Executive Leadership Team
Alternative Energy Sources (AENS) is led by a seasoned management team with extensive Archer Daniels Midland experience. Mark Beemer (CEO and Chairman of the Board), Lee Blank (President and COO), John Holland (CFO) and John Ward (EVP) bring a critical assortment of varied, yet complementary, competencies to AENS.
This corporation will benefit immensely from Mr. Beemer’s significant expertise in the procurement and transport of raw materials, Mr. Blank’s impressive background in product marketing and distribution, Mr. Holland’s vast knowledge of the steel construction industry and experience in developing senior management teams, and Dr. Ward’s stellar record of implementing strategies to achieve significant, sustainable improvements in all areas of manufacturing plant performance within competitive, fast-paced markets.
Dedicated to maintaining low overhead and minimizing cost structures, Alternative Energy Sources will facilitate direct negotiations with large petroleum companies and feedlots, thereby eliminating exorbitant brokerage and consulting fees. Further, Alternative Energy Sources will call upon its vast experience in grain trading, railroad negotiations, logistical economics and acquisitions to ensure the success and growth of this venture.
The Management Team
Mark Beemer – CEO and Chairman of the Board
Lee Blank – President and COO
John J. Holland – Executive Vice President and CFO
John A. Ward – Executive Vice President and Director of Operations
Kathy Newton - Executive Assistant
Mark Beemer – CEO and Chairman of the Board
An 18-year veteran of the grain and agriculture processing industry, Mr. Beemer launched his career in the area of commodity trading with the Louis Dreyfus Corporation in Wilton, CT. Through a joint venture with Louis Dreyfus Corporation, Mr. Beemer joined The Archer Daniels Midland Company in 1993 as manager of corn trading for 14 western facilities.
During his 12-year tenure with ADM, Mr. Beemer assumed many key management roles; among them, serving as Assistant VP of Corporate Transportation. In this position, Mr. Beemer gained
far-reaching, valuable experience in the logistics of transportation, negotiating contract freight rates with numerous railroads including the BNSF, UP, NS, CSXT, CN, CP and many small switching or short-line railroad companies such as IAIS. Mr. Beemer also pioneered the development of several unit-train programs (BNSF Scoot Program) for just-in-time inventory supply-chain shipments with the BNSF and IAIS that resulted in a significant decrease in ADM's transportation costs. Further, Mr. Beemer was the catalyst for ADM’s significant BNSF 110-car unit-train shuttle investment ($9.5M) in Hereford, Texas.
In 2001, Mr. Beemer was appointed VP of Strategic Planning, Transportation and Operations for ADM’s joint venture with 23 elevators/terminals from the Farmland Grain Division (500M annual traded bushels). Mr. Beemer was responsible for eliminating Farmland’s unprofitable food corn business, building co-op supplier relationships and restructuring all business units associated with the joint venture. Through the acquisition, ADM became the largest supplier of +65M bushels of corn to feedlots in Western Texas and the largest “deck holder” of BNSF shuttle trains in North America. During this four-year period, Mr. Beemer spent over 120 days in the principal Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas feedlot areas, meeting the largest cattle-feeders in the United States and advancing ADM’s customer relationships. He also gained valuable experience overseeing the logistical upgrading of existing processing facilities as well as the building of new facilities, such as ADM’s dried distillers grain (DDG) unloading facility in Summerfield, Texas.
Other responsibilities included developing and implementing all trading strategies for ADM’s Hard Red Wheat trading on the delivery market contracts on the Kansas City Board of Trade. Additionally, Mr. Beemer managed the Yevulit Israel Flour Millers’ supply agreement (600,000 metric tons/year) and launched ADM’s first sale of Hard Red Wheat to Iraq in 2005.
Later in 2005, Mr. Beemer joined Penford Products Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to serve as Vice-President of Commodities. Here he assumed responsibility for trading corn futures, corn basis, natural gas and other corn wet mill by-products and oversaw all risk management utilizing futures, options and cash contracts. As a result of his extensive background in both transportation and energy, Mr. Beemer also modeled the addition of coal-fired steam sources for Penford’s Cedar Rapids’ plant, replacing the natural gas-fired facilities.
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Lee Blank – President and COO
Mr. Blank brings 19 years of key management experience within five divisions of The Archer Daniels Midland Company to Alternative Energy Sources. In 1987, Mr. Blank began his ADM career in the grain merchandising division, learning the key principals of the grain trade, earning his commodity futures trading license and gaining valuable insight into the concepts of risk management and its effects on a large commercial entity such as ADM.
In 1993, Mr. Blank was promoted to Merchandising Manager of the Soybean Process Division asset in Little Rock, Arkansas. Here, he was instrumental in implementing rate structures on the Union Pacific that extended profits for ADM’s Little Rock facility to record levels and established a consistent input scenario into a grain deficit region.
In 1996, Mr. Blank was named Director of Rates for Soy and Softseeds within ADM’s Corporate Transportation Division. Here, Mr. Blank negotiated new freight tariffs with the Union Pacific and BNSF in a previously contract-exclusive, positioned ADM at a significant annual net margin advantage and reduced the effectiveness of ADM’s competitors. Mr. Blank was instrumental in developing rate structures for ADM’s softseed facilities in Canada, contributing to the $60 million bidding process for the previously-owned SOO line railroad, and enhancing leased-car compensation by $1 million annually for Class One carriers in the Eastern United States.
As Western Sales Manager for ADM’s Bio-Products Division, Mr. Blank grew the business in a declining margin environment. He solidified relationships with national accounts such as Tyson Foods and ConAgra, increased volumes and margins by introducing a more effective liquid amino acid to the marketplace and managed more than $50 million in annual sales as well.
