Skip to main content

Home
2023 EVOLVING ENERGY Conference
Introducing Our Panelists

Introducing Our Panelists

The Race to Making the Clean Hydrogen Economy a Reality in Appalachia: ARCH2 – The who, what, when & how!

	Moderator: Arria Hines, CEO, Allegheny Science & Technology Arria Hines is an accomplished and energetic business leader and entrepreneur. She was born and raised in rural West Virginia. Arria founded her first company, a home interior boutique, in her basement in VA in the 1980s. Later, she moved back to her home state to work in project and leadership roles with Ranger Golf, PRC, and SAIC. From this humble beginning, Arria leveraged career opportunities to sharpen her business acumen and her energy knowledge. This led to the founding in 2009 of Allegheny Science & Technology (AST), a Woman-Owned West Virginia-based energy services company. Under Arria’s leadership, AST has thrived. It has been recognized as one of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies. Beginning with two employees and one government contract, AST now has nearly 240 employees and more than two dozen contracts across multiple federal agencies. Today, AST is a leader in alternative energy technologies, and renewable energies, and it is a key team member on a DOE hydrogen hub effort, Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2). Arria currently serves on WVU’s Visiting Committee, TechConnect Board of Directors, West Virginia Governor’s STEM Council, and is an advocate for the WV Public Speaker’s Bureau. She serves on the Upshur County (WV) Development Authority Board and is an executive member of the ARCH2 Board.
	Brian Redmond - Mr. Redmond has over 30 years of experience in energy, chemicals, and natural resources. He has held senior management positions in both renewable and fossil fuel energy production, industrial chemicals, and commercial aggregate quarrying. Mr. Redmond is a co-founder and managing director of Paragon Energy Holdings LLC (“PEH”) and Paragon Asset Group LLC ("PAG"). PEH is an independent merchant banking firm specializing in the energy sector. PAG is an energy investment firm that has owned and operated over $350MM of renewable and traditional energy assets, natural resource projects, and non-traditional equity investments. During his career, Mr. Redmond has held operating positions as President of Hog Lick Aggregates LLC, President of ALTIVIA Petrochemicals, President of Houston Pipe Line Company, President of Louisiana Resource Company, and Managing Director of Enron. In these roles Mr. Redmond had direct P/L responsibility for a $2 billion energy asset portfolio and six years of responsibility managing asset development in Indochina, the Middle East and Turkey. Mr. Redmond earned his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.
	Kathy G. Beckett - Kathy Beckett has over thirty years of experience practicing environmental, energy and natural resource law. She has experience working with all major federal environmental programs, to include the National Environmental Policy Act. Kathy works with clients, community and business leaders to expand economic development for energy, chemicals and manufacturing. She chairs the Environmental Committees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the WV Chamber of Commerce. Kathy is ranked by Chambers USA for Environment, Lawdragon Green 500, and is a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers among other professional organizations.
	Melanie White - Melanie White is a program and project manager with over 25 years of experience in federal projects -- most of which has been working for Appalachia- based small businesses focused on technology growth within the region. Ms. White is a problem-solver and relationship builder with strong attention to detail. She approaches each client as her top priority and easily balances multiple engagements. In addition to managing corporate/community stakeholder relationships, Ms. White serves as AST’s Ombudswoman and employee stakeholder to our Diversity/EEO IPT (along with our HR Director and CEO), where she works to ensure an equitable environment for AST's workforce.

