brands of lubricants for their sister company, Allied Sales.

In 1999, she was promoted to General Manager of the fuels division at Triple S Petroleum where she has been an integral part in the growth of the company, helping to make them one of the largest fuel distributors in the area. 

Triple S Petroleum began processing, blending & distributing Biodiesel in July of 2005.  They now have 31 retails locations for consumers to purchase blended biodiesel, making Austin the number one city in the nation for retail availability, as reported by the National Biodiesel Board in a July 21, 2006 press release.

Nathan Smithson is an associate in the Tax section of Jackson Walker. His practice encompasses two distinct areas -- federal income taxation and employee benefits and executive compensation. In the federal income tax area, Mr. Smithson routinely handles partnership and limited liability company transactions, such as formations, roll-ups and divisions; corporate transactions, such as taxable and tax-free reorganizations and acquisitions; the formation of oil & gas partnerships; planning for general oil & gas transactions; planning for like-kind exchanges; planning for the manufacturing and use of biodiesel fuels based on the current federal excise tax system; and managing GO Zone transactions. In the area of employee benefits and executive compensation, Mr. Smithson routinely handles such tasks as analyzing deferred compensation plans for 409A compliance; making Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) filings with the Internal Revenue Service; making delinquent filer submissions with the Department of Labor; reviewing cafeteria plans; drafting equity compensation arrangements for partnerships and limited liability companies; and drafting restricted stock plans.

Ben Weinheimer works with cattle feedyards to resolve specific regulatory issues and is responsible for several of the association’s service programs, including the Beef Safety and Quality Assurance Program, Employee Safety Services Program, Environmental Services Program, and the USDA-approved Quality Systems Assessment Program for age and source verification of export cattle.  In addition, he is responsible for the association's research programs and funding.
  He joined the TCFA staff in July 1995 as regulatory manager and was named vice president in March 2006.  Weinheimer grew up on a diversified grain and livestock operation near Groom, where he still lives.  He graduated in December 1994 from Texas A&M University with a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
 Ben is currently serving as Chair of the Texas Section of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.  Since 2005, he has been a member of the Panhandle Water Planning Group…addressing water supply and demand issues for the Texas Panhandle.  In 2006, he was appointed by Secretary Mike Johanns to USDA’s Agricultural Air Quality Task Force to advise and make recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture.