Interim CEO & President
Erik Hoffner Lynn Benander works tirelessly with to build community ownership of renewable energy resources in New England and New York. She has worked for many years to support the development of consumer, producer, worker-owned and other locally-owned businesses that meet basic needs for energy, food, and shelter. Ms. Benander has raised more than $25 million in development grants, renewable energy grants, and financing for business development. She brings expertise in project planning, fundraising, grant writing, and grant management. Recently she helped raise one million in equity investment for Northeast Biodiesel and $540,000 for business planning and new business development for Energía, an energy services company in Holyoke. She has provided fundraising, strategic planning, marketing, executive search management, business planning and technical assistance consulting to hundreds of businesses in the Northeast including Cabot Creamery, Collective Copies, Northeast Cooperatives, PV Squared, Hillside Organic Farm and Pizza Company, and River Valley Market. Lynn Benander lives in Shelburne Falls, Mass. and serves on numerous cooperative and community boards and on her town’s energy and finance committees. Other Board Members  Tom LeueTom Leue has been promoting biodiesel in Western Massachusetts since 1999 when he built a farm scale bio-refinery. Under the trade name Yellow Brand Biodiesel, Tom has been making, buying, and selling biodiesel for the past 12 years. A founder of the Northeast Biodiesel LLC. he is the current Technical Director for this operation. Sometimes known as Mr. Biodiesel, Tom wants to share the benefits of biodiesel with everyone, at every opportunity.  Mark Tajima brings a strong background in finance, strategic planning, education, and energy efficiency. He helped create the business plan that secured a $540,000 grant to launch Energia and now works there as the Residential Energy Efficiency Crew Leader. Mark currently is Chair of the board of Co-op Power and is a member of the board of Northeast Biodiesel. Mark has 20 years of experience in banking, and 10 years of experience in energy efficiency work. Mark has been involved with Co-op Power since 2009.  Harvey Hunjan is an industrial chemist with special training in biochemical processing. He has developed processes and products concerning grain fuel ethanol, biodiesel, antibiotics, processed foods, wastewater treatment and metal coatings. He has consulted in food products innovation, start-up business development, sales improvement, enzyme applications and fermentation products. On a personal level he has interest in travel, entrepreneurship, elder care, party planning, community building and cooking-with-attitude. He has been on the Northeast Biodiesel board since May of 2010.  Frank Stiebel Owner and President of Stiebel Eltron with US headquarters in Hatfield, MA. Stiebel Eltron is the largest manufacturer of water heaters and solar hot water equipment in Germany and employs approximately 3,000 people world-wide. Erik Hoffner is a photojournalist and works as Outreach Coordinator for Orion magazine, a non-profit journal of sustainability. He is an expert on grassroots activism and in that capacity is a regular contributor to Earth Island Journal, World Ark, and Orion, and he also blogs for Grist.org, the web's biggest green news site. Eric is a founding board member of Coop Power and also sits on the Board of Northeast Biodiesel. He He's been driving a VW powered by 100% recycled biodiesel since 2007, and lives in Ashfield, Mass. Christian Lagier Christian Lagier has a background in entrepreneurship, business operations, and strategic business development in the United States and Europe. He has particularly valuable experience related to the energy sector and renewable energy and is passionate about the values and benefits of local and cooperative ownership structures. Today, Christian Lagier is the Associate Director of the Clark Science Center at Smith College, while also continuing consulting activities in support of sustainability causes. Christian Lagier has been a Co-op Power member and avid supporter since 2005 when he, as co-director, helped get both Co-op Power and Northeast Biodiesel off the ground. Previously, Christian worked for Northern Power Systems, the oldest renewable energy company in the country. He opened the San Francisco office, established operational infrastructure and pursued new strategic primarily related to development of solar, wind, co-generation, and hydrogen projects. Christian is Danish and French national, grew up in Denmark, and speaks multiple languages. He holds a Masters Degree in Economics and Business Administration and lives in Williamsburg, Mass. |
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The Team |
