Paragon | Company: Executives


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	An Experienced Team Paragon Airheater Technologies is led by an experienced team of managers, with diverse skills and experience. Please click on a name to learn more. Board of Directors Cannon Pearson, Chief Operating Officer Karl Khoury, Board of Directors Joseph Lipscomb, Board of Directors Roger Ballentine, Board of Directors Michael J. Hammons, Board of Directors Lex Sant, Board of Directors Executives Cannon Pearson, Chief Operating Officer Chris Turner, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing Ronald Trepp , Chief Financial Officer John Guffre P.E., Chief Scientist Gary C. Goetschius, VP of Engineering and Field Services Brian D. Robertson, Vice President of Sales and Marketing George Bennett, Vice President of International Sales Kurt Gerken, Regional Sales Manager - South East Mark Hutton, Regional Sales Manager - North East Richard Wolff, Regional Sales Manager - Central John Albritton, Regional Sales Manager - West Frank Klisura, Tech Services Manager Stephan Hasting, Technical Specialist Cannon Pearson, Esq. Chief Operating Officer Prior to joining Paragon Airheater Technologies, Mr. Pearson practiced law for six years with Callahan, McCune & Willis, P.C., one of the largest law firms in Orange County, California. There he specialized in Business Formation, Business Litigation, Intellectual Property and Insurance Defense. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Mr. Pearson attended University of Oklahoma and earned his B.S. and J.D. while serving eight years as a United States Marine. Additionally, he worked with his father to expand Guthrie Corporation into an international company. [Back To Top] Karl Khoury Board of Directors Karl Khoury is a founder of Arborview Capital, co-heads the investment team and co-manages the operations of the firm. Prior to founding Arborview Capital, he had twelve years of experience identifying, consummating and managing private equity investments with Columbia Capital, a sector-focused venture capital firm with over $2 billion under management. During that time, he invested in 13 companies with a primary focus on enterprise and communications software, security, and managed IT services. Prior to Columbia Capital, Karl worked at J.P. Morgan & Co. in New York and San Francisco where he specialized in corporate finance and capital markets for technology and communications clients. Karl currently serves on the board of directors of Lighting Retrofit International and previously served on the boards of nine of the investments that he managed at Columbia Capital. He also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Levine School of Music, a leading independent music school based in Washington, DC. Karl received a BS in Finance from Lehigh University in 1991. [Back To Top] Joseph Lipscomb Board of Directors Joe is a founder of Arborview Capital, co-heads the investment team and co-manages the operations of the firm. Prior to founding Arborview Capital, he had nine years experience identifying, consummating and managing private equity investments, first as a managing director at the Carlyle Group and then with the Maryland-based firm, Global Environment Fund. He has a long track record of working closely with high quality management teams to build successful, leading companies in high growth sectors. Prior to that, Joe had a nine year career at BT Alex Brown and First Boston, providing financing and advisory services to growth companies. Joe currently serves on the board of directors of Lighting Retrofit International and previously served as a board member of numerous companies, both private and public. He also currently is the Chairman of the Board of the Nature Conservancy-Washington DC/Maryland Chapter, is a trustee and member of the Investment Committee of Kenyon College and is a member of the advisory board of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). Joe received an undergraduate degree from Kenyon (1987), an MA from SAIS (1991) and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1992). [Back To Top] Roger Ballentine Board of Directors Roger is a Venture Partner with Arborview Capital and is the founder and CEO of Green Strategies, Inc., a corporate consulting firm that assists clients with domestic and international public policy matters, marketing and business development strategies in the areas of energy, environment and sustainability. Representative clients for his consulting practice include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co. and Texas Pacific Group (on the TXU Corp. buyout), Goldman Sachs Group Inc., American Electric Power Co., Inc. and General Electric Company. Prior to Green Strategies, Mr. Ballentine served as the Chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force and Deputy Assistant to the President for Environmental Initiatives under President Bill Clinton. Previously, he