Build Back Better: Creating Pathways Toward Mine Land Reuse
	Moderator: Eriks Brolis, Director of Economic Development and Strategic Initiatives, The Nature Conservancy Mr. Brolis has spent his career working at the nexus of business and government for the mutual benefit of people and nature. For over 5 years at TNC, he has promoted climate & conservation-friendly economic diversification strategies including market-based natural climate solutions and the deployment of renewable energy on former mine lands, brownfields & other previously disturbed sites. Prior to joining TNC, he founded a consultancy and business incubator that supported enterprises around the globe focused on the regenerative agriculture and renewable energy sectors. From 2006-2011 Mr. Brolis was a Co-Owner of Namaste Solar in Colorado; helping to grow the startup into a leading solar integrator generating more than $20 million in annual revenue with over 75 employees. Concurrently, he was elected to serve as the President of the Board for the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association where he successfully helped enact bipartisan policies to grow the then nascent solar industry.
	Brandon Dennison - Brandon is Ashley Dennison's husband and father to their boys: Owen and Will. In 2023, President Brad Smith named Dennison as Vice President for Workforce and Economic Development at Marshall University. As a lifelong West Virginian, Dennison is Founder and CEO of Coalfield Development, which works to build the Appalachian economy from the ground up. Coalfield has invested in over 70 new social enterprises and trained over 2,000 unemployed or underemployed workers. Dennison graduated from Shepherd University with a B.A. in History. He holds a Master of Public Affairs from Indiana University. In 2017, Brandon was named West Virginian of the Year by WV Living Magazine. He is winner of the JMK Social Innovation Prize, is a DRK Entrepreneur, and is an Ashoka Fellow. In 2019, Brandon was awarded the Heinz Award for Economy and Employment. For 10 years, he has tried to learn guitar but still only knows 8 or 9 songs (importantly, Country Roads is one of those songs).
	Brady Gutta - Brady Gutta is the Director of the newly created Center for Sustainable Mine Lands on the campus of West Virginia University. One of the goals of the Center is to develop innovative approaches to reclaim West Virginia’s 400,000 acres of previously mined lands. Brady has a Bachelor of Science in Geology from West Virginia University and over 20 years of professional experience managing environmental reclamation projects in coal mining as well as oil and gas. He lives in Morgantown with his Fiancée and three kids and enjoys hiking, fishing, golfing, and woodworking.
	Brianna Hickman - Brianna Hickman has been the Community + Business Resilience Initiative (CBRI) Project Director at The WV Community Development Hub since January 2023. Prior to her work with The Hub, Brianna’s background lies in the nonprofit and higher education sectors, serving as the Program Manager for the Opioid-Impacted Family Support Program at West Virginia Northern Community College, where she also taught Intro to American National Government classes, and as Development Director for the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley. Brianna graduated from West Virginia University in 2017 with a Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Administration. She also obtained a BA in Political Science from WVU in 2014. Currently, she serves on city council for the City of Moundsville and on the governance committee for the Association of Junior Leagues International. When not volunteering, she can be found with her golden retriever, Atlas, in the woods somewhere or with her nose in a book.
	Marilyn Wrenn - A Charleston, WV native, Marilyn Wrenn joined Coalfield Development in 2016 and serves as the Chief Program Officer. With 30 years’ experience as a community and economic development professional in Appalachia, prior to joining Coalfield, Wrenn worked in the public sector for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the West Virginia Department of Commerce. In the nonprofit sector, Wrenn has focused on economic justice, social enterprise and rural entrepreneurship, local capacity building, economic diversification, and sustainability. Wrenn holds a Masters Degree in Communications and Environmental Systems, and a B.S. in Communications/minor in sociology from the University of Kentucky, and is accredited by the Economic Development Institute.

Ensuring Energy Security Through Meeting Workforce Demands
	Moderator: Dr. Liz Vitullo Dr. Vitullo holds a dual role at West Virginia University serving as the Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the John Chamber’s College of Business and Economics and the Assistant Vice President of Economic Innovation. Vitullo brings experience in economic development, grant writing, higher education, and community outreach. She supports special projects and initiatives for the University and is well positioned to connect WVU resources into this effort. She is passionate about education and serves as the Coordinator of the Healthcare MBA program. Prior to her current role, Vitullo managed the portfolio of graduate programs in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, launching its nationally ranked online MBA, which led to the creation of subsequent nationally ranked online master's programs and other specialized programs for national guardsmen and corporate offerings. She was part of the inaugural cohort of IDEA fellows at WVU and served as the Dean of the Governor's School for Entrepreneurship. Vitullo received her PhD and MBA from WVU and her undergraduate and MS degree from the University of Toronto. She has served as an adjunct faculty in entrepreneurship, marketing and management and has published in several areas. She lives in Morgantown with her husband, two daughters and son.
	Anthony Armaly Partnerships Manager & Regional Workforce Initiative Federal Coordinator, US Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania As Global Partnerships Manager, Mr. Armaly pursues new international and domestic research and development collaborations on behalf of the laboratory. Areas of emphasis include CCS, advanced alloys and next generation materials, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and sensors and controls. As Regional Workforce Initiative Federal Coordinator, Mr. Armaly works with regional stakeholders to develop and promote workforce programs and link them to opportunities in the energy and advanced manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining NETL in 2015, he spent 5½ years with the U.S. Department of Defense at Wright-Patterson AFB. Mr. Armaly has an M.S. in Administration from Central Michigan University, and a B.S. in Business from Bowling Green State University.
	ELIZABETH M. “Betsy” MCINTYRE Executive Director, Tristate Energy and Advanced Manufacturing (TEAM) Consortium As Director of the TEAM Consortium Elizabeth “Betsy” McIntyre is responsible for coordinating the activities of a diverse set of public and private entities including institutions of higher education, workforce boards, industry partners and state officials. The goal of Consortium is to ensure an adequate supply of properly skilled workers for a targeted 45-county region in southeast Ohio, northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Before returning to this area a few years ago, Ms. McIntyre served as Vice President of Commonwealth Corporation, a $43M quasi-public state agency in Massachusetts where she was responsible for diversifying the funding base for state-wide workforce development programs, as well as for policy development, communications and program implementation for sector- based industry initiatives.

