Gordon Ommen
Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Ommen has served as our Chief Executive Officer and as Chairman of our Board since inception. Previously, Mr. Ommen served as President of Capitaline Advisors, which he founded in 2002. In addition to a proven track record as an entrepreneur and leader in the renewable energy industry, he has more than 25 years of experience in banking, investing, and building and managing successful businesses. In 1989, he began his executive career as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Coastal Virginia Bank in Virginia Beach. Three years later, he was named to a similar role with Fishback Financial Corporation, a multi-bank holding company in Brookings, South Dakota. In 1997, he assumed additional duties as President and Director of First National Venture Capital, a subsidiary of First National Bank, also in Brookings.

In 2004, Mr. Ommen, Capitaline, and a group of investors launched US BioEnergy Corporation, a producer and marketer of ethanol and distillers grains. He became CEO and Chairman of the Board in December 2005. One year later, US BioEnergy launched a successful IPO trading on the NASDAQ Global Market.

Mr. Ommen was named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in Economics from South Dakota State University, where he has served as an adjunct Professor of Economics.  He is a frequent speaker at business and academic forums on biofuels.

 

Chad Haselhorst
Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Haselhorst has served as JetE’s Chief Financial Officer since inception. Mr. Haselhorst previously was a Financial Analyst with Capitaline Advisors, from 2004 to 2009. Besides performing accounting functions for Capitaline and its portfolio companies, he did the financial analysis and modeling for potential investments and monitored current portfolios. Mr. Haselhorst has constructed comprehensive financial models for analyzing ethanol, biodiesel and wind power companies.

Mr. Haselhorst also owns and operates a 1,100 acre cash grain operation in South Dakota, where he raises corn, soybeans and wheat. He graduated from South Dakota State University where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Economics, with a minor in Agriculture Marketing.

 

Tim Kubista
Senior Vice President

Mr. Kubista has served as JetE’s Senior Vice President since February 2009. From 2008 to 2009 he served as a principal at Elements, a renewable energy communications and business advisory firm. Mr. Kubista was responsible for business development and business advisory for clients. From 2001 to 2008 he served as President of BKG, a renewable energy marketing firm. Mr. Kubista founded BKG in 2001. From 1997 to 2001 he held the positions of Director of European Operations and Director of International Marketing at Orion Food Systems, a division of Schwan’s.

Mr. Kubista was named the 2006 South Dakota Small Business Person of the Year. In 2007 BKG was honored as an Inc. 5000 company.

 

Luca Zullo
Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Zullo has served as JetE’s Chief Technology Officer since August 2009. He started his career at Shell Research in 1990 in The Netherlands where he was involved with design and automation of novel petrochemical and oil processes. In 1995, He joined Cray Research to lead the effort to apply high performance computing applications to the petrochemical and oil refining industry. During that time, among the others, he led a project aiming to integrate large-scale process simulation with 3D visualization to provide a fully dynamic and immersive simulation environment for training, design and process improvement. This project, “The Virtual Plant,” was a finalist for the Smithsonian-Computerworld award for innovation in Computing.

After joining Cargill in 2001, Mr. Zullo focused on biofuels and bio-energy in plant operations with an emphasis on “waste” to energy and second-generation biofuels. During that time he also led the technical effort of a group that developed domestically and internationally methane capture projects in agricultural operations to harvest renewable energy and carbon credits.

Mr. Zullo holds a Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Padua, Italy and a Ph.D. also in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine in London, United Kingdom. He is the founder of VerdeNero LLC, a technical service and consulting firm for the biomass and biofuels industry and co-founder of BioCee, Inc., a firm devoted to commercializing a novel bio-coating technology developed at the University of Minnesota.

Mr. Zullo is an appointed member to Minnesota’s Governor Pawlenty Clean Energy Technology Collaborative.

 

Kathy Ploof
Corporate Secretary

Ms. Ploof has served as JetE’s Corporate Secretary since inception. Previously she was an Executive Assistant with Capitaline Advisors in the St. Paul office from 2008 to 2009. She is the Executive Assistant in JetE’s St. Paul, Minnesota office.

Prior to coming to Capitaline, Ms. Ploof worked for US BioEnergy (now merged with VeraSun Energy) as the Executive Assistant to the CFO and the General Counsel. She also worked for 5 years as an Executive Assistant and Design Center Manager for a local home builder in the St. Paul area. Ms. Ploof has over 20 years experience in various administrative support roles.