Commissioner Staples is confirmed to give a Keynote Address during the Opening General Assembly on Thursday, September 18th at 8:00am.  He will provide a Texas Policy Update.

Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples has an outstanding record of getting things done. While serving first in the Texas House of Representatives and later as a state senator, Staples was a recognized leader on such critical issues as worker’s compensation reform, private property owners’ rights, natural resources, school finance and education just to name a few.

As Agriculture Commissioner, he continues to pursue policies that enable economic strength, youth development, healthy lifestyles and consumer protection. He is charting a course to bring job creation to rural Texas, further the promotion of Texas products around the world, and help farmers and ranchers face tomorrow’s challenges and increase profit margins through the use of new technologies and value-added processing.

Bob Avant currently serves as Bioenergy Program Director at Texas AgriLife Research a part of the Texas A&M University System. He is a Registered Professional Engineer licensed to practice in Texas and has 31 years of public and private sector experience including: Bioenergy research management, Agricultural production logistics, Food, fiber, and oilseed research management, Agricultural air quality engineering, Environmental site selection and evaluation, Environmental systems design and Biomass and wind energy research management. Mr. Avant has a M.S. and B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is a member of The American Society of Biological and Agricultural Engineers, an advisor for The Cotton Incorporated Texas State Support Committee, serves on the Texas A&M College of Agriculture Development Council, the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task, President of the Williamson County Farm Bureau and is on the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo Board of Directors.

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 completed his 32nd year with the organization and currently serves as its Executive Vice President.

Michael Bowman is a fifth-generation Colorado production agriculturalist, born and raised on the family farm and ranch in Yuma County, Colorado.  He serves on the National Steering Committee for “"25x'25",  served as Chair of Colorado's New Energy Future in 2006 and was co-chair of Governor-elect Bill Ritter's energy policy transition team. He was a member of the 2005 TransAtlantic Dialogue on Climate Change and was active in Colorado’s “Amendment 37” campaign, the nation’s first citizen-initiated renewable portfolio standard. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Conservation Voters and as a steering committee member for the Colorado Climate Action Plan and the National Leadership Summit for a Sustainable America. Michael is a founding board member of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, a member of the Farm Foundation Bennett Agricultural Roundtable, co-chairs the Colorado Farm-to-Cafeteria Coalition and is a recent recipient of the Gamma Sigma Delta “Distinguished Achievement in Agriculture” award by Colorado State University. Throughout his adult life he has been active in the rural development initiatives both domestically and internationally, serving on the National Council of Advisors for both the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in Lincoln, NE and Holistic Management International in Albuquerque where he has participated in a grasslands sustainability project near Victoria Falls, . Michael is a graduate of the Colorado Agriculture and Rural Leadership program, a Next Generation Fellow in Columbia University’s American Assembly and is a Bighorn Fellow.

Bob Dinneen is the President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the national trade association for the ethanol industry. As such, he is the ethanol industry’s lead lobbyist before the Congress and Administration. Mr. Dinneen joined the RFA in 1988 as Legislative Director, and became President in July of 2001. In this capacity he has led the association’s effort to build coalitions in order to provide for marketplace growth for the industry. Most recently, these coalitions have resulted in expanding the historic Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to 36 billion gallons by 2022, as well as passage of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC). In 2008 he was named one of the top lobbyists by Washington, DC’s The Hill newspaper. Dinneen currently serves on the DOE/USDA Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. Mr. Dinneen has presented testimony before the Congress and Federal agencies on numerous occasions, and represented the ethanol industry’s interests at state, national and international forums. Prior to joining the RFA, Mr. Dinneen worked on Capitol Hill for various Members of Congress and Congressional committees. Mr. Dinneen graduated from the Catholic University of America with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.

Brad Douglass is the President of Douglass Distributing located in Sherman, TX.  Douglass Distributing is a family owned company that was founded in 1981.  The business includes distribution of wholesale fuels, lubricants, and propane.  Douglass Distributing supplies biodiesel in North Texas to customers like the City of Dallas, City of Irving, Denton County, and several of the surrounding school districts.  DDC has developed a private label bio diesel called BioEnergy Fuel for the Retail market.  Brad currently serves on the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America’s Legislative Committee, Board of Directors of the Texas Petroleum and Convenience Association, the Sherman Education Foundation’s Board of Trustees, and the Sherman Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors.  He has spoken on various petroleum topics at conferences across the country.  Brad and his wife, Rena, currently reside in Sherman, TX with their two children.