In 1999, Mr. Blank was recruited to manage ADM’s soybean processing assets in North Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Blank was instrumental in implementing the 54-car BNSF shuttle units to the western ADM soybean processors, a program that benefited all of ADM’s assets on the BNSF and increased company profits by more than $1 million annually. Another significant accomplishment was his establishment of a marketing program into Mexico. This program increased export tonnage from 475 tons to 4750 tons weekly and is still being utilized today.
Most recently, Mr. Blank served as Sales Manager and Director of Exports for the ADM Wheat Milling Division in Overland Park, Kansas. Mr. Blank managed numerous national accounts, including Tyson Foods, Interstate Bakeries, Kroger and JM Smucker. Under his direction, both domestic and export sales saw significant annual increases.
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John J. Holland – Executive Vice President and CFO
Joining AENS as Executive Vice President and CFO is John J. Holland, who brings an impressive 30-year career in corporate finance and executive management. Among his many accomplishments are 20+ years spent in senior management at Butler Manufacturing Company, a $1 billion company with major operations in both North America and China.
Prior to joining Butler, Mr. Holland worked as a senior accountant for Arthur Anderson LLP and as Controller for Kansas City-based Saint Luke’s Hospital System. In 1980, Mr. Holland left the health care industry, joining internationally-known Butler Manufacturing Company.
Quickly advancing to Vice President-Controller for Butler’s Buildings Division, Mr. Holland oversaw financial operations for the company’s largest operating division in North America. Within five years Mr. Holland was named Vice President-Corporate Controller and assumed responsibility for overall financial accounting, control, reporting and SEC compliance.
In 1990, Mr. Holland was appointed Vice President-Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Here he directed the successful negotiation and funding of a $120 million leveraged recapitalization, developed a valuable investor relations program, and saved Butler approximately $1 million annually by moving from the NASDAQ to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
After a brief assignment as Executive Vice President, Mr. Holland was named President and CEO in 1999. During his tenure Mr. Holland oversaw many significant corporate developments: among them, initiating and directing a comprehensive redirection of corporate strategy; instituting a rigorous process for strategic leadership/succession planning; implementing significant cultural changes within Butler; and introducing lean operating principles to drive process improvements in both factories and offices.
In 2001, Mr. Holland became Chairman of the Board and CEO, overseeing 4,500 employees and nearly $1 billion in revenues. Mr. Holland led the strategic evaluation process that culminated in the sale of Butler Manufacturing Company for $223 million to BlueScope Steel, Australia’s largest steel company.
Currently, Mr. Holland serves as a director for Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. Inc, SAIA, Inc. and Saint Luke’s Health System of Kansas City in addition to his consulting work with venture-capital firm Greentree Ventures of Olathe, KS.
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John A. Ward – Executive Vice President and Director of Operations
The Executive Vice President-Director of Operations for AENS is John A. Ward, a senior manufacturing executive with over 29 years’ engineering and managerial experience in food and fine chemicals processing. A former Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) executive, Dr. Ward most recently served as their VP and Director of Group Operations for Corn Processing and Bio-Products based at the company’s headquarters in Decatur, Illinois.
A native of Ireland, Dr. Ward earned both a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry from Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He began his professional career with Pfizer Chemical Corporation in Ireland in 1977. Rising steadily through the ranks of engineering and production management, Dr. Ward was named Director of Production-Chemicals in 1990. In 1991 he left Pfizer following an acquisition and joined Archer Daniels Midland.
Dr. Ward first served as ADM’s Director of Production for a Citric Acid facilityin Ringaskiddy, Cork, Ireland. Within four years he was named Managing Director. Faced with increasing global competition and declining margins, Dr. Ward instituted numerous yield, energy and labor optimization projects to pull the plant through this difficult period.
By March, 1999, Dr. Ward was named General Manager of Citric Acid Operations with responsibility for ADM’s American and Irish citric acid plants. A year later he became VP-Fermentation Products Manufacturing, overseeing ADM’s bio-products complex in the United States as well as citric acid plants in both North Carolina and Ireland. Responsible for a complex manufacturing environment with multiple plants, Dr. Ward achieved significant improvements in safety, efficiency (particularly energy usage) and plant capacity.
In 2001 Mr. Ward became VP and Director of Group Operations-Corn Processing and Bio-Products for ADM. Over the past five years he had led the corporate manufacturing and engineering teams and assumed responsibility for 16 manufacturing facilities; among them, major Midwestern corn processing plants incorporating the largest ethanol, corn sweetener and bio-products capacity in the world.
Dr. Ward has achieved multi-million dollar reductions in operating costs, successfully integrated two major plants into ADM following an acquisition, implemented both an in-house, ISO-based quality management system and a multi-million dollar environmental compliance program, and greatly reduced recordable injuries by creating a “safety culture,” where safety was the first consideration among all groups and in all work areas – design, construction and plant operations. Also under his direction, operational methods and step capacity adjustments led to significant increases in overall ADM plant capacities – as much as a 50% improvement, in one case.
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Kathy Newton – Executive Assistant
Kathy Newton has responsibility for managing the entire AENS office. She handles all of the accounting functions for AENS as well as managing the day-to-day needs. Ms. Newton has the ability to see future needs such as staff planning for new facilities, office design and coordinating the ongoing transitions for our growing office and company.
Before joining AENS, Ms. Newton had spent her entire career of nearly two decades with ADM. She gained experience while working as office manager for several divisions in North Kansas City, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas. Over the years her responsibilities encompassed managing over $750 million in grain settlements annually. She was also responsible for over $800 million in cash applications for multiple divisions while also overseeing the inventory procedures and reconciliations for numerous locations.
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