Building an Effective Energy Ecosystem for the Global Energy Transition
	Moderator: Michael Docherty Michael Docherty is Executive Director of Appalachian Energy Future (AEF), an industry-led alliance focused on engaging and educating stakeholders to help advance a low-carbon energy future for the Northern Appalachian Region of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Docherty is also Executive Director of IN-2-Market,the non-profit corporation that manages AEF as part of its mission to accelerate industrial innovation in the region. Docherty brings valuable experience from his roles as an entrepreneur, senior corporate executive, and venture capital investor. He is managing partner of NextBig, a venture-creation firm that co-creates startups with leading corporations and entrepreneurs. Docherty’s previous experience includes senior management roles with GE, Ford, and Sunbeam. He is the author of the book, Collective Disruption: How Corporations and Startups Can Co-create Transformative New Businesses. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University (Kellogg) and BS Engineering degree from Drexel University.
	David C. Miller, Ph.D. - David Miller serves as Deputy Director and Chief Research Officer of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) where he leads the Science and Technology Center, developing strategic plans and programs to address current and emerging energy challenges. Previously, Miller served as an NETL senior fellow and provided technical and strategic leadership across the Strategic Systems Analysis and Engineering directorate. Miller initiated and led the highly collaborative, multi-institutional Institute for the Design of Advanced Energy Systems (IDAES), which is focused on computational approaches to enable the design and optimization of complex integrated energy and industrial systems, accelerating their development and deployment to support rapid decarbonization of the energy and industrial sectors. Miller also served as the technical director of the Carbon Capture Simulation Initiative, which pioneered new ways to maximize learning during pilot- scale testing to reduce technical risk during scale-up. Miller is a recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award for Exceptional Federal Service, Applied Science and Engineering. He earned his doctorate in chemical engineering from The Ohio State University.
	Sam Taylor, Director, WVU Institute for Sustainability and Energy Research (WISER) Sam Taylor has worked in the development, management and oversight of renewable and non-renewable energy research activities since 2001. He has directly managed research, development, and deployment programs totaling more than $1 billion for both WVU and the U.S. Department of Energy. As Director of WISER, Sam is focused on the development of major research investments and initiatives that can leverage the expertise and partnerships of WVU faculty and students to high- impact outcomes for West Virginia and the Appalachian Region. He has a technical focus in sustainable energy systems and decarbonization for Appalachia, including hydrogen production and utilization systems, carbon management, energy technology deployment, and energy geosciences. Taylor has strong interests in economic and workforce development issues, especially as they relate to energy development and technological change in the region. He enjoys playing outside in the woods of West Virginia, and is an avid mountain biker, rock climber, and photographer.
	Currie Crookston - Currie Crookston is the Global Head of Ecosystems at Covestro. In this role he leads efforts worldwide to bring new technologies and capabilities to Covestro to help accelerate R&D and its transition to a truly circular and sustainable company. Currie is a serial entrepreneur having started a half dozen different businesses with multiple successful exits. Prior to joining Covestro he and his wife engineered the purchase of 1.5 miles of riverfront in Pittsburgh to become a $1.5billion dollar riverfront development. He has broad innovation experience, from molecular imaging and MRI technologies to machine learning in material science. Prior to civilian life Currie did 5 tours as a Navy SEAL. He has a degree in Naval Architecture from the U.S. Naval Academy and an MBA from the University of Virginia.