At Lee Enterprises we have assembled a diverse group of experienced biodiesel industry experts. We offer a wide range of services - from the initial planning stages of a project to long after the plant is built and the staff trained. We maintain working relationships with the nation's top alternative energy law firms and accountants, and our strategic engineering partners have designed and built more plants than anyone in the world.  We have worked very hard to assemble a group of the industry's top people and we work hard to earn and keep your business.

OUR TEAM OF INDEPENDENT CONSULTANTS

Wayne Lee (Principal) - Wayne is an internationally recognized biodiesel and business consultant with over thirty years’ experience.  He owns both Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. and National Business Brokerage, Inc., a full service business brokerage plant specializing in buying, selling and evaluating alternative fuels plants.  Wayne received his B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and has written two copyrighted series on buying and selling businesses, and authored several published releases about biodiesel.  He has served on a Congressional energy panel, and specializes in biodiesel project oversight, efficiency and operational review, strategic planning, risk management, and assistance in the buying or selling of plants. He oversees the company.

Shelley Juergens (Director of Operations) – Shelley attended Indiana  University and has spent the past fifteen years in managment and  customer service. She works in our home office in Central Arkansas  where she coordinates the team's operations and does the preliminary  planning and assignment of projects to consultants.  A licensed realtor,  Shelley also oversees our sister organization, National Business Brokerage.  Shelley assists with client contact and is normally the first contact clients have with our firm.

Erica Zermatten (Director of Client Services) - Erica graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Bachelor of Arts in Radio and Television and a Master's Degree in Secondary Education. She worked in sales and marketing at the Little Rock CBS affiliate, Today's THV, for eight and one half years prior to joining our team.  Erica works in our home off in Central Arkansas and is responsible the development of client services for the team, including outbound calls to clients. 

John Hardy, Esq. (Legal Counsel) - John received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Santa Clara School of Law.  He has practiced law for over twenty years and is licensed in both Arkansas and California. John serves as legal counsel for both Lee Enterprises Consulting and National Business Brokerage, Inc.  John also maintains a private law practice where he assists alternative fuels clients with a variety of industry related matters nationwide. Also trained in dispute resolution, John works in the mediation and arbitration of alternative fuels matters.

Kevin Prohaska, Esq. (Alternative Fuels Attorney) -Kevin of Minneapolis, Minnesota is a partner in, and serves as our liaison to, our strategic law firm partner, Stoel Rives.  Prohaska has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Iowa State University, and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law. He represents developers and owners in the renewable energy, agricultural and real estate sectors.  He has participated in the development, acquisition and financing of alternative fuels projects totaling more than one billion gallons yearly.  He handles all legal aspects of project development and finance, including equity and debt capital raises, private company tax exempt and corporate bonds, M & A, feedstock and off-take agreements, development and construction contracts, and risk management agreements.  

Jess Hewitt (RINs and RIN Trading) - Jess received his B.S. in Economics from the University of Houston in 1980.  He is the Chairman of Gulf Hydrocarbon and has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry.  He is a former member of the National Biodiesel Board and the immediate past Chairman of its Marketing Committee.  He served as President of the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas and on the advisory board for the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).  He is a member of the ASTM committee governing petroleum products/biodiesel. He is a top authority on RINS, and directs our RIN trading, distribution logistics, product marketing, and feedstock hedging.

David B. McKinney, CIC, CRM,CSP (Alternative Fuels Insurance)- David is currently a VP and Account Executive for IMA.  He has a Masters Degree in Safety Management and has been in the insurance industry for over 30 years. At IMA since 1994, David directed the Risk Control Efforts at before becoming an Account Executive role.  At IMA, David is responsible for all marketing in the Alternative Fuels Practice Group.  He is a Certified Safety Professional, Certified Insurance Counselor, Certified Risk Manager, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate Marine Insurance Manager, and Associate Loss Control Manager, and is on the faculty of Certified Risk Manager’s International.

