Joe Barone is CEO of Shale Directories, the "yellow pages for the oil and gas industry" connecting local businesses with the oil and gas operators, their employees and families. Barone attended over 40 oil and gas expos in the last five years and spoke before the Marcellus Shale Commission. He guest hosted, 'The Marcellus Shale and You" radio show on KDKA news radio, and currently a regular on the radio show, "All Energy Now."
Michael has worked in engineering and construction sectors for the past twenty five years with a focus on the design and construction of Energy Storage and Power Generation projects in the Oil & Gas sector. He has worked on strategic pursuits and projects in North America, Europe and Asia with a specific concentration on hard rock and salt hydrocarbon storage caverns that support the Petrochemical industry. His team at Lane Power & Energy Solutions have been involved in the design and delivery of all major hard rock cavern projects over the past 10 years which include (2) in China, (5) in Singapore and (2) in the United States. Throughout his 25 years, he has assumed several executive management roles including strategic planning, business development, financial management and reporting, project evaluation / development and project design and construction delivery; particularly at-risk EPC projects. Michael has worked on various types of power generation projects including waste to energy, natural gas turbine, biomass, compressed air energy storage and geothermal.
An influential thought leader on Oil & Gas strategic storage issues, Michael is active in the Business Executives for National Security (BENS), the Atlantic Council, and the Solution Mining Research Institute (SMRI). Michael earned a degree in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and graduated from the Wharton Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kenneth Thompson, Founder and President of Mustang Sampling brings with him over 30 years of experience in the Gas and Oil industry and the proven ability to lead multi-disciplined and multi-channel teams. Throughout his tenure, Ken has grown the Companies ten-fold by focusing on innovative solutions in the natural gas, NGL, and LNG sampling markets, and is the holder of numerous global technology patents. Utilizing his tenured experience Thompson currently leads the operational Business Units for Mustang Sampling and Valtronics creating a thriving and nurturing environment.
Tom Gellrich is the CEO of Top Line Analytics that consults on the downstream impacts of shale gas, focusing on the revolutionary changes in the Chemical and Plastics Industries. His presentations and white papers have been featured in a dozen global conferences and quoted in the international media on a regular basis. His 30-year career includes ExxonMobil and Total-Arkema. He received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Perry Babb leads the development team for 'KeyState Natural Gas Synthesis, LLC', a $400,000,000 low-carbon hydrogen, ammonia and urea production facility proposed for Clinton, County Pennsylvania. KeyState is a joint venture with Frontier Natural Resources, Inc. and will maximize it's 7,000 acre natural gas asset through a vertically integrated business case, and direct-use of it's onsite natural gas supply, as feedstock and power source, in onsite, value-added manufacturing, with novel onsite carbon capture, use and geological storage. Perry serves as CEO and Chariman of KeyState NGS.
Diana Irey Vaughan, is the Chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners. She was elected in 1995, is the longest serving Commissioner, now serving her seventh term of office, and is the only woman to have ever served in Washington County. Through her insistence on long-range planning, low tax rate, and a unified economic delivery plan, Diana has helped to foster an environment that brought more than 6,000 new jobs, ranking Washington County third in the nation in job growth by U.S. Department of Labor in 2010.
Michael Marr has been a senior communications leader in both the private and public sector for more than two decades. In 2012, Marr joined Shell and has since worked in different roles covering Shell’s US Chemicals Assets and Shell’s petrochemical project in Beaver County, PA. For the five years preceding Marr’s employment with Shell, he served as the public affairs lead at the former BP Texas City site, which housed the nation’s third largest oil refinery, an integrated chemical plant and a power plant.
Dr. Chuck Zelek is a senior economist with the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy. In this capacity, he conducts energy market analyses to inform fossil energy research, development, and demonstration programs and contribute to related policy and regulatory decision making. He has supported formulation of the Energy Title of the 2008 Farm Bill as a senior economist for the Department of Agriculture, evaluated the impacts of advanced energy technologies at the DOE, and recently been assigned by the Assistant Secretary of Energy as the DOE Point of Contact for the Tri-State Governors Shale Coalition.