About us
Board of Directors
About Us
About Us
Bob Worsley developed the Plant and began commercial operations in 2008.
The Plant has been through two ownership changes since its inception over the years. The first ownership change can be largely attributed to the tightening credit markets with a Plant CapEx of $80 million in 2010. The secondary change in ownership can be largely attributed to the shutdown of the neighboring Catalyst Snowflake coal plant in October 2012, which included shared resources and infrastructure.
The Plant is located on the site of a previously operating recycled paper manufacturing facility that was owned and operated by Catalyst Paper Corporation. Catalyst had provided Snowflake with a portion of their biomass fuel in the form of paper sludge at no cost. The Plant was designed to combust up to 30% paper sludge by weight on a bone-dry basis, with the balance of the fuel coming from traditional woody biomass. Catalyst Snowflake ceased operations in October 2012, and the assets were liquidated.
The Plant has access to traditional woody biomass because the surrounding region has plentiful resources that routinely need thinning to meet forest and woodland management initiatives. Within a 100-mile radius of the Plant, there are millions of acres of forestland. This land is populated primarily with ponderosa pine and pinyon-juniper species, and is owned, and managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Arizona State Lands, Fort Apache Indian Tribe, and private landowners. Programs and activities in the area provide the Plant with access to this biomass material.
In 2002, a portion of the region was devastated by the Rodeo-Chediski fire, which burned nearly 468,000 acres and forced the evacuation of many local communities. In 2011, the Wallow fire consumed over 500,000 acres, making it the largest in the state’s history. In 2013 Arizona lost 19 firefighters due to a Yardell Wildland fire outside of Prescott. Even with the massive devastation that has taken place, there are still millions of acres of untouched forest that need to be addressed. These fires have alerted regional and national authorities to the need for proper management and thinning of the forests. Regional authorities have now implemented programs to properly manage the forestlands, which produce hundreds of thousands of bone-dry tons of biomass annually through various thinning and stewardship activities.
In addition, Novo BioPower accesses biomass from timberland sale contracts, sawmills, green collection yards, and orchard operations in the region. Third-party studies indicate that as much as four times of Novo’s annual biomass fuel requirement can be sustainability procured from the immediate vicinity of the Plant.
Bob Worsley
Chairman
Robert (“Bob”) M. Worsley has served as our chairman since June 1, 2013. Mr. Worsley is the Arizona Senator representing Mesa’s legislative district 25 in the Arizona Senate. Mr. Worsley is also the founder and owner of NZ Legacy, LLC, an Arizona land and mineral company. Prior to founding NZ Legacy in March 2002, Mr. Worsley was the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President of SkyMall, Inc., which he founded in 1989, until his retirement in 2003. During his tenure at SkyMall, Mr. Worsley was successful in leading the Company through a $16 million IPO in 1996 and a $70 million sale to Newscorp’s Gemstar affiliate in 2001 and growing the business to become the largest in-flight catalog company in the United States with over $85 million in annual revenues. From 1985 to 1989, Mr. Worsley was a principal of ExecuShare, Inc., an executive services firm that provided time-shared financial executives for small companies. From 1980 to 1985, Mr. Worsley was an accountant with PriceWaterhouse, a public accounting firm, where he most recently held the position of Audit Manager. Mr. Worsley has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Brigham Young University. Mr. Worsley was a Certified Public Accountant for over twenty years.
Brad Worsley
President, Novo Power
Brad Worsley has served as President of Novo Power since August 2013. He is an active member of the 4FRI Stake holder group and as is currently a Co-chair for the organization. Prior to joining Novo Power, he worked as a Commodity Manager at Intel from May 2009 to July 2013, where his main responsibility was to negotiate multiyear corporate contracts with capital equipment suppliers and assure adherence to said contracts. From October 2005 to August 2007, Worsley served as General Manager of Renegy Holdings LLC. Worsley has focused his career on learning world-class supply chain practices and has worked for three of Gartner’s Supply Chain Top 25 companies. Worsley received an MBA in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University and Bachelors in Business Management with an emphasis in Supply Chain Management from Brigham Young University.
Karl Huish
Board Member
Karl is the managing director of Bela Flor Communities, a real estate development company. As an investor and board member he participates in venture capital investments in a variety of fields. He was the founder and CEO of a risk management firm, which was sold to a public company. He was the founder and CEO of a turn-key asset management platform for 401(k) and retirement plans, which was sold to a large private company.
Karl started his career practicing corporate and transaction law. He has a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. (Economics) from Brigham Young University. In addition to a law license (now inactive), Karl has previously held licenses as a CFP (certified financial planner), Series 7, 6 and 63 securities licenses, AIF (accredited investment fiduciary), and general insurance licenses.
Jeff Whiteman
Board Member
Jeff Whiteman is the President and CEO of Empire Southwest, which is the Caterpillar dealer for Arizona, southeastern California, and northern Mexico. Empire consistently ranks among Arizona’s top private companies and one of Caterpillar’s premier dealers, employing approximately 2200 people. Jeff is involved in a number of community and charitable organizations. Jeff is an Arizona native and graduated from Arizona State University. Jeff is an Arizona native and graduated from Arizona State University.
Michael Norberg
Board Member
Michael Norberg is currently a principal of Cowley Norberg Investments (CNI). Prior to joining CNI, Mr. Norberg was the principal and founder of Arete Capital, LLC a private real estate private equity company. He was also the COO for Cornerstone Homes, helping to grow the Arizona homebuilder to close more than 250 homes per year. Before joining as a partner of Cornerstone Homes, Mr. Norberg also served in various Sales Management and Sales positions with several hi-tech companies, including Niku Corporation, Baan, Netscape and Novell/WordPerfect. Mr. Norberg began his career at Ford Motor Land Development in Dearborn, Michigan as a Financial and Business Planning Analyst. Mr. Norberg is a graduate of Brigham Young University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance.
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