Judy Fort is responsible for Rural Economic Development in Central Texas and the Coastal Bend for the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA). Her duties for the department are directed at increasing economic activity in rural areas and include assisting producer groups with special initiatives such as producing biofuels. Additional responsibilities include presentations to economic development organizations, tourism development groups and community planners.  Judy assists constituents with business planning, permitting, financing, and technical information. She joined TDA in January 2000 following 12 years service with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, where she specialized in the economic development sales tax, as well as sales and use tax.   Judy graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a dual major in International Business and Finance. She is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute and a founding member of the Rural Alliance for Renewable Energy. Judy, who grew up on a farm in West Central Missouri, continues an active partnership with her brother in the family ag operation.

Jess Hewitt is Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Hydrocarbon, Inc, the premier provider of biodiesel to the petroleum industry. Hewitt has many years of oil and gas experience in marketing and trading for companies such as Transco Energy, Coast Gas (Now Cornerstone Propane), Hydrocarbon Processing, Equiva Trading, and Enron Energy Services. He served on the advisory board for the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) propane and natural gas contracts. Jess currently serves as a board member and the Marketing Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board and as President of the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas (BCOT). He has published articles on fuel and trading in Biofuels International, EnergyDigital.net, FUEL, Oil and Gas Journal, NYMEX in the News, and Propane Vehicle Magazine and has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Houston Business Journal, Houston Post, and Houston Chronicle newspapers. He is also a long-time member of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and for many years has served on the SCCA Houston Region Board of Directors and is a former Regional Executive. He has raced in Solo2, Formula Ford, Spec Racer Renault and Spec Racer Ford as well as Formula Mazda in SCCA club races. He has also sponsored and organized professional motorsports events in Houston. Jess Hewitt holds a BS degree in Economics from University of Houston.

Kurt Lyell has been involved in various roles in the biodiesel industry for over four years.  These roles include: biodiesel marketing, production, quality control, and fleet sales.  Kurt Lyell is a mechanical engineer, and a resident of Austin, Texas.  Mr. Lyell is a co-founder of Austin Biofuels, LLC and was a project manager for Safe Renewables Corporation, in the Woodlands, TX. Kurt is on the review committee for BQ-9000, and has worked in several ISO 9000 manufacturing environments including the Trane Company, Motorola, Applied Materials, Hyundai, Advanced Micro Devices, and Freescale Semiconductor.  Kurt is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and is currently working in the Renewable Energy Department of CH2M HILL.  Kurt is the current co-chair of the biofuels sub-committee with Texas Renewable Industries Association (TREIA).

Bob is currently the leader of the Non-Petroleum Based Fuels task at NREL, which focuses on product R&D for renewable transportation fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol. Research areas include fuel and blending component quality and quality specifications, stability, compatibility with modern engines, pollutant emissions effects, and impact on engine and emission control system durability. This task also supports development of energy policy as applied to renewable fuels and the transportation sector.  Bob is a recipient of the MRI/Battelle Chairman’s Award for Exceptional Performance (2005), the National Biodiesel Board’s Eye on Biodiesel Innovation Award (2006), and the MRI/Battelle H.M. Hubbard Award for outstanding leadership and initiative in science and technology management (2008). Work in previous positions included diesel emission studies, fundamental studies of heterogeneous catalysts, and process development for coal upgrading and gasification. Bob is a native of Oklahoma, and has lived in Colorado for 20 years.

Kendra (Tillery) McCreary is a founding partner of Eco-Conscious; a carbon credit consulting company that specializes in biodiesel. Since 2000, Eco-Conscious has focused on finding creative ways to assist biodiesel manufacturers lower both operational costs and the price at the pump. 

Eco-Conscious is proud to be an original stakeholder in the Greater Yellowstone Teton Clean Cities Coalition and to have provided the first commercial truckload of biodiesel to Yellowstone National Park.

Prior to her involvement in biodiesel, Kendra was heavily involved in water quality issues in southern California and instrumental in opening up opportunities for small business’ that adhered to environmental regulations in the course of their business.

Mike Nasi is a partner with the Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Practice Group in the Austin office of Jackson Walker L.L.P.  Mike is the head of the firm’s Climate Change and Carbon Management Practice Area and practices primarily in the areas of air quality, renewable energy, biodiesel, Brownfield redevelopment and electric power generation.  As general counsel to the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas (BCOT) and a Board Member of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, Mike is active in biodiesel policy development and legislative issues facing Texas and the nation.  Mike also authors chapters for the Environmental Law Handbook in West's Texas Practice Series on Environmental Enforcement, Oil & Hazardous Substance Spill Reporting & Response and Brownfield Redevelopment and is also the Chairman of the Education Committee of the State Bar of Texas Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section.  Mike attended the University of New Mexico and received his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin.  Mike attended The UT Law School and his received his J.D. from the University of Houston.  Mike is a Board Member for the Austin Area Command of the Salvation Army.  Mike is married, has three children, and lives in Central Austin.

