KEY PEOPLE

Vincent N. Cook
Chairman & CEO

Mr. Cook has more than 35 years experience in the Information Technology and high-intensity computing industry. He was the chief operating officer of the IBM Asia-Pacific Corporation, based in Tokyo, and responsible for commercial marketing, sales, service, engineering, research and manufacturing for 17 countries. He was also president of the IBM Federal Company from 1981-88.

After 30 years of service, Mr. Cook retired as an IBM Corporate Officer in 1990. Then, he joined Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of La Jolla, California, where he was vice chairman for three years. SAIC is a major high technology and systems integrator company for U.S. Department of Defense and federal government applications, with multiple lines of business, to include a major environmental and energy consulting and systems business.

Mr. Cook has served on several U.S. government boards, including the Defense Science Board, the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council to the President, and the Drug Enforcement Agency Technology Council; and on various U.S. and international corporate boards in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China.

In late 2006, his consulting company ,Cook Enterprises, provided advice to Evergreen Energy Inc. which has patented technologies to upgrade low rank coal and produce an environmentally enhanced coal product. Subsequently, he was appointed president of, Evergreen Energy International, covering Evergreen Energy’s Asia-Pacific businesses and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

In 2008, Mr. Cook was elected chairman and CEO of C-Lock Technology Inc.

Distinguished Recognitions

• The NASA Public Service Medal for exemplary management of space shuttle development
• Elected Full Fellow by the American Institute of Astronautics
• Appointed Colorado Commissioner of Science and Technology in 2000 by the Governor
• Voted community "Citizen of the Year-2002" Vail-Beaver Creek, Colorado
• Elected to the International Knights of Malta
• Awarded in 2005 by Pope John Paul II, the 1888 Pope Leo Medal "Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontific" for distinguished service

Theodore (Ted) Venners
Vice Chairman

Ted Venners founded C-Lock Technology, Inc. and several other companies including KFx, Inc., (now Evergreen Energy, Inc.), the Fort Union Mine Partnership, and real estate sales and development businesses. Mr. Venners began his business career as assistant to the Governor of South Dakota.

James (Jim) V. Bitonti
President

For over 25 years, Jim Bitonti has been engaged in domestic and international investment, domestic and international executive management, and corporate and transaction legal practice.  He is executive vice chairman of Enterprise Information Management and president of JAB, Inc.  Mr. Bitonti has served on the boards of various corporations (including BITCO Enterprises, Inc., Decision Support Systems, Inc., Mirrors International, Inc., Gateway Capital Corporation) and charitable organizations (including Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, Leukemia Society of America, United Cerebral Palsy, Community Tax Law Project, Entrepreneurship Institute).  He has seen combat service in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Mr. Bitonti holds B.A., J.D. and M.L.T. degrees from Georgetown University.  

Patrick R. Zimmerman
Chief Technology Officer

Pat Zimmerman invented the C-Lock technology and systems for which he submitted the patent filing, “Method and Apparatus for Generating Standardized Carbon Emission Reduction Credits,” with a later addition relating to environmental attributes in general.  He holds exclusive licenses for these inventions from the State of South Dakota, and has subsequently granted exclusive sublicenses to Evergreen Energy, Inc. for application of these inventions in the energy and agricultural sectors.

The holder of three other patents, Dr. Zimmerman is president of C-Lock, Inc., former director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (SDSM&T), and former chairman of SDM&T’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences.  Previously, he was a senior researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and a research scientist in air pollution at Washington State University.

Dr. Zimmerman is the author or co-author of about 100 refereed publications and has been a principal investigator on dozens of grants and contracts from federal agencies (Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Science Foundation, United States Department of Agriculture), industry (Gas Research Institute, American Petroleum Institute) and nonprofit organizations (National Geographic Society, Frost Foundation).  He has served as a consultant in several research areas for clients such as the EPA, EPRI and API.

At SDSM&T, Dr. Zimmerman led a diverse multidisciplinary team to develop a cohesive vision based on connecting physical field observations linking spatial scales from the micro-scale to the landscape scale, with multi-scale numerical models in order to more efficiently manage natural resources and more effectively predict the behavior of the earth-atmosphere system.  He holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Science (Zoology), an M.S. degree in Environmental Science (Chemical Engineering) from Washington State University, and a Ph.D. from the Dept. of Rangeland Ecosystem Science at Colorado State University.  Dr. Zimmerman’s doctoral dissertation research focused on the development of methodologies and models to better define the interactions between biogeochemistry and atmospheric chemistry.

Scott Zimmerman
Director, Energy

Marion Yuen
Director, Business Strategy

Marion Yuen is an entrepreneur and developer of collaboratives as well as a communications advisor, researcher and mediator. As president of The MYA Group, she developed ground-breaking conferences in the energy and green trading sectors. Ms. Yuen is the author and editor for the books, GreenTrading: Commercial Opportunities for the Environment (2004) and Green Trading Markets: Developing the Second Wave (Elsevier 2005). She also served as an arbitrator at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Ms. Yuen holds an A.B. degree in Physics from Wellesley College, a M.S. degree in Biophysics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a M.S. degree in Communications from Columbia University Teachers College.