Paul A. Novelly has been our chairman of the board since inception. For at least the past five years, Mr. Novelly has been chairman and chief executive officer of Apex Oil Company, Inc., a privately-held company based in St. Louis, Missouri engaged in the trading, storage, marketing and transportation of petroleum products, including liquid terminal facilities in the Midwest and Eastern United States, and towboat and barge operations on the inland waterway system. Mr. Novelly is president and a director of AIC Limited, a Bermuda-based oil trading company, chairman of World Point Terminals Inc., a publicly-held Canadian company based in Calgary which owns and operates petroleum storage facilities in the United States, and chief executive officer of St. Albans Global Management, Limited Partnership, LLLP, which provides corporate management services. He currently serves on the board of directors at Boss Holdings, Inc., a distributor of work gloves, boots and rainwear and other consumer products, and within the past five years also served on the boards of directors of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc., a broker-dealer and global securities and investment firm, and of Intrawest Corporation, a company that is a world leader in destination resorts and adventure travel.
Lee E. Mikles
Chief Executive Officer and President
Lee E. Mikles has been our chief executive officer and a member of our board since inception. Mr. Mikles was chairman of Mikles/Miller Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser and home to the Kodiak family of funds, between 1992 and 2005. He was also chairman of Mikles/Miller Securities, LLC, a registered broker-dealer, between 1999 and 2005. Additionally, Mr. Mikles has served on the board of directors of Official Payments Corporation, Coastcast Corporation, Nelnet, Inc., Imperial Bank and Imperial Bancorp. He currently serves on the board of directors of Boss Holdings, Inc. and Pacific Capital Bankcorp. and is the chair of the audit committee for Boss Holdings, Inc.
Paul G. Lorenzini
Chief Operating Officer and Director
Paul G. Lorenzini has been a member of our board since January 2007. In January 1970, Mr. Lorenzini co-founded Packaging Consultants, Inc., a distribution business supplying packaging materials to the food industry. In 1983, Bunzl PLC, a supplier of supermarket and food service packaging, acquired Packaging Consultants, Inc. Mr. Lorenzini continued to work for Bunzl PLC and in 1986 became president of Bunzl PLC and its subsidiary Bunzl USA. He subsequently became the chief executive officer of Bunzl PLC and retired in July 2004 with the title of chairman emeritus. Mr. Lorenzini served as a director of Bunzl PLC between 1999 and 2004.
Douglas D. Hommert
Executive Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer
Douglas D. Hommert has been our executive vice president, secretary and treasurer since inception. He was a member of our board from inception through January 14, 2008. Mr. Hommert has been executive vice president and general counsel of Apex Oil Company, Inc. since September 2002. Between October 1988 and September 2002, he was a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. With that firm, he practiced in the areas of business law, taxation, mergers and acquisitions, financing and partnerships. He was licensed as a Certified Public Accountant in 1982.