The Biofuels Center of North Carolina, a non-profit organization created by the General Assembly to catalyze the state's biofuels industry, has hired a president and five key personnel.
The Oxford-based organization named the following people to its staff:
- John Ganzi, president;
- J.D. Brooks, director of farming and forestry;
- Remona Callair, director of finance and administration;
- Mark Conlon, director of production;
- Ashley Jones, director of government and external affairs; and
- Norman Smit, director of communications, public awareness and workforce training.
"The best sign of the importance of an idea is the people who come to it," said W. Steven Burke, chairman of the Biofuels Center's board of directors and senior vice president of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. "The president and staff are well positioned to ensure the practical success of the Biofuels Center, the nation's first non-profit agency to assist all aspects of biofuels development."
The organization's new president, John Ganzi is a leader in the environmental and financial industries having created and managed a wide range of start-ups in a variety of sectors, including the non-profit, financial, governmental and academic sectors.
He has worked globally designing and developing international programs for the Finance Institute for Global Sustainability, Citibank, Environmental Resources Management, United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations, the National Wildlife Federation and the Wallace Global Fund.
He was an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for seven years teaching Environmental Business at the Kenan Flagler School of Business.
Ganzi said few states are as well positioned as North Carolina to develop a thriving biofuels industry. "We are already a leader in biotechnology; agriculture is a $60 billion a year enterprise in the state; and the state has a history of collaborating across sectors of society to effect change."
Staff Biographies
J.D. Brooks arrives to his director of farming and forestry position with more than 30 years experience in domestic and international business associated with the forestry, agro-chemical and biotech industries. Recently, he helped start up the nationally-recognized life sciences education and training initiative, BioNetwork, at the North Carolina Community College System, where he headed the BioNetwork BioAg Center.
Remona Callair, director of finance and administration, joined the Biofuels Center from the Council for Entrepreneurial Development in Research Triangle Park where she was the senior vice president for finance and operations.
Mark Conlon joined the Biofuels Center as director of production from Novozymes in Franklinton.
Ashley Jones served as a federal liaison for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services before joining the Biofuels Center as director of government and external affairs.
Norman Smit will now work as the director of communications, public awareness and workforce training after years at BioNetwork, where he was a founding member of the statewide community college initiative aimed at training students for biotechnology careers.
The search to fill the director of Business Development and director of Science and Research positions continues.
Board of Directors
The Biofuels Center's founding Board of Directors has overseen the development of the nascent organization, and in addition to Burke includes:
- Billy Ray Hall, president of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center;
- Dr. Ghasem Shahbazi, professor and director of bioenvironmental engineering at North Carolina A&T State University;
- Norris Tolson, president of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center; and
- Dr. Johnny Wynne, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University.
Biofuels Center History
In June of 2006, a summit on biofuels attended by state, academic, legislative and corporate leaders led to Senator Charlie Albertson and Representative Dewey Hill to create legislation calling for North Carolina to develop a biofuels industry.
In August, Senate Bill 2051 State Energy Use/Energy Assistance passed. From that legislation, and with input from 75 people from agencies across the state, a strategic plan emerged. That plan, titled North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership, has nine key strategies, and one bold goal &ndash by 2017, 10 percent of the liquid fuels sold in the state will come from North Carolina grown and produced biofuels.
One of the goals of the new Biofuels Center will be to identify next-generation crops and processes for biodiesel and ethanol that will enable North Carolina to move away from the present corn-based ethanol model found in the United States.
About the Biofuels Center
The Biofuels Center will be based in Oxford, on North Carolina's Biofuels Campus, established by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Symbolically, the campus was once a Tobacco Research Station.
The Biofuels Center's location is close to the state's biotech heartland while still being within earshot of tractors in fields.
The Biofuels Center of North Carolina is developing a Web site. In the meantime, North Carolina's Strategic Plan for Biofuels Leadership can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.ncbiotech.org/biofuels
More Information
- A high resolution picture of John Ganzi can be downloaded at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biofuelscenter
- To schedule an interview with either John Ganzi or Steven Burke, please contact Norman Smit at 919-757-6574.