Rick Fox was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Aqua America in July 2015 and is responsible for the company's regulated operations ($756 million in revenues), including engineering and environmental compliance. Fox joined Aqua America in 2002 as manager of customer service following 17 years in the chemical manufacturing industry in both operations and technical management. He earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and his MBA from Villanova University with Beta Gamma Sigma honors.

Ronny Hayes attended the University of Chatanooga. While there, a conversation with Sam Walton led to a job at Walmart and “the rest is history.” Hayes spent 25 of his 37 years of executive retail experience with Walmart US Stores, as Regional VP and Director of Operations, where he led multi-billion dollar sales and operations teams. After retiring from Walmart, he was a founding member of Hydronomics, LLC and plays a key role in business development & retail strategies for Zennergy.

Stuart Hicks served as CEO-Americas for the JLL’s Corporate Solutions division (real estate services outsourcing), chaired the Corporate Solutions global board, and chaired the firm’s Client Advisory Board. He retired in July 2016. Hicks received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. He also currently serves on Pi Kappa Phi Foundation and Fill Your Bucket (cancer) Foundation boards.

During his 36-year career at DuPont, Don Johnson served as Group VP responsible for Global Operations and Engineering, after earlier leading DuPont’s Global Nylon and Kevlar(R) /Nomex(R) businesses. Johnson was head of Corporate Human Resources and a member of the Office of the CEO from 2008 until retiring in December 2010. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Christiana Care Health Systems, the leading provider of health systems in Delaware. Johnson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and Master of Science and PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Fluid Mechanics from North Carolina State University.

Senator Jeff Tarte was elected to 3 terms as Mayor of Cornelius before being elected to the NC State Senate in 2012. Prior to serving in government, Senator Tarte was a partner at Ernst & Young, started several small businesses, was a co-founder of Applied Revenue Analytics & currently serves as its Chairman Emeritus. Senator Tarte received a degree in Economics from the University of Illinois, College of Commerce and Business Administration. In addition, he has Executive Education in Finance from Duke University’s Fuquay School and in Senior Leadership State and Local Government from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Bringing 35 years of executive experience in retail, manufacturing and professional services industries, Steve Tarte served as a Senior Vice President for a publicly traded international supplier of real-time hydrologic data monitoring equipment and engineering services to more than 40 countries globally. Over the past 11 years, he has primarily focused his energy on Cribb Philbeck Weaver Group, a professional engineering firm he co-founded. In addition, Tarte’s passion for the environment led him to also co-found Zennergy, LLC in order to address global water conservation issues while helping businesses save money.

John Venzon brings a unique blend of leadership skills honed in Fortune 50 companies and sharpened in numerous entrepreneurial experiences. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Venzon ascended to the executive ranks at IBM before accepting the opportunity to build and sell an Internet company. He then led innovation and customer service improvements at Bank of America before joining a financial services company. Prior to becoming a part of the Zennergy team, Venzon started his own company where he developed real estate, exported capital equipment, and provided strategic consulting services for a variety of industries.

During his 33-year career at Lowe’s, Greg Wessling served as Purchasing & Marketing Mgr., Director of Merchandising, VP of Merchandising, Senior VP - General Merchandise Mgr. and General Mgr. of Store Operations. Wessling was a member of the executive management team that transformed Lowe’s from a small regional retailer into a nationwide chain with 1,100 stores in 48 states. He formed A&G Associates and Partners in 2005 and is the Principal Partner. He advises and consults for companies with strong growth potential. Wessling graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and later received an MBA from Wake Forest University.