About: Leadership
BOARD OF MANAGERS
Charles H. Cotter, Chairman James R. Monroe James A. Hughes G. Brian StanleyBarbara H. Wells, PhD.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Charles H. Cotter, Chief Executive Officer James R. Monroe, Executive Vice President of Product Development Steve Jernigan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Mark Scruggs, Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration Marvin S. Burchfield, Vice President of Development & Construction Mark E. Massey, Vice President of Supply AcquisitionCharles Cotter, Chairman of Board, Manager, and CEO
Mr. Cotter founded the Company in September 2008 and serves as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of its Board of Managers. Mr. Cotter is responsible for developing and executing the Company’s strategic plan across the supply chain, developing the Company’s leadership team, and leading the Company’s business development.
Mr. Cotter has over 20 years’ experience in strategic planning, strategic selling, business development, operations management, and entrepreneurial venture development. Prior to founding BER in September 2008, Mr. Cotter served as Vice President at SAP America, Inc. responsible for an $80 million business unit delivering ERP and supply chain management software sales, consulting, training, and education services to the world’s leading participants in the Oil & Gas industry. Mr. Cotter was honored in 1999 and 2007 as SAP’s top worldwide sales executive becoming the only two-time recipient of this award.
Mr. Cotter also served as a Vice President at Informatica Corp., a leading enterprise analytics technology provider where he built analytical offerings for business-to-business supply chains and a national customer Center of Excellence. Mr. Cotter began his professional career as an insurance underwriter at Chubb Corp. and subsequently founded two technology start-up companies and a food service company based in Washington D.C. and Dallas.
Mr. Cotter holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
Russ Monroe, Co-Founder, Manager, and EVP of Product Development
Mr. Monroe brings over 20 years of business operations, accounting and finance, business development, and business leadership to BER. As the Company’s EVP of Technology Development, Mr. Monroe is responsible for development of the Company’s torrefaction technology and management of BER’s relationship with major supplier and manufacturing partners.
Prior to co-founding the Company, Mr. Monroe was Group Vice President at SAP America, Inc., where he was responsible for the SAP Top 100 in the Southwest Region. In over four years at SAP, Mr. Monroe held key sales leadership positions and in 2007, was the top performing Vice President at SAP. Prior to SAP, Mr. Monroe enjoyed a ten-year run as a top performing Southwest Regional Sales Director at PeopleSoft.
Mr. Monroe began his career as an accountant with Ernst & Young, LLP and then later worked as Ross Perot’s tax certified public accountant and financial advisor. Mr. Monroe has served on numerous special project committees for the City of Dallas, the Perot family, and on behalf of U.S. military veterans. In 1992, Mr. Monroe was a key participant in Ross Perot’s run for the U.S. presidency, responsible for ballot access, field operations, rallies and debates.
Mr. Monroe holds a Master’s of Science degree in Accounting from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas and holds his CPA certificate.
Jim Hughes, Manager
Mr. Hughes has been a senior executive leader in the multi-segment energy sector, with diverse and deep expertise leveraging complex, multi-billion dollar regulated and non-regulated corporate assets, and extensive global strategic and operational experience across continents in both developed and emerging markets. Throughout his highly successful career, he has a consistent record of driving financial growth in electric utilities, gas utilities, power generating plants, gas pipelines, gas processing facilities, marine terminals, and a large network of retail fuel facilities with its related distribution network. Mr. Hughes has achieved outstanding results by focusing on strategic restructuring and repositioning businesses, leading organizations through adverse conditions, developing a deep understanding of safety cultures and continuous improvement processes, and utilizing his background as a corporate securities lawyer to consummate public and private transactions.
Mr. Hughes joined AEI, a $5 billion company that owned and operated essential energy infrastructure businesses in emerging markets worldwide, as Chief Operating Officer in May 2007 and became Chief Executive Officer and Director in October 2007. Under his leadership the company doubled in size reaching $10 billion in revenue, $1.1 billion in EBITDA and over $400 million in income. In his CEO/Director role he oversaw the process that ultimately resulted in a sale of substantially all of the company’s assets to a series of buyers, including Iberdrola, Sempra and Pampa Energia. The total value delivered to shareholders as a result of the transactions represented a total annual return to the original investors of more than 35%.
