Dan Arnett
Ernst Conservation Seeds
BTEC Vice-Chairman

Dan Arnett is the Biomass Coordinator for Ernst Conservation Seeds. For the past two years, he has also held the position of Manager for Ernst Biomass, LLC, a startup company focusing on the production of solid fuels utilizing native grass biomass as feedstock. In these roles he has gained experience in the establishment, harvest, and particularly the densification of grass biomass.

Bob Sourek
Bear Mountain Forest Products
BTEC Treasurer

Bob Sourek is the owner and founder of Bear Mountain Forest Products Inc., a wood pellet fuel producer established in 1988.

Mr. Sourek is a graduate forester from the University of Montana. He is on the Board of Directors of the Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) , a member and on the Board of Directors of the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI), and a member of the Society of American Foresters (SAF).  As a field forester Mr. Sourek explored the potential of the forest ecosystem to reliably provide biomass resources and in the process of building Bear Mt., he gained experience in collecting and utilizing Biomass in all forms available. Mr. Sourek has traveled throughout Europe investigating the technology available to not only harvest/collect biomass but also process and utilize the resulting fuels. Through his association with BTEC and PFI, and on behalf of these organizations Mr. Sourek has traveled to the Oregon and Washington State capitols and Washington DC to educate and advocate for the efficient use of biomass energy. These experiences have given him an appreciation for the complex interactions between business, public policy and societal good.

John Ackerly
Alliance for Green Heat
BTEC Secretary

John Ackerly is the President of the Alliance for Green Heat, a non-profit that promotes cleaner and more efficient residential biomass heating, with a strong focus on low and middle-income families.  Previously, Mr. Ackerly was the President of the International Campaign for Tibet and worked with many human rights and environmental groups in Washington, DC.

He attended Dartmouth College and American University Law School.  He is an avid rock climber, skier, outdoorsman and wood stove aficionado.  He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland with his wife Nina Smith and son Sammy.

T.J. Morice
Marth

T.J. Morice has over 20 years business experience since graduation at UW-Madison.  Since 1998 he has been devoted to the development and advocacy of biomass fuel markets in the Midwest in addition to related enterprises.  In addition to his VP position of Marth Companies, in the past he was an vital part of the PFI board, participating in Wisconsin activities including the Governors Woody Biomass Taskforce and other industry trade conferences.  He also enjoys volunteering on the board of WCLQ (Religious radio station) and is a member of NSP (National Ski Patrol).

Jon Strimling
WoodPellets.com

Jon Strimling has been in the wood pellet industry for more than 15 years, with experience in manufacturing and distribution. His vision was to make getting pellets from the mill to the customer more efficient and affordable, and thus WoodPellets.com was born.

Jon is from Massachusetts, and he attended MIT’s Sloan School, where he earned an MS in Management and Engineering. Jon recently completed a 62-mile charity bike ride, and he loves spending time with his wife, son, and daughter.

Raymond J. Albrecht, P.E.
Fulton Companies

Ray Albrecht is a consulting member of the New Product Development Group at the Fulton Companies in upstate New York.  Fulton is entering the biomass market as a manufacturer of boilers and thermal systems for commercial and industrial applications and a liaison to German and Austrian wood boiler manufacturers.

He managed the heating research program for residential, commercial and industrial buildings for thirty years at NYSERDA.  Program included the development of new burners, boilers, furnaces and controls in cooperation with New York State manufacturers as well as development and demonstration of ultra-low emissions wood and biomass-fired boiler systems.

Mr. Albrecht has a Bachelor of Science (Engineering) degree and Master of Science (Theoretical and Applied Mechanics) degree from Cornell University. 

Kristen Cofrancesco
Turboden (A Pratt & Whitney Company)

Kristen is responsible for developing sales strategies and facilitating execution plans to realize organic rankine cycle unit sales growth in the North America region for heat recovery and biomass projects.  Kristen brings 15 years of experience to her current position, and has held increasing levels of responsibility throughout her career at Pratt & Whitney in Materials, Operations, Worldwide Procurement, and Sales.  In her most recent assignment as Sales Manager of Aftermarket Services, for Pratt & & Whitney’s Commercial Engines and Global Services organization, Kristen was successful in growing sales for the Engine Centers during her 8  year tenure, including closing key long-term contracts with strategic airline customers.  Kristen also contributed to the Sales Organization achieving ACE Silver through her work leading the Internal Market Feedback Analysis Team.

Kristen holds a bachelor’s degree in Business from Albertus Magnus College, an MBA with a minor in Marketing and a Masters in Management from University of Phoenix.

Andrea Colnes
Biomass Energy Resource Center

Andi Colnes has spent much of her career working on natural resource public policy and coalition building throughout New England and elsewhere in the country, where she has held a variety of positions focused on large-scale land conservation, sustainable forestry, and energy issues across the Northeast. Her background in energy issues began with her work on Vermont's first Comprehensive Energy Plan under Governor Madeleine Kunin, and more recently working closely with BERC and partners in launching and implementing the Northern Forest Biomass Energy Initiative.