Mr. Peeples is a 25 year veteran of the biofuels industry having worked in practically every phase of its development and current expansion, including over a decade of marketing, technical, legislative and regulatory activity in Texas as a member of the Board of Directors and on various committees of the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TREIA). Currently, Mr. Peeples is Executive Vice President of Titan Global Energy Resources (www.titanglobalholdings.com) which is based in Richardson, TX and is building a substantial biofuels production, supply, blending, and distribution supply chain system across the Southeast and High Plains regions.  Additionally, he is Vice President of AHL-TECH (www.AHL-TECH.com), which is developing and commercializing the world's first ethanol electric hybrid locomotive for the  international railroad industry, a technology which will be on the rails in 2009. As a leader in the founding of the National Biodiesel Board and the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, Mr. Peeples continues his work in support of national, state, and local initiatives of all kinds to develop new production technologies and open new markets for biofuels of all kinds. Policies in which he has participated directly include the Alternative Motor Fuels Act of 1988 (AMFA), the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT), the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Exemption (VEETC), the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), and biofuels standard specifications and guidelines established by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the National Conference on Weights & Measures (NCWM), and Underwriters' Laboratories (UL). He is a graduate of the Florida State University (B.A., International Affairs & Economics) and Antioch School of Law (J.D.), and is a member of the D.C. Bar Association.

Read Smith is a 1969 graduate of Washington State University with a BS degree in Agriculture.  After 4 years in Washington’s Yakima Valley with Del Monte Corporation, he joined his father on the family farm near St John, Washington (State) in 1973.  Read has been a Conservation District official since 1974 serving as president of the Washington Assn of Conservation Districts and President of the National Assn of Conservation Districts from 2001 to 2003.  Read has served on the Washington Conservation Commission, the Washington Ecological Commission and was appointed by Washington Governors and USDA Secretaries of Agriculture to special Commissions and Councils.  Read was appointed in 2005 to the “Biomass R&D Technical Advisory Committee” by Agriculture Secretary Johanns and Energy Secretary Bodman. The National Assn of Wheat Growers, the National Endowment for Soil and Water Conservation and Farm Futures Magazine, has recognized Read and his farming operation nationally for conservation systems implementation and management. Read is a member of “Columbia Plateau Producers”, marketing value added wheat flour under the “Shepherd’s Grain” label.  This small group of direct seed, food alliance certified producers are providing the market with safe, sustainable food products from local family farms. Read serves as Co-Chair of Washington State’s “Farming and the Environment”; an alliance of production agriculture and Washington’s environmental community together finding ways to make agriculture profitable and sustainable. Read Co-Chairs the 25X’25 renewable energy project.  This alliance of National Agriculture, Forestry, environmental and business leaders is promoting agriculture and forestland owners and manager’s potential contribution to our Nations energy independence through renewable energy solutions from our Nation’s farms, ranches and forests. Read, along with his wife Deanna and Son Jeremy, operate a 10,000 acre diversified grain and livestock operation in Whitman Country Washington near St John.  In an area of extremely challenging topography, the Smith operation is 100% direct-seeded and intensively managed for wildlife in a coordinated resource management plan.

Dr. Calvin Trostle is associate professor and Texas AgriLife Extension Service soil and crop specialist based at Lubbock.  Trostle conducts extension education programs and applied research for grain sorghum, alfalfa, peanut, sunflower, castor, canola, and other minor oilseed crops.  Bioenergy programs include extensive collaboration with fellow researchers in Texas & New Mexico to first identify oilseed crops adaptable to the region then develop optimum field production techniques.

Michael A. Turchi is a bulk liquid terminaling specialist with 31 years of experience in all aspects of the business.  Mr. Turchi currently owns an Atlanta based consulting and terminal management firm, Summit Terminaling Services, LLC which has been providing business, engineering, and operational and compliance services to the industry for seven years.  Mr. Turchi formerly owned and operated multiple successful terminals; Summit currently operates the Intercontinental Fuels Terminal in Houston, TX which stores and blends distillate and bio fuels.  Mr. Turchi is a principal and owner of Houston based Petroleum Measurement Equipment Company which provides flow measurement and control equipment, fabrication, construction and commissioning services to the terminal and pipeline industries.  Mr. Turchi has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Business Administration – Finance from National University in Los Angeles, CA. 

