Joel Stone, Chief Operating Officer
Joel is responsible for the overall operations, commercial business, and engineering activities of the company. As a 30-year veteran of the ethanol and food ingredients industries his focus is on following world-class business principles and developing sustainable operations. Prior to joining OBE, Joel served as the Chief Operating Officer for both ASAlliances Biofuels and Abengoa Bioenergy Corporation. During his tenure with ASAlliances, Joel’s accomplishments included the planning, construction, and startup of three 100 MMGPY fuel grade ethanol plants plus the development of three additional facilities. Joel also served for three and a half years as Vice President of Operations of Balchem Corporation, a manufacturer of controlled release food ingredients and nutrients and spent 11 years as Vice President of Operations for Opta Food Ingredients. During the 1980’s he participated in the design, startup, and operation of three fuel ethanol facilities. These facilities include barley conversion; corn wet milling and molasses conversion. Joel holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic University and an M.S. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Andy Weaver, Chief Financial Officer, Osage Bio Energy
Andy leads all finance functions at OBE and interfaces with banks, financial institutions, and equity investors to attract and manage capital funds. Andy brings over 20 years of financial management experience across a variety of industries. Prior to joining OBE, he was the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis for Kraton Polymers where he was responsible for corporate planning, investor relations and operational analysis. Andy was also Controller and Chief Accounting Officer for Universal Hospital Services where he led accounting, SEC reporting, SOX implementation and lending relationships. Prior to this, he was Assistant Treasurer at Reliant Energy for five years, where he led corporate planning, investor relations, project finance management, rating agency relationships and was heavily involved in negotiating bank facilities and fixed income issuances. Earlier in his career, he spent 11 years with the Coca-Cola Company in a variety of operational finance functions. Andy is a Certified Public Accountant and holds both a B.B.A. and M.S. in Finance from Texas A&M University.

Patrick Simms, Sr. Vice President Operations
Patrick is responsible for the organizational structure, staffing and ultimate operations of the company’s ethanol facilities. He serves as a member of the engineering and construction oversight team to help insure the plants are designed and constructed with a view toward efficient operations. Patrick has extensive experience in process and product development and commercialization of industrial biotechnology over more than 20 years as a VP/SVP and corporate officer in three separate biotechnology companies, primarily focusing on enzymes, agricultural biotechnology and ethanol. Prior to his biotech career, Mr. Simms spent 18 years in the grain processing industry in progressive engineering and operations roles, including start up and operation of the Tate & Lyle Tennessee facility for production of ethanol and corn sweeteners. For the past several years, Mr. Simms has focused a significant portion of his time on the challenges of fuel generation from renewable resources. Patrick holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from West Virginia University.

David Berube, V.P. of Quality, Environment, Safety and Health
David is OBE’s lead in maintaining world-class management systems and pursuing world-class performance in quality, safety and environmental affairs. He also works closely with federal, state and local regulatory agencies in these areas to maintain a strong proactive relationship. Before accepting this position with OBE, David had an exemplary career spanning 20 years in management of industrial operations and startups. During this period, he directed the successful startups of the first U.S. CAES power plant and first commercial geothermal power plant in Hawaii. In addition, he spent over 10 years in EHS consulting and management culminated by directing the quality, environment and safety areas during the successful startup of 3-100 million gallon ethanol plants. David holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston.

Tim Richter, VP of Projects and Project Development
Tim assesses the viability of potential projects by developing the siting models and engineering approaches prior to their consideration for funding by the board of directors. In this process, Tim initiates relationships with the utilities, municipalities, adjoining businesses, consultants and contractors to help determine the degree of mutually beneficial economic advantages. During his 10-year career as a consulting engineer and geologist he has worked on siting, hazard analyses, permitting, designing, constructing, and upgrading large industrial and energy-related facilities, pipelines, and transmission lines in the western United States. Prior to joining OBE, Tim was a Senior Engineer/Senior Geologist with URS Corporation for six years, one of the world’s leading engineering and construction firms. While at URS, Tim’s clients included several Fortune 50 industrial companies, power companies, utilities, as well as several leading developers of LNG terminals and pipelines on the West Coast. Tim is a registered Professional Engineer in Oregon, Washington, California and South Carolina; a registered Geotechnical Engineer in Oregon; and is a registered Engineering Geologist in Oregon and Washington. Tim holds a B.S.E. in Civil & Geological Engineering from Princeton University and a M.S.E. in Civil Engineering from Northeastern University.

Brian Autry, Director of Legal Affairs and General Counsel
Brian provides general legal advice to Osage Bio Energy to help ensure compliance in all areas of its business, including employment, commercial contracts, and financing. He also provides project management and claims consulting for the company’s construction projects, from a legal standpoint. In addition, Brian directs and manages all external counsel engaged by OBE to provide services that cannot be provided in-house. Prior to joining OBE, Brian was an attorney at Nexsen Pruet, LLC, a 200+ attorney full service law firm with offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and Hilton Head, S.C. and Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C. Brian’s practice focused primarily on construction contracting, construction litigation, and commercial litigation. He handled construction contracting and claims management for many high-profile companies, including the Bon Secours Health System, Honda, Daimler-Chrysler, Hubbell Lighting, Microban, Budweiser, and Grant Forest Products. Brian holds B.A. and juris doctor degrees from the University of South Carolina.