was a partner with the Washington law and lobbying firm, Patton Boggs, LLP. Mr. Ballentine has extensive public and private board experience and is a founding Board Member of the American Council on Renewable Energy and also serves on the boards of directors of the Biomass Energy Resource Center and the International Fund for China's Environment. Mr. Ballentine is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. He has a JD, cum laude, from Harvard University and a BA in Economics, magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut. [Back To Top] Michael J. Hammons Board of Directors Mike is a Partner with SAIL Venture Partners. He has nearly 20 years of senior leadership experience in building operational value for companies. He has diverse domestic and international experience across multiple verticals such as telecommunications, energy, automotive, aerospace and defense, data storage, enterprise software, and electronic hardware. His diverse background has spanned the gamut of company life cycles from start-ups to large organizations. Prior to joining SAIL, he held leadership positions including CEO at Vigilistics, CEO at Nexiant, CEO at ARGO Tracker, VP of Global Operations at Cogent Communication, and Director of the South American Automotive Practice at Ernst & Young Consulting. Recognized as an expert in supply chain, operations, manufacturing, product development and logistics, Mike has spoken at multiple conferences and written numerous articles. Mike serves on several boards including the Advisory Board for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He has also received multiple awards throughout his career, including Top 100 Most Innovative Vendors from Supply and Demand Chain Executive and Deloitte and Touche Fast 500. He earned a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. [Back To Top]. Lex Sant Board of Directors Lex Sant is co-founder and managing director of Persimmon Tree Capital. He is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to founding Persimmon Tree Capital, Mr. Sant worked for five years at the AES Corporation, a leading global power company with electrical generation and distribution business in more than 20 countries. At AES, Mr. Sant was most recently a director in the Alternative Energy group, for which he was responsible for the origination and execution of transactions related to biofuels, wind and other forms of renewable energy. Prior to that position, Mr. Sant had responsibility for large-scale mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy. Before joining AES, Mr. Sant worked in public relations from 1994 to 2000 for the Carolina Panthers, a franchise of the National Football League. He is chairman of Island Press, a leading publisher of books on the environment; he is treasurer and trustee of the Summit Foundation; and serves on the executive committee of the board of trustees for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. [Back To Top] Chris Turner Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mr. Turner has over 25 years of business and finance experience. Mr. Turner successfully built Vision Solutions, Inc. a Southern California software firm from the ground up, turning it into a 60 million dollar company with over 160 employees and offices throughout the US and abroad. Through Mr. Turner’s vision and leadership a small startup company became a global success story. In March of 2000 Mr. Turner negotiated the sale of Vision to Idion Technology Holdings, a South African company. After the sale of the firm, Mr. Turner began real estate investing and eventually formed Centric Group. Mr. Turner’s is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Centric Group, a commercial real estate development firm located in Orange County, California. Mr. Turner is a Board member of SouthHills Community Church where he has been a board member for the past six years. He also serves on the Presidents Advisory Board for Concordia University-Irvine, California. The Presidents Advisory Board main focus surrounds the expansion, strategic direction and finance of the University. [Back To Top]. Ronald Trepp Chief Financial Officer Mr. Trepp has over 35 years of experience as a CFO and COO in both public and private companies. His experiences include working with companies in the manufacturing, transportation, and electronic/computer industries. Over the last several years, Mr. Trepp has been directly involved in taking a company public (Simulation Sciences), positioning and selling a company (Cimco, Inc.) and growing and harvesting shareholders value (Vision Solutions). Prior to the start of his career Mr. Trepp graduated from UCLA with an Undergraduate Degree (BS) in Finance and then continued school at UCLA with an MBA degree from the Anderson School. [Back To Top] John Guffre P.E. Cheif Scientist Mr. Guffre has over 30 years experience in the power generation field with an emphasis on improving