Environmental Banc & Exchange

Management team / staff

Randy Wilgis, President. Mr. Wilgis is President of EBX. Mr. Wilgis is responsible for the overall performance of EBX, ensuring the obligations made to our clients, investors and partners are met. Mr. Wilgis is also leading the expansion of species banking in the East Coast with the development of two conservation banks, one in West Virginia and another in the Carolinas. Mr. Wilgis is a Board member of the National Mitigation Banking Association’s Endangered Species Banking Committee and also a Board Member of the Association. Prior to joining EBX, Mr. Wilgis was a Senior Vice President with TESSCO Technologies, where he founded three service businesses with combined annual revenues of over $250 million in 2004. Mr. Wilgis received his BSE from the Duke University School of Engineering, and MBA from the University of Virginia-Darden School of Business. Mr. Wilgis works in the South Carolina office of EBX.

George Kelly Director and Founder. Mr. Kelly is a graduate of Tulane University and a cum laude JD and Masters in Environmental Law graduate of the Vermont Law School. As the founder and Director at Environmental Banc and Exchange he has permitted and sold over $70m of environmental credits in the United States relating to wetlands, streams, endangered species and water quality. He has worked with numerous resource agencies, landowners, municipalities, investors and private and public credit buyers in the implementation of mitigation projects. He has worked on resource mitigation projects and negotiated and implemented mitigation banking instruments in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, California, Florida, and Maryland as well has drafted and negotiated land deals with over 100 landowners for resource mitigation projects. He has been a leader in promoting new policies at the federal and state levels relating to market-based solutions to achieve environmental objectives, including working on the recently promulgated federal wetland mitigation rules enacted in June 2008.

Mr. Kelly serves on the Board and is the past President of the National Mitigation Banking Association. Additionally, he was appointed to serve on the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Nutrient Trading Task Force, the Advisory Committee to the Water Quality Fund for the Chesapeake Bay, the Maryland Non-Point Source Task Force, and the Maryland Climate Commission (Mitigation Work Group). He also served as Chair of the Section of Environmental Law for the Maryland State Bar Association and was asked to represent the business and legal communities in the drafting of the precedent-setting Brownfields environmental legislation. Mr. Kelly works in the Maryland office of EBX.

Thomas Rinker, Chief Operating Officer Mr. Rinker is the Chief Operating officer of EBX. After graduation in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Mr. Rinker worked as an executive with several firms in the environmental industry. Over a fifteen year period at Environmental Elements Corporation, Mr. Rinker served as a Division Vice-President where he started and managed a business unit that designed and constructed large-scale waste-to-energy facilities based on technology licensed from the major European supplier of the technology. During that period, Mr. Rinker became a Partner in the firm that purchased Environmental Elements Corporation from its parent company and took the company public. Later, Mr. Rinker became President and CEO of the North American subsidiary of an international energy and environmental technology company. During that period he arranged the sale of the subsidiary to another European based firm, and stayed on to manage the company during the transition. In 2000, Mr. Rinker joined EBX and assumed the responsibilities of Chief Operating Officer. As COO for EBX, Mr. Rinker is responsible for the implementation of all EBX mitigation projects and mitigation banks, and for supervision of EBX operating staff. Mr. Rinker works in the Maryland office of EBX.

Steve Jennings, Chief Financial Officer Mr. Jennings performs and supervises all accounting and financial functions for the company. Prior to joining EBX and Black Oak, Mr. Jennings served as a Group Controller for The Rouse Company, responsible for seven major regional shopping centers, including The Mall in Columbia, Harborplace, The Gallery, and South Street Seaport (New York). His duties included supervising on-site accounting personnel, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting and deal analysis. Prior to joining The Rouse Company, Mr. Jennings was a Senior Accountant in the Real Estate and Construction Group at the regional public accounting firm of Walpert, Smullian and Blumenthal. In that position he worked with clients such as homebuilders, land developers, contractors, and shopping center and office building ownership entities. Mr. Jennings is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants. He received his MBA, with a concentration in Finance, from Loyola College in 1995, and is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

Norton Webster, Regional Director of Operations, PWS Mr. Webster serves as a Regional Director of Operations of EBX. Mr. Webster works with engineers and consultants, client representatives and regulatory officials during the concept, proposals, design, construction and monitoring phases of all EBX projects throughout the Southeast. Mr. Webster is a Board member of the North Carolina Environmental Restoration Association and the Piedmont RC&D Council. Before joining EBX, Mr. Webster served as an Environmental Scientist with Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Mr. Webster’s early career was spent as a Wetlands/Wastewater Consultant with Triangle Wetlands Consultants, a Research Assistant in the Department of Forestry at the North Carolina State University, and a Staff Scientist at ARCADIS Geraghty & Miller. While at Kimley-Horn and Associates, Mr. Webster managed natural resource investigations, ecological assessments, wetlands delineation, wetland mitigation feasibility studies and wetland mitigation searches. Mr. Webster holds a B.S in Business from Wake Forest University and a M.S. in Forestry with a concentration in Soil Science from North Carolina State University. Mr. Webster works in the North Carolina office of EBX.