Sherry Jean Larson,CPA, MBA (Accounting) - Sherry is employed by our strategic partner, Christianson & Associates, PLLP, a national renewable fuels accounting firm.  She has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Evansville and an MBA from St. Cloud State University. Sherry is member of AICPA, MAPA and the Minnesota Society of CPAs.  Her accounting practice primary focuses on consulting and advisory services including financial forecasting, business development, and preparation of business plans. She has a wide range of experience in renewable fuels. Christianson & Associates assists our clients with accounting, auditing, RIN attestations, general ledger implementation, SOX 404 compliance reporting, and tax planning.

Earl Stout (Government Projects, Business Plans, Financial  Analysis) – Earl holds a B.A. from the University of California Santa Barbara, and a M.A. in Management from the Central Michigan University. A retired U.S. Army Colonel, Earl has been a senior level manager/consultant in both government and private sectors for 40 years.  He owned the first DAV Small Business to provide biodiesel to the VA.  He has performed many feasibility studies for the government, and trained over 4000 military officers in financing and logistics.  He developed business plans for biodiesel operations as far away as Libya and Mauritania.  Earl serves as our liaison for government purchasing/contracts.

John D. Belden, Sr. (Business Brokerage)  - John is the former CEO of a $100 million company and currently serves as the Executive V.P. of National Business Brokerage, Inc., our sister business brokerage company. He has an extensive mergers and acquisitions background and over thirty five (35) years of industry experience. He previously owned a business brokerage firm in Florida, and is now a licensed real estate broker in Arkansas where he owns Belden Real Estate & Investments. John serves as our real estate broker and business brokerage laiason.

Jean Koeninger, P.G. (Environmental Consultant) - Jean received her B.S. in Geology and graduate studies from the Univ. of Arkansas.  She is a Professional Geologist whose career in environmental matters spans over 25 years. She is the President of The Land Recycling Company, an environmental consulting company in Little Rock, Arkansas. She previously served as the Arkansas' Brownfields Program Coordinator. Her professional focus is on the environmental aspects of site sales & purchases, assessments and clean-ups of impaired properties.  She performs Phase I & II Environmental Site Assessments in conjunction with project due diligence. She has written over $3.8 million in federal grants for environmental assessment/clean up. 

Kent Bullard, M.S.Q.A. (BQ9000 & Quality Assurance) - Kent is the longest serving auditor with the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission. He received his B.S. in Occupational Education from Southern Illinois University and his Masters of Science in Quality Assurance from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He has audited many production, marketing and laboratory facilities across the US and in Canada, and his work in the field has been recognized with awards at the national and regional level. Kent leads our BQ9000 certification and Quality Assurance projects.

Mason Carpenter, CPC (Executive Recruiting) Mason holds the Certified Personnel Consultant designation from the National Association of Personnel Services and works as a Senior Executive Recruiter with our strategic partner, Executive Leadership Solutions, a professional recruiting agency in Ft. Myers, Florida. He attended Edison College and University of South Florida, where he majored in Business Administration. He specializes in recruiting and placing candidates in the Alternative Energy sector, and has successfully placed a number of engineers, scientists, project managers, and traders/risk managers, in energy companies across the U.S.

Catherine J. Rein, MBA, AM (Appraisals, Business Plans) – Cathy received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and her MBA from the University of Houston. She is an Accredited Member with the American Society of Appraisers and holds a designation in Machinery & Equipment appraisal. Her team includes business valuation professionals with ASA and CBA designations. Cathy owns Sandalwood Valuation, LLC based in Louisville, Colorado. She presented on the topic of equipment appraisal in alternative fuels at the 2008 American Society of Appraisers International Conference.   In addition to coordinating client appraisal requirements, Cathy assists with writing and packaging client businesses.

