Summit Ag Investors
Advisors
Bill Laverack, Senior Advisor
Mr. Laverack is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Laverack Capital Partners, a private investment firm. Previously, Mr. Laverack was a Managing Partner of J.H. Whitney & Co., a Managing Director at Gleacher & Co., a Principal and original member of the private equity group at Morgan Stanley & Co., and an officer at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. Mr. Laverack has served on the boards of directors of numerous private and public companies. Mr. Laverack currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Choate Rosemary Hall; the National Advisory Board of DukeEngage, Duke University’s undergraduate civic engagement program; the Parents’ Committee of the University of Virginia; and the Leadership Council of AmeriCares. He is a former long-standing Trustee and Board President of New Canaan Country School. Mr. Laverack holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an A.B., cum laude, from Harvard College.
Harry Stine, Senior Industry Advisor
Mr. Stine is the CEO of Stine Seed Company, the largest independent seed company in the United States and the largest private seed company in the world. Stine Seed provides producers industry-leading corn and soybean genetics. Today approximately 60% of all U.S. soybean acres are planted with seeds utilizing genetics developed by Stine Seed, in addition to a significant presence in South America and other international markets. Mr. Stine has been a leading innovator in many areas of seed genetics, including most recently the utilization of high-population corn genetics.
Harry Stine is synonymous with many titles – innovator, businessman, entrepreneur – but the title holding the most significance to him is farmer. Raised on the family property in Dallas County, Iowa, Harry graduated from Central Dallas High School and then McPherson College in Kansas. Mr. Stine is a member of the American Society of Agronomy and the American Seed Trade Association. He also serves on the board of directors of the Trees Forever Foundation (Trustees Emeritus). In addition, Mr. Stine has been honored by numerous organizations for his contributions in the business community and beyond including an induction into the Iowa Business Hall of Fame and a member of the Forbes 400 list.
Emil Henry, Senior Advisor
Mr. Henry is the CEO of Tiger Infrastructure Partners, an independent private equity firm focused on control investments in middle-market infrastructure assets and businesses in North America and Europe. Mr. Henry served in the U.S. Treasury Department as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Henry served as key advisor to two Treasury Secretaries on a number of key initiatives. Prior to founding Tiger Infrastructure Partners he served as Global Head of Lehman Brothers private equity business focused on infrastructure. In addition, Mr. Henry has served on numerous for-profit and not-for-profit boards and is also a noted author on matters of public policy and speaker on a range of financial and regulatory issues. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.
Marc Blair, Senior Advisor
Mr. Blair, a Managing Director at Tiger Infrastructure Partners, has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector and has spent his entire career in the natural resources space. He was previously a member of the Lehman Brothers’ infrastructure private equity team and prior to that was a Managing Director with the Lehman Brothers Natural Resources Group. Additionally, Mr. Blair worked on over 30 mergers and acquisitions as well as numerous debt financings and equity offerings. Prior to joining Lehman Brothers, Mr. Blair was a credit officer at Christiania Bank. Mr. Blair serves on the boards of American Natural, Sunlight Financial, Danskammer HoldCo and is a board observer at Summit Brazil Renewables. He holds a B.A. in International Affairs from Colgate and an M.B.A. with High Honors from the University of Chicago.
Dermot Hayes, Senior Advisor
Dermot Hayes is the Pioneer Hi-Bred International Chair in Agribusiness, professor of economics, and professor of finance at Iowa State University. He is co-director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at Iowa State. He has distinguished himself with many awards at the college and university levels for his work as a teacher and researcher. In 2006 he received a “Publication of Enduring Quality” award from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. AAEA named him a Fellow in 2007, its highest recognition for distinction in the discipline. Besides his analysis of U.S. farm policy and international agricultural trade, his other research interests include food safety, livestock modeling, demand analysis, and commodity markets. Since 1995 he has been a consulting trade economist for the National Pork Producers Association.
Henrique Ubrig, Senior Advisor
Mr. Ubrig is a Brazilian citizen and experienced international executive with expertise in a number of industries including large-scale agribusiness and renewable energy production. He spent a total of 27 years with DuPont in various roles and is currently the CEO of Terasol Energy. During his 27 years at DuPont, Mr. Ubrig held a number of leadership positions within the company, including President of DuPont South America (1996-2003) and President of DuPont South Asia (2004-2005). In addition, Mr. Ubrig became the first Brazilian citizen to hold the position of CFO for DuPont’s South American operations. He also serves on the boards of several for-profit and nonprofit organizations in Brazil.