Connectors Conference: Focus on Food, Beverage, & Agribusiness
Meet our Speakers
David Ripplinger, Associate Professor / Extension Bioproducts / Bioenergy Economist, North Dakota State University
david.ripplinger@ndsu.edu
David is an associate professor of agribusiness and applied economics at North Dakota State University. He holds a Ph.D. in transportation and logistics from North Dakota State University, an M.S. in agricultural economics from Iowa State University, and a B.S. in agricultural economics from North Dakota State University. Read more here.
Jon Hjelm, Managing Director, Piper Sandler
jon.k.hjelm@psc.com
Jon is a managing director and founding member of the Piper Sandler agriculture, biorenewables & cannabis investment banking team, where he focuses on providing corporate finance as well as mergers and acquisitions advisory services. Prior to his current role, John worked on the Piper Sandler consumer investment banking team providing investment banking and M&A advisory services to companies in the agriculture, food, retail and restaurant sectors. Read more here.
Mike Lesage, Managing Director, Proterra Investment Partners
mlesage@proterrapartners.com
Mike is a Managing Director for Proterra Investment Partners where he helps direct Proterra's agricultural investment activities in North America and serves on the firm's Investment Committee. Prior to Proterra, Mike worked for Cargill, where he served as President and Business Leader of Cargill Risk Management. Read more here.
Thaddeus J. Tracy, Founding Partner, Farmers Gate, LLC
ttracy@farmersgateag.com
Thaddeus is a founding partner of Farmers Gate, LLC, a platform investing in sustainable specialty crop production assets and related midstream operations. Farmers Gate employs a thematic approach focused on target regions, directly connecting food industry partners with sustainable specialty crop supply. Read more here.
Sylvio Petto Neto, Director, Manna Tree
sylvio@mannatreepartners.com
Sylvio has more than 25 years of international experience in the food and agriculture sectors. Prior to joining Manna Tree, he held operations and business development roles with Cargill and Syngenta and was a Managing Director at Wheatsheaf Group (Grosvenor), where he oversaw the North America Food and AgTech portfolio. Read more here.
Danny Zouber, Managing Director, North Sky Capital
dzouber@northskycapital.com
As a Managing Director at North Sky Capital, Danny is responsible for sourcing, analyzing, executing and monitoring the firm's investments. He is part of North Sky's senior management team and is actively involved in strategic planning, fund development and staffing decisions. Read more here.
Christopher Abbott, Co-Head, Conti Ventures
chris.abbott@conti.com
Chris joined the Conti Ventures team in 2018. Previously, he led Craig-Hallum Capital Group's investment banking group efforts focused on sustainability, agriculture and agtech. Prior to Craig-Hallum, Chris worked at Piper Jaffray & Co. and AWJ Capital Partners, focused broadly on technology, sustainability, healthcare and consumer companies. Read more here.
Mark Haraburda, CEO, Barchart
haraburda@barchart.com
Mark has been CEO of Barchart since May 2016. He previously served as Managing Director of Business Development & Sales at Barchart from 2007. Previous experience includes roles with the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade. Read more here.
Kip Pendleton, Executive Chairman, Jord BioScience
kip.pendleton@jordbioscience.com
Kip is Executive Chairman of Jord BioScience. He grew up on a farm in Champaign County, Illinois and works in the family business of helping feed the world. He has led four companies with teams as large as 800 people in public, private and emerging sectors. Read more here.
Kermit Nash, Co-Chair, Food, Beverage & Agribusiness, Saul Ewing LLP
kermit.nash@saul.com
Kermit counsels domestic and international clients on legal issues connected with their business operations, governance, strategy and investments. Privately held domestic and international corporations rely on Kermit to advise them on transactions ranging from mergers and acquisitions and sales development to distribution, licensing and financing. Read more here.
Maxwell Bremer, Partner, Saul Ewing LLP
maxwell.bremer@saul.com
Max advises entrepreneurs and established companies on key transactions throughout the business life cycle, from formations and financings to mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. He works with clients in a variety of industries, including health care IT, medical devices, data analytics, block-chain technologies, renewable and alternative energies, software, food and agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. Read more here.
David Sartorio, Partner, Saul Ewing LLP
david.sartorio@saul.com
David focuses his practice on corporate transactions including mergers and acquisitions, control and non-control investments, joint ventures and strategic partnerships. David has experience advising companies ranging from private start-up and growth companies to large public companies across diverse industry sectors, including energy, agricultural technology, video gaming and life sciences, as well as private equity and venture capital firms. Read more here.