Matt Fisher, Regional Director of Business Development Mr. Fisher serves as Regional Director of Business Development with primary focus in development of the Appalachian territories. Before joining EBX, Mr. Fisher served for eight years as a Regional Director for EarthMark Mitigation Services, LLC. Mr. Fisher has extensive experience in the development of compensatory mitigation resources, including turn-key mitigation, mitigation banks, in-lieu fee programs, and permittee implemented mitigation. By working closely with regulatory agencies, the Federal Aviation Administration, municipal policy makers, and private mitigation developers, Mr. Fisher has developed knowledge of current regulations and solutions to provide mitigation for unavoidable impacts to aquatic resources and endangered species habitat in Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Mr. Fisher holds a B.A. Degree in Communications with a concentration on Business Marketing from the University of Louisville. Mr. Fisher works out of the North Carolina and West Virginia offices of EBX.

David Godley, Project Manager Mr. Godley works in the North Carolina office where he manages the proposal and implementation of EBX mitigation projects. Mr. Godley is currently managing wetland, stream and buffer mitigation projects in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Prior to joining EBX, Mr. Godley worked as an Extension Research Technician for the North Carolina State University Biological Agricultural Engineering Water Quality Group. While at NCSU, Mr. Godley surveyed and collected morphology data and conducted vegetation restorations for multiple stream and wetland restoration projects. Mr. Godley spent his early career as an aquaculture research assistant and biologic sciences aid. Mr. Godley holds a B.S. in Agricultural Business Management from North Carolina State University with a minor in Economics.

Martin Hovis, Assistant Project Manager Mr. Hovis works in the North Carolina office where he assists in the implementation of mitigation and conservation banking projects in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Mr. Hovis coordinates the maintenance and repair of EBX projects and credit sales from EBX banks in the region. Prior to joining EBX, Mr. Hovis worked as a Technician for the North Carolina State University Stream Morphology Survey and Assessment Team. While at NCSU, Mr. Hovis surveyed and collected morphology data and conducted vegetation restorations for multiple stream and wetland restoration projects. Mr. Hovis holds a B.S. in Agricultural and Environmental Technology from North Carolina State University with a minor in Soil Science.

Kristy Rodrigue, Project Manager Ms. Rodrigue works in the West Virginia office and is an experienced hands-on project manager, having worked on a variety of wetland and stream mitigation projects in the Southeast. Ms. Rodrigue is currently managing wetland and stream mitigation projects, interfacing with regulatory agencies and coordinating credit sales in West Virginia. Ms. Rodrigue previously served for eight years as a Project Manager at EarthMark Mitigation Services, LLC and for four years as a Hydrologic Technician with the United States Geological Service. Ms. Rodrigue holds a B.A in Biology from the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Tommy Cousins, Project Manager, PWS Mr. Cousins works in the Charlotte, North Carolina office where he manages the proposal and implementation of EBX mitigation projects. Mr. Cousins is currently managing wetland, stream, and nutrient offset mitigation projects in North Carolina and South Carolina. Mr. Cousins has extensive experience in wetland and stream mitigation, Section 404/401 permitting, wetland and stream delineations and assessments, Endangered Species Act consultations, geomorphic and morphologic surveys, Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, coordination under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and GIS. Mr. Cousins has worked on mitigation projects in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. Prior to joining EBX, Mr. Cousins served for two years as a Project Manager with EarthMark Mitigation Services, LLC, and for seven years as an Environmental Scientist and Project manager with Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. Mr. Cousins holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from North Carolina State University and is pursuing a M.S. in Natural Resources degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Cousins also serves on the Catawba Lands Conservancy’s Land Acquisition Committee.

Tim Crist, Controller Mr. Crist works in the Maryland office of EBX where he serves as the Controller for the Company. In that capacity Mr. Crist is responsible for all project and corporate accounting, financial management, banking and tax functions. Mr. Crist coordinates with home office staff on procurement, bonding, information technology and human resource issues, and provides financial reporting to EBX mitigation project partners. Mr. Crist is a Certified Public Accountant and holds dual B.S degrees from Towson University in Accounting and in Finance. Mr. Crist has fourteen years accounting and financial management experience, and prior to joining EBX, Mr. Crist served eight years with Ajilon Consulting where he specialized in advanced information technology applications for financial reporting.

David Phillips, Regional Land Manager Mr. Phillips is a 1975 graduate of The Citadel, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Mr. Phillips also holds a North Carolina Real Estate license, and has taken a multitude of Forestry Management courses through the University of Georgia Intensive Forestry Management program. After a successful 18 year commercial banking career, Mr. Phillips chose to go into the timber business pursuing both the forester and procurement duties necessary to acquire stumpage for two logging operations, earning dealerships with National pulpwood companies as well as pine and hardwood sawmills in both NC and SC. Emphasis was on thinning pine stands as well as a swamp crew harvesting dimensional pine and hardwood logs. Mr. Phillips was featured by John Deere Forestry Equipment in their national advertising campaign for one of his pine thinning projects, and another project was featured in Southern Logging Times magazine as one of the top swamp logging jobs operating in Southeastern NC at the time. During this period of time Mr. Phillips was asked to invest in and be majority owner of an outdoor advertising company, which worked with landowners to develop revenue through billboard placements. After several years of hard work this company grew to 24 employees, seven offices across the country with a national sales office in Chicago. In 2006 Mr. Phillips joined the EBX team to utilize his extensive experience working with rural landowners. In this role Mr. Phillips has assisted landowners throughout the Carolinas to realize value from conservation easements while maintaining the working nature of their property. Mr. Phillips is also owner of a recreational land brokerage company, Mossy Oak Properties – Land, Farms & Timber, Inc. The company competently handles the brokerage of all types of farm and timberland, as well as landowner representation in timber sales in NC and SC. Also under management are the daily operations of a long leaf pine straw raking and sales operation on 1,800 acres.