company bios
Justin Bzdek – Founder and President & CEO
Justin Bzdek, a pioneer in the Colorado cleantech community, founded Symbios Technologies in January 2008 and has been involved in the founding of many biofuels and solar energy-related companies. Since 2003, Mr. Bzdek has had senior involvement in more than $50 million in federal and state government grants and contract awards from DOE, USDA, DOD, and state agencies, including for advanced cellulosic biofuels plants, algae-to-jet fuel R&D, energy crop R&D, biodiesel plants and process technologies, and waste-to-energy project feasibility studies. In 2008, Mr. Bzdek conceived of an integrated renewable ag-energy industrial park concept in collaboration with a major municipality, and in 2009 obtained funding for and directed its phase I engineering and business feasibility analysis evaluating centralized anaerobic digestion of disparate food processing and municipal wastes as well as solar power generation. He leads project development teams focused on water treatment and greenhouse gas-mitigating conversion of industrial and agricultural waste streams to clean energy, organic fertilizer, and clean water. Examples of his team’s recent work include development of proprietary engineering/technology and financial modeling software as well as geospatial database decision-making tools for distributed generation bioenergy projects, a patent-pending innovative low-energy water treatment technology, engineering design and process modeling for a patent-pending supercritical fluid oil extraction and biofuel process technology, and a proprietary engineering model for a patent-pending biogas/solar thermal hybrid electric power generation system. He has authored or co-authored numerous technical articles, essays, patent applications, and other works, and holds a patent for a biofuels purification technology. Mr. Bzdek is Chairman of the Board of The Atmosphere Conservancy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that develops, finances, and builds community solar energy renovations for affordable housing and non-profit facilities. He is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and past board member of the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2) and the Southwestern Biofuels Association (SWBA), and from 2001 to 2008 was co-founder, board member, and vice president of Blue Sun Energy, Inc. and its subsidiaries including Blue Sun Biodiesel LLC, the first major biofuels company in the Rocky Mountain region. Previously, he was Research Associate and Assistant Department Manager for the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Mr. Bzdek holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Colorado State University.Greg Fuhrman – Chief Financial Officer
Greg Fuhrman joined Symbios in 2009 as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Fuhrman served as the Manager of Commercial Real Estate Lending for Fort Collins and Loveland for Guaranty Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Fuhrman also spent six years with Ernst & Young in Los Angeles, with significant experience in the mergers and acquisitions and real estate audit practices, with a diverse client base ranging from joint venture partnerships to publicly traded companies, including several IPOs. Mr. Fuhrman spent five years as Chief Accounting Officer at a private real estate investment company, specializing in debt and equity investments and closing on nearly $1 billion in annual transactions. As CAO, Mr. Fuhrman gained significant experience in real estate and joint venture finance, tax structuring and planning, selection and implementation of a new accounting system and management of nearly 50 different joint venture partners, as well as interacting with large pension funds, banks and other institutional investors in traditional equity fund structures. Mr. Fuhrman’s experience as an independent business consultant includes management of the IPO process for a real estate operating company in Los Angeles and raising capital for start-up companies with unique and commercially appealing technologies. Mr. Fuhrman graduated from California State University at Northridge in 1995 with a B.S. in Business Administration with an Option in Accounting Theory and Practice.John R. Long – Director of Sustainable Initiatives
John Long manages business development, project development, and grant writing for Symbios. Mr. Long has been involved in developing sustainable enterprises for more than a decade. He is co-founder of Zero Hero Events, working with event producers to make their events more sustainable through zero-waste management, renewable energy, and education. In 1999, while a graduate student at Colorado State University, John founded a community event in Fort Collins called the Sustainable Living Fair to educate people about sustainable living practices and all forms of renewable energy. This event, now in its 11th year, has grown to become one of the largest events of its kind in the country, with more than 13,000 attending the three-day event annually. John continues to serve on the Board of Directors for the non-profit organization that organizes the Fair and various workshops throughout the year, the Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association (RMSLA).In March 2008 Mr. Long co-founded ThermoSolar Technologies with Justin Bzdek and six other energy veterans to pursue the developing field of solar thermal and concentrated solar power (CSP). In November 2001, he co-founded Blue Sun Biodiesel, a vertically-integrated biofuels leader involved in energy crop development, biodiesel production, distribution, and marketing. Over a six-year period, John drove sales growth to more than $15 million in 2007. Previously, he was Director of Development for Village Earth, a CSU-affiliated non-profit organization dedicated to linking rural communities in developing countries around the world to renewable energy. Currently, he serves on the Boards of ThermoSolar Technologies and The Atmosphere Conservancy in addition to RMSLA. John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Florida and a Master of Science in Botany from Colorado State University.
Patrick Flynn – Business Sustainability Consultant
Patrick Flynn manages carbon market, environmental asset, and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting activities for Symbios. Mr. Flynn has 10 years of clean technology and five years of carbon market experience, both in the United States and in Latin America. In the U.S., he has worked with a variety of clean technology companies and breweries to conduct GHG accounting and carbon market analyses. He also worked at the international conservation organization Trees, Water & People for seven years, with the last three acting as Assistant International Director. In that capacity he managed rural biomass energy and forestry projects in five Latin American countries, which have recently been awarded the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and the Rio Tinto Award for Sustainability. Mr. Flynn is also the founder of Trébol Consulting, a business sustainability consulting company. He is a graduate of Colorado State University’s Global Social & Sustainable Enterprise M.S.B.A. program, and is finishing a M.S. in Agricultural & Resource Economics. He also has a B.S. in Natural Resources from Colorado State University.Eric Karp – Chemical Engineer
Eric received his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and was a full-time intern at Symbios Technologies from its inception through September 2008. His work has ranged from creating quality control systems to basic R&D. Eric has completed multiple techno-economic models for various phase I design projects using advanced chemical process engineering technology for processing of algae and various feedstocks to biofuels and energy and for biogas-assisted solar thermal power generation. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Washington, but will provide input on future Symbios projects while in graduate school.