Henry Bisner, Manager Technology
Hank has more than 30 years of experience in pulp and paper, forest products and chemical facilities. His work includes project management, control systems engineering, process engineering, operations management, and on-site research and development. Hank has spent half of his career working directly for manufacturers such as Georgia-Pacific and International Paper. The other half has been spent providing technical solutions as a consulting engineer for more than 30 other manufacturers. Recent work has been in steam and power generation facilities, pulp processing systems and energy efficiency improvement. Hank holds a B.S. in Pulp and Paper Engineering from NY College of ESF at Syracuse University.

John Warren, Director of Government Relations and Project Development
John works with local/state government officials, vendors, and service providers in expediting project development and pursuing new business opportunities associated with the alternative fuels industry. John also focuses on optimizing energy cost and procurement strategies for Osage facilities. John had a successful 20 year career in the public sector, gaining experience in nearly every aspect of government service ranging from energy policy to program implementation and deployment. Before joining OBE, John served seven years as the Director of the Virginia State Energy Office where he managed and administered DOE’s State Energy Program and placed a focus on alternative fuels, renewable energy technologies, and promoting economic development opportunities in Virginia. Prior to public service, John worked as a construction engineer at the Richmond, VA DuPont textile fiber plant where he managed multi-trade construction activity in the powerhouse. John is a Certified Energy Manager and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Bill Scruggs, Director of Agribusiness Development
Bill works with agribusiness industries, food processors, grain originators and elevators, farmers, University agricultural researchers and extension specialists, USDA and state agricultural department officials and agricultural production organizations in the development of the agricultural assets critical to Osage Bio Energy’s business. Bill is the point person for agricultural feedstock development and sourcing as well as co-product Barley Protein Meal market development. Bill formerly served as Agribusiness Project Manager with the VA Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and successfully managed over 200 agribusiness industry development and expansion projects that yielded over $1.2 B in capital investment. His primary focus was developing business solutions and value-added opportunities in agricultural-based renewable energy, biotechnology and food processing. Prior to the public sector, Bill managed Mid-Atlantic and Mid-South regional sales and market development programs for biotechnology crop protection products for Mycogen Corporation. Bill holds a B.S. in Agronomy from Virginia Tech and a Master’s in Crop Science from N.C. State University, where he also served for over five years as an Extension faculty member.

Ashton Cullum, Director of Corporate Development
Ashton is responsible for developing, sourcing, and implementing add-on projects or acquisitions accretive to Osage Bio Energy’s strategy. Ashton previously worked for more than eight years in various capacities in the investment banking industry, including large capitalization underwriting and advisory services, bankruptcy advisory, and middle market merger and acquisitions. Most recently, Ashton advised middle market companies and financial sponsors as a sell-side investment banker with Harris Williams in Richmond, VA. Ashton began his career with Lehman Brothers in New York and Thailand. He is a graduate of Princeton University with an AB in History and also graduated from The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. While at Darden, Ashton received the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence, earned by the Top 10% of The Darden School’s graduating class.

Nancy Mackay, Manager Project Controls
Nancy has more than 30 years of experience in the pulp and paper industries. Her work includes project management, process and environmental engineering, and process control engineering. Nancy has managed small and large projects from conceptual design to complex engineering drawings. Nancy will establish project controls and serve as the internal and external interface for the design/construction team. She will also provide oversight to insure the project scope schedule and budget targets are met. In addition, she will work with the project design team to develop the operations process control strategy. Nancy holds a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Lawrence University.

Rob Hales, Director of Information Technology
Rob is responsible for all Information Technology and works closely with all company functional areas to ensure that our world class business processes are enabled with the right technology at the right time. Rob joins OBE with 17 years of successful Enterprise Software Engineering and Implementation experience across various Industries throughout the United States. Before joining OBE, Rob was a Principal with American Management Systems leading Enterprise Resource Planning implementations at several National Laboratories. Most recently, and over the last 8 years, Rob was a Senior Manager at Capital One Financial where he led Enterprise System Implementations as a Technical Lead and Architect, specializing in complex Best of Breed enterprise software implementations using Software as Service frameworks. Rob is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a B.S. in Economics and M.B.A. from George Mason University.

Eric Lee, Vice President of Engineering
Eric is responsible for process engineering and operational support for the company’s facilities and projects. His focus is on the implementation of new technologies to drive product development, improve the net energy and carbon footprint of the company’s facilities, and reduce operating costs. Eric has 18 years of experience in process development and operations of industrial facilities, primarily focusing on ligno-cellulosics conversion, bio-power projects, and ethanol. Eric holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University.