Previously, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Prisma Energy International, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Enron Corp. bankruptcy estate, where he had joint responsibility for overall management of the company from the date of its creation in 2002 until March 2004. Preceding that role, Mr. Hughes spent almost a decade with Enron in positions ranging from President and Chief Operating Officer of Enron Global Assets, to Assistant General Counsel of Enron International. He began his career as a securities lawyer with Vinson & Elkins in Dallas, Texas, later moving to their Warsaw, Poland office where he specialized in international project development.
Mr. Hughes holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Texas, and is admitted to the practice of law in Texas. He served on the board of Quicksilver Resources Inc., an exploration and production company, from late 1990 until early 2008.
Brian Stanley, Manager
Brian Stanley joined the Biomass Energy Resources Board of Managers in 2010, bringing more than 40 years’ experience in construction, operations, and executive management within the energy infrastructure industry.
Mr. Stanley began his career in the 1960s with CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) as a student apprentice then in various operational roles at one of its 2000 MW coal-fired power plants. Mr. Stanley later joined Enron Corporation in 1991, initially as the Operations Manager for its 1,875 MW CCGT power facility on Teesside in the U.K. and then Plant Manager until 1995. During his tenure at Enron, Mr. Stanley held a variety of key roles, including General Manager Power Operations for all of Enron’s power plants in the Americas, Vice President Asset Management for Enron Europe, CEO of Enron Engineering and Operations Services and CEO of NEPCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enron with more than 5000 employees responsible for constructing Enron’s North American power plant fleet.
Following Enron’s bankruptcy in 2001, Mr. Stanley became VP of Operations for all of Enron International’s operating assets, which were reorganized as Prisma Energy then later sold and renamed Ashmore Energy International, he later became EVP Operations for AEI where he remained until his retirement in March 2010.
Mr. Stanley formerly served on the board of a number of joint venture power companies internationally, including Italy, Poland, the U.K and Turkey, where he continues to serve on the Board of the Trakya Power Company.
Barbara H. Wells, Ph.D., Manager
Ms. Wells joined Biomass Energy Resources Board of Managers in November 2011 and provides the Company with 26+ years experience in international commercial and technical experience in agriculture, biotechnology, and forestry.
Since 2002, Ms. Wells has served as Chief Executive Officer of ArborGen leading developer of biotechnology tree seedling products and one of the largest providers of conventional and technology enhanced seedlings to the forestry industry. Prior to her becoming CEO, she was vice president in charge of Latin American growth initiatives and investments for Emergent Genetics, an agricultural investment firm. Wells also spent 18 years at Monsanto where her roles included co-managing director of Monsanto Brazil and leader of the Roundup Ready soybean team.
Wells is section chair of the Biotechnology Industry Association’s (BIO) Food and Agriculture Governing body and a member of the executive committee of the BIO board. She also serves as a board member of the Institute of Forest Biotechnology and is a member of the industry advisory committee of the Joint BioEnergy Institute.
Wells received her Ph.D in agronomy from Oregon State University. She earned her M.S. Degree in plant pathology and B.S. degree with honors in horticulture from the University of Arizona. Although a native of the United States, Wells was raised in Bolivia. She is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Steve Jernigan, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development
Mr. Jernigan joined BER in 2010 as an investor and is Senior Vice President of Corporate Development. Mr. Jernigan is responsible for client contract acquisition, supply zone development, joint venture development, and capital structuring. Mr. Jernigan has more than twenty years of experience with strategic planning, M&A origination, deal structuring and execution, operational and financial restructuring, business valuation and financial due diligence.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Jernigan was a Managing Director in FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance practice in Houston Texas advising clients with business restructurings, turnarounds, and mergers & acquisition transactions in a wide variety of industries.