Nate Burk (Feedstock Risk Management) - Nate graduated from Iowa State University in 2004 with a degree in Finance.  He started his career as a Risk Management Consultant at FCStone where he currently works day-to-day with bio-diesel plants, bio-diesel suppliers, ethanol plants, and other end-users.  Nate has taken a leadership role in the development of integrated risk management plans for biodiesel plants and works to establish strategies to protect and lock in margins for both integrated crushing biodiesel facilities and stand alone biodiesel facilities.  He works with clients to develop supply studies for both ethanol and biodiesel groups.  His focus is structuring trades to lock in margins.

Nathan Vander Griend  (Process, Environmental, Health & Safety Risk Management) – Nathan is the Vice President of  Client Services for our strategic partner, ERI Solutions, Inc.  He received his degree in Business Administration from South Dakota State and has work experience in the finance, insurance and oil & gas industries and Biofuels.  Nathan was the third employee at ERI Solutions and has been integral in the growth of ERI over the past 5 years. He works with alternative fuels plants currently providing services to over 80 biofuels production and agri-business facilities in the United States, while also providing management oversight of a captive insurance company representing over $8 billion in insured value.

Dennis Zeedyk (Glycerin & Interim Plant Management) - Dennis graduated with B.S. in Agriculture from The Ohio State University and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.  He handles our glycerin related matters and is available to our clientele as an interim plant manager when needed. After grain trading for several years, Dennis worked for the US Grains Council in Southeast Asia and several USAID development projects in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He returned to the U.S. to start up and operate a multi-feedstock biodiesel plant in Indiana for investors, where he directed the building of acid esterification systems, purchase and delivery of feedstock and other production inputs, and the sale of biodiesel and glycerin. Dennis operates Glycerin Traders, LLC, a glycerin marketing company. 

Cari Campbell, Esq. (Grant Research & Writing) - Cari received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and International Studies from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, and her Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is a licensed attorney in Wisconsin and owns Cari Campbell & Associates, LLC, a professional grant research and writing firm headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, and serving clients nationwide. Cari and her group do our grant research and writing. 

Mark White (Plant Safety Assessment/Safety Training) – Mark has a Bachelor of Science in Safety Management and served as the safety trainer and environmental auditor for a major U.S. corporation for twenty years.  He is trained in ISO 14001, the core set of standards used by organizations for designing and implementing an effective environmental management system, and in chemical management, health, safety and environmental (HSE) auditing. Mark is also a certified forklift trainer.  He conducts safety assessments and does safety trainings for our clients nationwide.

Thomas Anhorn (Cold Soak & Filtration) – Tom received his B.S. in Building Management from the University of Miami in 1974.  He has over thirty years’ experience in filtration and systems design, and has done consulting and project management installations for publically traded oil, drilling, exploration and pipeline companies such as Amerada Hess Corporation, Buckeye Pipeline, Colonial Pipeline, Mobile and Chevron.  Tom does our consulting in matters specific to pre-filtration, cold soak/polish, and air quality stack control emissions.

Moses Rotich  (International Projects Intern) – Moses is from the East African country of Uganda. He will receive his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in May 2012 from Harding University in Arkansas.  He has worked on the Mars Project (Sponsored by NASA) and is just completing his senior project in the design and fabrication of the electrical interface of a portable wind turbine.  Fluent in English, Sabiny, Swahili, and Luganda, Moses in an intern with our group and will work in our international projects upon graduation.   

Prosper Majyambere (International Projects Intern) – Prosper is from the East African country of Rwanda.  He will receive his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in May 2012 from Harding University in Arkansas.  He studies in the U.S. as a recipient of the prestigious Rwandan Government Presidential Scholarship Program.  Fluent in English, French and Kinyarwanda, Prosper in an intern with our group and will work in our international projects upon graduation.   .

Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc.

1503 E. Kiehl Ave 

 Sherwood, AR  72120

Phone: (501) 833-8511   ·  Fax:  (501) 835-6081