Colnes was founding executive director of the Northern Forest Alliance, policy director of the Northern Forest Center, and deputy director of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. She co-founded Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation and the Eastern Forest Partnership and helped launch the National Rural Assembly.

Immediately prior to joining BERC in February of 2009, Colnes served as the policy leadership director for the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, where she worked with nonprofit leaders throughout northern New England. Colnes has a master’s in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Maine and a BA in Political Science from Williams College.

David Daniels
Alternative Energy Solutions International, Chairman and CEO

A Mechanical Engineer with over 30 years industry experience, numerous publications and certifications, David Daniels has been the principal or member of senior management in firms such as Midwest Consulting, Fluor Daniel, Shaw, and URS. Although technical direction has morphed over his career, skills and execution continuity has been in the energy and environment arena in a setting of optimized deployment processes. It is this backdrop that facilitated his movement into Biomass energy systems in 2005, where he acquired a 50 year regional firm in Kansas, Wichita Burner Incorporated. This five decade provider of systems and equipment which delivers thermal media to a broad bandwidth of commercial, industrial, and institutional customers, was the launch platform for a formal offering of Alternative Energy Solutions International, hence the company name sake.

Mr. Daniels early experience in working and managing at a materials engineering firm have further accentuated the key skill sets which biomass to thermal energy projects depend on. Each biomass project is a material handling project wrapped around challenges of achieving very reliable and sustainable, end use energy products. He has extensive experience in commercial and industrial process settings and institutional facilities.

Rob Davis
Forest Energy Corporation

Rob Davis is the President and Owner of Forest Energy Corporation of Show Low, Arizona— a wood pellet manufacturer founded in 1991. Forest Energy’s subsidiaries include Forest Energy Colorado, New Mexico Fuels, and Forest Energy Systems distributes a European biomass boiler in the US and provides a biomass boiler system supplier.

Mr. Davis is also a founding partner of Future Forest, LLC, which is the primary contractor for the White Mountain Stewardship Project within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. This contract is for a 150,000-acre, ten-year forest restoration and fire mitigation project.

Mr. Davis is on the Governor’s Forest Health Advisory Council in AZ and CO. He is the past President and current Director of the Pellet Fuels Institute.

Jesse Dickerman
Zilkha Biomass Energy

In addition to his work in communications and outreach, Jesse Dickerman heads Zilkha’s efforts to ensure sustainability throughout the biomass supply chain. Jesse came to Zilkha after a decade in campaigns and government affairs, including four years as Southwest Political Director for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He has worked on a variety of state and federal campaigns and has a BA in Political Science & History from Rice University.

David Dungate
ACT Bioenergy

David Dungate is the Founder and President of ACT Bioenergy, which is the first U.S. boiler manufacturer to target the market for fully-automated, high-efficiency, small-scale commercial biomass wood chip and wood pellet boiler systems. ACT boilers are manufactured in Schenectady, N.Y. and recent customers include: US Army, US General Services Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, State University of New York, Cornell University, and Clarkson University.

David serves as a Director on the New York Biomass Energy Alliance. His background includes more than 20 years experience in the fields of innovative renewable energy technology development and project implementation. He has worked internationally in both Europe and Asia introducing new environmental technologies and building collaborative relationships with both private companies and government officials as a business executive and as a former Director of the Sustainable Cities Foundation.

He has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Hokkaido University in Japan.

Stephen Faehner
American Wood Fibers

Stephen J. Faehner is the Vice President of Industrial Sales & Business Development at American Wood Fibers and an owner and son of the original founder of AWF, Frank Faehner. Over the past 40 years AWF has processed millions of tons of woody biomass into value added products.  As part of the “4th Generation” he has been immersed in the wood fiber and biomass business his entire life.

Mr. Faehner graduated with a B.B.A. in Business Management from Andrews University in 1993.  Early in his career he spent 5 years managing the Jessup, Maryland facility of AWF.  In 1998 he moved into Sales and was promoted to Vice President of the $25+ million industrial business unit in 2007, working directly with Fortune 500 companies in the retail, building products and automotive sectors. In 2005 Stephen lead AWF into the wood pellet fuel business and directed AWF's largest acquisition in 2006. 

Mr. Faehner resides in Maryland with his wife Hollie and his "5th Generation" sons Owen, Jack and Sam. His hobbies include family, water and snow skiing, golf, coaching youth sports and of course, Sawdust.

Mike Jostrom
Plum Creek

Mr. Jostrom is responsible for managing and growing Plum Creek's renewable energy efforts. Mike has worked for Plum Creek extensively in the management of Forest Operations, development of regional conservation plans, and directing of forest health investments company-wide.

He has a Forest Management degree from Washington State University and has completed executive education at Harvard Business School.