Prior to that, Mr. Jernigan was a Vice President of Business Development for Ashmore Energy International. Mr. Jernigan spent nearly a decade combined with Enron Corporation through to Ashmore Energy International, which was formed through an acquisition of Enron’s international operating assets in Central and South America, Europe and Asia from the Enron bankruptcy estate. During his tenure at Enron-Ashmore Energy International, Mr. Jernigan tackled a wide range of responsibilities including business and project development, commercial management of operating assets, acquisitions and divestitures, project financings, joint venture formation and restructuring and strategic planning.
Mr. Jernigan holds both an M.B.A. in finance and a B.B.A. in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin.
Mark Scruggs, Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration
Mark Scruggs joined the Biomass Energy Resources team as an investor in 2010 and as Senior Vice-President of Finance and Administration in early 2011. Mr. Scruggs is responsible for establishing and maintaining all necessary accounting, financial reporting, administrative, and regulatory compliance systems for the Company and its operating subsidiaries. Mr. Scruggs is also responsible for the execution and implementation of the Company’s capitalization strategies.
Mr. Scruggs’ background includes more than 25 years of financial management, strategic planning, and entrepreneurial experience. Most recently, Mr. Scruggs was a founding principal of EmPhysis Medical Management, a billing and financial services company for physicians. EmPhysis was founded in 1998 and grew to seven North American offices and 265 employees before its acquired by Zotec Partners in 2007. Mr. Scruggs was responsible for all financial and administrative aspects of EmPhysis from the start-up phase through the exit transaction.
Prior to EmPhysis, Mr. Scruggs provided financial services to physicians and was a regional executive vice-president of Per-se’ Technologies (a division of McKesson Corporation). In this role, he oversaw all aspects of operations and client services for a seven-state region.
Mr. Scruggs began his business career in 1984 with Arthur Andersen & Company. He was an Audit Manager conducting audits of manufacturing companies and public utilities at the time of his departure in 1992.
Mr. Scruggs holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Tennessee and holds a CPA certificate.
Marvin Burchfield, Vice President of Development and Construction
Mr. Burchfield joined BER as a member of its Board of Managers in 2009 contributing to the Company’s strategic planning and development. Mr. Burchfield joined BER full-time in 2011 as its Vice President of Development & Construction and is responsible for site development, permitting, engineering, and construction of the Company’s production facilities.
Mr. Burchfield brings extensive experience and expertise in construction, sales, engineering, research, operations, project development, acquisitions and executive management. Mr. Burchfield’s career span both small and large organizations including Ralston Purina, the South Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Carrier Corporation and Duke Energy. He has been personally involved in the development, ownership and operation of energy assets for nearly twenty years.
Most recently, Mr. Burchfield was a Vice President with Decker Energy International, Inc., an energy firm that has developed, acquired, and owned nearly 1,000 MW of energy generating facilities that meet the energy needs of utility and industrial customers by providing reliable, low-cost energy with a keen sensitivity to the environment.
Mr. Burchfield earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from Clemson University in 1987.
Mark Massey, Vice President of Supply Acquisition
Mr. Massey joined BER in 2010 as its Vice President of Supply Acquisition and is responsible for supply acquisition, harvest operations, land agent management and community relations. Mr. Massey has more than twenty years’ experience in operations management, residential and commercial project development, strategic leadership, and team building.
Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Massey was the founder and President of Canyon Ridge Development LLC and Canyon Ridge-Fireside Creek LLC, creating residential and commercial real estate developments in the Colorado resort towns of Summit and Grand Counties. With Canyon Ridge, Mr. Massey developed the project vision, acquired real estate, designed and developed the project working with municipal entitlements, and managed a team of engineering & construction vendors.
Prior to Canyon Ridge, Mr. Massey served as Business Development Manager at Jefferson Wells International, an international finance and accounting consulting firm. While at Jefferson Wells, Mr. Massey built a successful consulting practice focused on business infrastructure with Fortune 500 companies in the Houston marketplace. Notably, Mr. Massey conceived, sold, and managed the federal emergency management and administration program for the City of Houston’s efforts to provide housing and services to 50,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Mr. Massey currently serves as Board Member for the Denver Fellowship of Christian Athletes and KidsTek. Mr. Massey holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from The University of Texas in Austin, TX.