power plant efficiency, and the design and operation of pollution control equipment in power plants. His experience includes hands on operation, maintenance, and management of large coal fired power plants. Mr. Guffre has also ran several companies that have manufactured custom engineered products for the power industry, including Wahlco Power Products, a leading manufacturer of air heater baskets, seals, and replacement parts, and Bachmann Industries, the premier manufacturer of flow control equipment for power plants. He also was the Director of Power Plant efficiency for Control Components, Inc. This extensive knowledge of heat rate improvement calculation has allowed John to provided instrumental testing and validation of Paragon patented product line. Mr. Guffre’s work and studies have been published in multiple industry related magazines and trade journals, such as, but not limited to Power and Power Engineering. He has been instrumental in the design and testing of Paragon’s DuraShield ABS line of coating. Mr. Guffre graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering has also received specialized post graduate education at - Harvard Law School, University of Chicago, and University of Michigan. Mr. Guffre is a licensed professional engineer who oversees all new product research and development in the position of Chief Research Scientist at Paragon Airheater Technologies. [Back To Top] Gary C. Goetschius Vice President of Engineering and Field Services Mr. Goetschius has 35 plus years of experience working on air preheaters; employed at ALSTOM, Air Preheater Company for 29 of those years. Gary has hands on experience in many different areas of the air preheater, from Special Projects Engineer, to Manager of Ljunstrom Design, and later to Mechanical Design and Manager of Field Engineering. – Heat Recovery Services. With his in-depth knowledge on design and field modifications and upgrades, Gary brings highly valued added service and consulting to Paragon. Mr. Goetschius has written and presented multiple papers at the Ljungstrom International Technical Conferences and currently teaches Paragon’s Technical Training Seminars. He has been awarded four U.S. Patents, and had been a member of the ASME since 1974. Gary graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Degree in Engineering Technology and has continued his education in business and engineering at Alfred University, St Bonaventure, and University of Buffalo. [Back To Top]. Brian D Robertson Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mr. Robertsons is a distinguished leader with over 25 years of management experience in U.S. and international market serving the petrochemical, power, cement and mining industries. He is a recognized innovator possessing strategic and tactical planning skills with a proven track record. Mr. Robertson’s success at Western Refractory Construction, Nalco Chemical Company, Nalco/Exxon, and NL Industries has earned him numerous recognition awards for his sales and leadership skills. He brings with him tremendous relationships in the industrial and power industry having success in the oilfield business, building and industry leader in the heavy oil and upgrader business and using his innovative approach in the refining industry. Having retired from Nalco after 20 years he continued his successful track record in the construction business before coming to Paragon Airheater Technologies. Mr. Robertson is a certified instructor with Wilson Learning in Counselor Sales, Versatile Sales, utilizing Target Account Selling and Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly successful People” to train his teams and motivate their performance. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Colorado State University and continued his training with numerous financial, marketing and sales training classes and courses over his career. [Back To Top] George Bennett Vice President of International Sales As a distinguished sales executive, Mr. George Bennett brings more than 25 years of senior management experience to Paragon Airheater Technologies as Vice President of International Sales. George has developed a global network and has extensive international experience as he has been responsible for global growth strategy across US, Asia Pacific, Latin American and EMEA markets, while working for NetManage and prior to that Handy Soft. George was Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales at FileNET, where he managed sales revenues of $280M. As Vice President of International Sales, he will be able to leverage his considerable experience and essential contacts in the global marketplace. George began his career in working with SSA Inc. and was instrumental in developing their Japanese operations while living in Tokyo, Japan. George attended USMA West Point, NY. In his spare time George enjoys competing in Triathlons with his eldest son and studying languages (Japanese and