Team

Ken E. Flies – Managing Director. – Mr. Flies previously worked as Managing Director of AgBrazil - one of the first companies involved in introducing and working with foreign investors purchasing land and agricultural enterprises in Brazil. Ken has had many years of executive management experience with the start-up, development, turn-around and management of companies in the agricultural, computer, and food services industries. He has a degree in Development Economics from the University of Minnesota and studied International Development at the University of Oklahoma and Kansas State University. He comes from an agricultural background and family that has farmed for six generations in Minnesota. His experience with agriculture in Brazil dates back to the 1960s. In addition to Brazil, he has spent considerable time working in Europe and in Asia involving business start-up and turn-around efforts. He is also the founder of the Rural America Arts Partnership and was recognized by the Governor of Minnesota as one of Minnesota's Outstanding Rural Entrepreneurs.

Reid L. Weiland - Director for Agricultural Operations- Since 1996 Mr. Weiland has been a partner in Weiland Farms in Garner, Iowa a 5,000 acre grain operation. His responsibilities have included all aspects of grain production, including marketing, finance, accounting and supplier/buyer relations. Reid maintains an active role in the operation, spending considerable time in the U.S. each year. Since 2004 Reid has lived permanently in Brazil having the opportunity to travel widely throughout Brazil's varied agricultural regions. Reid has a B.S. in Agriculture Business from Iowa State University and is a graduate of the Executive Program for Agriculture Producers at Texas A & M University. Reid has also studied in Australia and Costa Rica and is fluent in Portuguese and English.

Marcus M. Schlösser – Director of Finance and Project Development- Mr. Schlösser has been engaged in international consulting to agribusiness enterprises since 2006. Besides agribusiness, he has background in finances and equity funds with technological and industrial companies. Marcus is experienced in corporate governance and business structuring and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of a public traded textile company. Marcus has studied in top Brazilian institutions, obtaining an undergraduate degree in Production Engineering from Federal University of Santa Catarina and an MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas. Marcus also has an Executive Master degree, having finished top in his class among executives from varied Brazilian multinational companies, in Corporate Governance and Valuation at BI International Business School in collaboration with Columbia University, Berkley University and Babson University. He is fluent in English and Portuguese.

Joe Davis – Director of Research - In 1994 Mr. Davis co-founded AgriLogic, Inc. as a consulting firm performing risk management and farm policy analysis. Under Joe’s leadership, AgriLogic developed into the leading industry supplier of risk analysis products and services in the agricultural marketplace. Agrilogic’s has managed over $19 million in risk management consulting projects during the past three years. Over the same time period Mr. Davis has conducted numerous economic studies of Farm Bill Policy analysis for industry leading commodity groups. In addition, proprietary economic models pioneered by Joe have been used for forecasting economic scenarios for allowance of loan loss reserves, annual business plan forecasts, and underwriting analysis for lending institutions. Prior to establishing AgriLogic, Davis served as a research associate for Texas A&M University; where he co-developed AG-GEM, a macroeconomic model of the U.S. economy and agriculture. Joe holds a B.S. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University.

Paulo René Guedes Gondim – Associate Consultant - Mr. Gondim provides agronomic and strategic support in bioenergy related cultures. He is a graduate in Agronomy from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul with a Master Degree in Food Sciences from the Federal University of Santa Catarina. From 1975-1990 Paulo was Chief Researcher of Sugarcane Production for The National Program for Alcohol (PROALCOOL) and The National Program for the Betterment of Sugarcane (PLANALCUCAR). Prior to this he was the Coordinator of the Sugarcane Project for the Secretary of Agriculture of Santa Catarina and Association of Sugar Producers of Santa Catarina State. His professional experience includes development with new technologies of sugarcane production systems for sugarcane, sugar and ethanol. Paulo has also been involved in the agronomics of eucalyptus and vineyard production, and spent eight years as a Professor of Agronomy at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. He has worked throughout Brazil.

Joe Quiroga – Associate Consultant - Mr. Quiroga provides financial and strategic planning support especially as relates to capital formation and financing. Mr. Quiroga has over fifteen years of experience in business development, finance, venture capital and law and has worked in numerous finance and development roles at Fortune 500 corporations in the U.S and Internationally including Brazil and Argentina. Joe is a graduate in accounting from Syracuse University; hold an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate in Law from University of Pennsylvania. He is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.

Jose Zilio – Associate Consultant - Mr. Zílio provides market development and strategic planning support . José was for many years the Director of Technology and Innovation for Bunge overseeing their expansion in production of food products and BioFuels. He has also served as Chief Operation Officer of Samrig, Director of Santista Alimentos and Export Director of a joint venture company of Bunge, Miles Laboratories and Bayer. José is a graduate in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and has completed course work in business strategy at Harvard University and foreign trade at Funcex in Sao Paulo. He has served on numerous industry and governmental boards and committees and is a known international speaker and lecturer.

John Penson – Associate Consultant - Dr. Penson is the lead resource for Macroeconomic Studies and Stochastic Modeling. John is Regents Professor and Stiles Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. He obtained his B.S. and M.S degrees in Agribusiness from Southern Illinois University. He received his PhD degree from the University of Illinois, achieving the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association. Dr. Penson is author and coauthor of 15 books in agricultural economics. Besides his academic career, he has many years of experience working for the USDA and as a consultant.

Guilherme Soria Bastos Filho – Associate Consultant - Mr. Bastos has a vast network of relationships in the Brazilian agricultural sector through his 20 years of experience in agricultural economics. Guilherme was formally a Director of Peabirus Capital Management ,a private equity firm focused on Brazilian Agribusiness, and for Agroconsult, a lead Brazilian consulting firm with focus in Brazil's soybean sector. Further , Guilherme has experience working as consultant for the World Bank and as an economic analyst for the Fundação Getúlio Vargas . Guilherme is a graduate in Agronomy from Federal University of Viçosa. He holds a Masters degree in Agricultural and Natural Resources Economics from University of Maryland and a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics from University of São Paulo.