Dee Vaughan resides and farms in Moore County, Texas near the community of Dumas. Vaughan began his farming career in May of 1978.  Currently he produces corn, cotton, sorghum, soybeans, and wheat and is a contract grower of sorghum seed.  He uses no-till and strip till technology to conserve water, reduce fuel usage and labor, and lower capital equipment expenditures.  Global positioning system technology is utilized to gain efficiency.  Biotech crops make up about half of the production producing larger yields and reducing the amount of crop protection products required to grow a crop. Vaughan serves as a director on both the Corn Producers Association of Texas and the Texas Corn Producers Board.  In addition he serves as vice-president of the board of directors of the Southwest Council of Agribusiness and as a director for Plains Cotton Growers.  He has served on the National Corn Growers Association board and served as the president of the board from October 1, 2003 to September 30, 2004.  He is the immediate past chair of the Texas Ag Forum steering committee. Vaughan worked extensively on Federal energy policy especially as it pertained to the production of ethanol.  He was very involved in the development phase of the energy bill that was enacted into law in 2005.  He remains involved in bio-fuel policy work through his service on state boards. Vaughan currently serves on the Moore County Ag-IPM Advisory Committee and the Texas A&M CREET (Cooperative Research, Extension, Experiment, and Teaching) advisory panel.  He is involved in the Dumas/Moore County Chamber of Commerce and other civic and church activities.  He has served on the Texas A&M T-CARET (Texas Council on Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching) Committee.

Bob Webb has been an attorney and counselor focused on independent energy production, gas and electric transmission, new energy technology and competitive energy markets for 37 years.  Since 1990 Mr. Webb has also offered his services as an expert consultant and witness in disputes involving energy projects and contracts.  He has testified in arbitrations and regulatory proceedings on a wide variety of practices and principles in the electric and gas industries.  His work includes the background and explanation of unique aspects of long-term contracts involving the production, transmission and sale of gas and electricity. A graduate of Amherst College with a degree in economics, Mr. Webb obtained his law degree from Yale Law School.  His interest has always been the economic regulation of traditional electric, gas and telephone utilities and the dynamic tension between regulation and free markets.  He spent 19 years at the law firm of Baker & Botts, 11 as a partner, before starting his own business in 1989.  His law practice has centered upon the regulation of public utilities, energy law, and environmental law, and, more recently, the emergence of alternative energy resources, including biodiesel, biomass, solar and wind power.  He has represented non-utility generators, energy marketers, developers of new energy technology and industrial consumers, as well as traditional gas, electric and telephone utilities. For 23 years Mr. Webb taught courses on various aspects of energy regulation at the law schools of the University of Houston and the University of Texas.  He has twice served as Chair of the Public Utility Section of the State Bar of Texas and has been active in various sections of the American Bar Association.  He currently serves as President of the Texas Renewable Electric Industries Association (TREIA).  Mr. Webb is an author of articles and papers on energy topics and has addressed regulatory issues on numerous occasions. In 1993 he founded Gulf Coast Power Connect, Inc. to use the potential of competitive electric transmission lines to obtain rights for industrial clients to utilize their self-generation at more than one site.  In 1997 he co-founded Power Choice, Inc., a federally licensed power marketer that has attempted to break down legal and political barriers to free markets for electricity.  Projects of Power Choice have included forming competitive electric distribution utilities, developing distributed generation and fostering technologies for customer control of energy options. Now that Texas has achieved wholesale and retail electric markets within ERCOT, Power Choice has changed its name to Texas Energy Innovation, Inc. and fosters the development of energy alternatives, including demand management and renewable energy facilities. Mr. Webb continues to practice law before state and federal regulatory bodies and appellate courts.  He is Board Certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.  In addition, he performs consulting and expert witness work as a Principal Consultant with the Energy Advisory Group, Inc.

Bob joined American Farm Bureau Federation in 2003 as the Chief Economist, coordinating the activities of the Economic Analysis Team.Prior to coming to Farm Bureau, Young was Co-Director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) from 1991 through 2003.  Bob also served as an associate professor in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri.  While at FAPRI, Bob helped to develop an analysis team in the Republic and North Ireland, establishing the FAPRI-Ireland partnership, a consortia of government and university based analysts who now provide analytical support to the United Kingdom and Ireland. Before becoming the Co-Director of FAPRI, Bob served as the Chief Economist of the United State Senate Committee on Agriculture from 1987 through 1991.  There he was active in the development of the 1990 Farm Bill as well as various budget and disaster assistance bills. Bob has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri, with a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Missouri as well. Bob and his wife Victoria reside in Graysville, Maryland.