Spanish). [Back To Top] Kurt Gerken Regional Sales Manager - South East We are pleased to announce that Kurt S. Gerken has joined Paragon Airheater Technologies as the new Southeast Regional Sales Manager. Mr Gerken has been successful for the past 25 years in sales, marketing and management for a fortune 500 Oil and Gas Service Company. Kurt’s accomplishments in developing/maintaining customer relationships, building/leading sales teams, and meeting/exceeding sales goals will be an asset to Paragon Airheaters Technologies business direction in the Southeast Region. Kurt and his wife Barbara have two grown children, Megan and K.C. a son-in-law, -Gabriel and granddaughter - Ella all of whom reside in College Station, TX. [Back To Top] Mark Hutton Regional Sales Manager - North East On July 20th, 2009, Mark Hutton joined Paragon Airheater Technologies as Regional Sales Manager for the Northeastern United States. Mark is a Mechanical Engineer from Purdue University, and has nearly 20 years of domestic and international experience in Technical Sales and Sales Management roles within various Automotive, Industrial, and Aerospace markets. He was introduced to Paragon through one of our business partners in Ohio, Tom Henry of Kissick Engineering. Mark is a real "gearhead" and enjoys working on cars and restoring older motorcycles. He also enjoys boating, water and snow skiing, wakeboarding and snowboarding, SCUBA and sailing. He has two children: Brandon is 16 and also a "gearhead", and Alexandra is 14 and an accomplished dancer. Mark and his children reside in Dayton, Ohio [Back To Top] Richard Wolff Regional Sales Manager - Central Prior to joining Paragon, Mr. Wolff managed Jefferson Smurfit Corporation in Corona, CA for ten years. Smurfit is the largest paper company in the United States and abroad. Prior to that, Mr. Wolff managed two California plants for Matthews International Corporation for ten years. Matthew’s has been in business for over 150 years (General Manager of Sales and Operations). Born in New Jersey and raised in California, Mr. Wolff earned a business management degree from Riverside City College, joined the United States Marine Corps and served nine years. [Back To Top] John Albritton Regional Sales Manager - West Mr. Albritton brings to Paragon Airheater Technologies an accomplished sales career of over 20 years in the computer industry. He started his career working at NCR selling into the Banking, Savings and Loan Industry. Mr. Albritton then left to cover several IBM Territories in the manufacturing and distribution industries as an agent for Premier IBM Business Partners. Later, he joined a computer software manufacturer, Vision Solutions. While working at Vision Solutions, Mr. Albritton was a Regional Manager and one of the firm’s top sales people helping make the company a leader in the industry. While at Vision Mr. Albritton was instrumental in helping grow the company’s revenue sevenfold in five and a half years. As a direct result of this revenue growth, the owners of the company were successfully able to sell the firm for a multi-million dollar transaction. Born in Oklahoma on an Air Force Base, Mr. Albritton has grown-up and worked across the United States. He earned a B.B.A from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from Baylor University. [Back To Top] Frank Klisura Technical Services Manager Mr. Klisura has over fifteen years experience in the field of industrial manufacturing, including ten years in charge of research and development for industrial processes at his family-owned machine and engineering facility. There, he developed a roll manufacturing process for production of plate glass that improved the overall quality of the finished product. Prior to joining Paragon, Mr. Klisura spent five years with Kroger Manufacturing, where he was recognized as a leader in the field of industrial engineering. [Back To Top] Stephan Hasting Technical Specialist Mr. Hasting has over 15 year of engineering and manufacturing experience. As a Chief Engineer at Kroger, he was responsible for supervising and coordinating engineering department activities, including planned maintenance, capital upgrades and regulatory compliance. Mr. Hastings is a member of Paragon’s research and development team where he uses his expertise in the design & fabrication and programming of protocol lifecycle testing equipment. Mr. Hasting serves as Technical Specialist for Paragon, involved in the installation, modification and repairs to air preheaters. Mr. Hastings attended the University of Pittsburg were he studied Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He served in the US Navy for 6 years, where he was involved in US Navy leadership, Management, Education and Training (LMET). He has also completed Total Quality management (TQM) courses and is a qualified Hazmat/Ammonia Release Incident Commander. [Back To Top]

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