Michelle Long,

Michelle is the Executive Director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, North America's fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of over 80 community networks representing 22,000 independent businesses.

She also co-founded and directed BALLE member network, Sustainable Connections in Bellingham, Washington. Its membership, now over 700 locally owned businesses, has led the NRDC to name Bellingham the nation's number one small city in urban progress toward sustainability and NPR Marketplace to call it the "epicenter of a new economic model."

Michelle was recently named one of the west coast's "top five leading ladies of sustainability" by the Sustainable Industries Journal. She is the co-author of Local First: A How-to Guide, and is the author of the soon to be released Building a Community of Businesses: A BALLE How-to Kit.

Daniel Malarkey,

Daniel serves as the Department of Commerce’s primary liaison to the private sector with responsibility for policy development to grow and improve jobs in the state. Malarkey has recently worked as a clean energy consultant to private companies and public entities. He brings over twenty five years of experience working on public policy issues as a consultant, business owner, and public employee. He was the founder and CEO of Washington Biodiesel, which developed an oil-seed processing and renewable fuels project in eastern Washington. He served as General Manager of On-line Marketing at Amazon.com where he managed the group responsible for Amazon’s marketing relationships with other websites. Prior to working at Amazon.com, Malarkey was Managing Director of ECONorthwest, the region's largest economic consulting firm. He has extensive experience in public infrastructure planning, finance, environmental economics, and economic development policy. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Thomas S. Lyons

Thomas has had a long-time interest in regional systems for fostering entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy. He is the co-developer of such a system, the Entrepreneurial League System (ELS) ®, which has been implemented in Louisville, KY, the Advantage Valley (portions of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio) and in Central Louisiana. Portions of this framework have also been used in Philadelphia and in Johannesburg, South Africa (www.entreleaguesystem.com).

Kate Davenport

Kate directs EcoVentures International’s (EVI) GreenBusiness and GreenJobs Program. She manages green business training and support programs in Maryland, Delaware, New York, Georgia, and Minnesota with a focus on small green business opportunities in waste management, energy efficiency, green building, green cleaning, hospitality, and local food production. Kate had a range of experience looking at growing linkages between regional rural and urban economies through the development of green business.

Mario Villanueva,

In August 2009, President Barack Obama appointed Mario as State Director for USDA Rural Development. For the previous 30 years, he worked in the areas of affordable housing, community and economic development and social services in many rural communities in central and eastern Washington. For 23 years he worked for 3 different community/faith based non profit organizations focused on serving low and moderate income populations. Fourteen years of his non profit experience have been at the executive level. He also worked 7 years managing his own business as a licensed general contractor.

Mario also currently serves as a board commissioner for the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. He also served as past President of the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust, a board member of Impact Capital, a board member for the Washington State Low Income Housing Alliance, a member of the Affordable Housing Program Advisory Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle and on two housing advisory task forces for past Governor Gary Locke and current Governor Christine Gregoire.

David Quigg,

David Quigg is Director of Marketing and part owner of Grays Harbor Paper. Grays Harbor Paper was started in 1993 with the reopening of a closed pulp and paper facility. Grays Harbor is a manufacturer of uncoated white printing and writing papers. David is proud to be working at Grays Harbor paper as they work to obtain their goal to be the premier supplier of 100% Post Consumer papers in North America.

David graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Communications. David has worked for Grays Harbor Paper on and off since 1993. He has also spent time as an Assistant Cruise Director for Holland America Cruise Lines and with the Four Seasons hotel chain in both Las Vegas and Hawaii.

Scott Bergford,

Chad Kruger,

Chad Kruger is interim director of the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources (CSANR) at WSU. In addition to administering a research policy network, for the past five years he has coordinated CSANR’s Climate Friendly Farming Project, developing practices and technologies that save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in soils, and provide renewable, biomass-based fossil fuel alternatives. The project recently won a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Partnership Award for Innovative Program Models.
Professor Kruger is an affiliate faculty member of the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group, and was a member of the 2007/2008 Washington State Climate Action Team, co-chairing the Agriculture Sector Carbon Market Workgroup. He studied ecointensive agriculture technologies at Northwest College in Kirkland, Wash., and earned a master’s degree in land resources from the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, where he was an Au Sable graduate fellow.

Kirk Hanson

Richard A. Flaherty

Currently, he is involved as a planning advisor/member of By-Product Synergy NW, a non-profit organization focused on accelerating sustainability and turning waste into profit through pursuit and implementation of synergy, recycling, and material re-use opportunities. Mr. Flaherty is published in trade journals nation-wide and is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from sustainable initiatives and the new ‘green’ economy to marketing concepts to sustainable product development to success and succession in ones professional as well as personal life. Mr. Flaherty also holds more than two dozen patents and has created hundreds of products used in more than 56 countries around the globe.

Joyce LaValle

James Ruttan

James Ruttan has more than twenty years experience managing teams and highly technical processes in both the software industry and the world of film and television.

During the early 1990's, James managed Timberlake Software, a small company which created databases for the medical insurance industry. He left to travel and teach in Asia and when he returned to Canada began working in the film industry, becoming an accredited editor in the process. Later, as Post Production Supervisor, James broke new ground and shepherded twin award-winning television series (Weird Homes and Weird Wheels, the first High Definition television series produced in Vancouver) from raw footage to final delivery. James went on to manage a prestigious multi-million dollar film and television Post-Production services facility, Post Digital Works, and managed Visual FX at Technicolor Vancouver before joining iWasteNot Systems.

James is now the C.E.O. at iWasteNot Systems which provides online sustainability tools throughout North America. James is a 'people person' who loves working with clients and his team to meet real world goals. As an added plus, the combination of high technology and an environmental purpose in his position satisfies his geeky side.

Jo Gallaugher