Finance and Resource Management Consultants
Celebrating 30 Years of Study Groups
1985
to
2015
30
years
Speakers
click on name for bio
David M. Nelson, PhD.
Dr. Nelson is a Professor of Economics at Western Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Oregon. David was awarded the 2005 Distinguished Teaching Fellow by the College of Business and Economics and in 2009 was selected as the MBA Professor of the Year.
He is the Founder and President of Finance & Resource Management Consultants, Inc., a firm that works with Study Groups of business owners in helping them improve their businesses. Currently there are 40 different Study Groups involving executives of more than 250 companies operating in the petroleum marketing, convenience store, and the convenience wholesale industries. These firms sell collectively approximately 10% of the fuel sold in the U.S. He and his wife Lynne have been married 44 years and have four of their own children, four grandchildren, and many sponsored children in the third world. Return to Top
Jedidiah W. Brewer, Ph.D.
Jed Brewer, Ph.D. is Vice President of FRMC. Dr. Brewer holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Arizona and has taught economics courses at Western Washington University and Arizona. He’s spent his academic career studying aspects of the petroleum marketing and retail gasoline industries focusing on pricing, competition, and institutional structure. In addition to his work in petroleum, Brewer has published a series of articles in academic journals describing water management and allocation issues in the semi-arid western United States. Brewer currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Access Freedom, a non-profit organization seeking to lower the incidence of commercially sexually exploited children and care for victims. He enjoys hiking, travel, playing basketball, and teaching sixth graders at Bellingham Covenant Church. He and his wife Lindsay and two young children live in Bellingham, WA. Return to Top
Francis O. Bologna, CPA
Ed Burcher
Francis Bologna is a CPA and business owner who has counseled business owners for over forty years. As a past senior partner of his own large local CPA & Consultancy firm to present day specialist in business valuations, M&A, and his own Trademarked Hybrid-Merger concept, Francis has served the Petroleum Marketer industry for over a quarter century. Return to Top
Ed Burcher has spent over 35 years working in the convenience store industry. He has worked for Wawa and Neighbours/Petro-Canada leading their foodservice development and offer. He is now focused on helping companies create and deliver world-class food offers, operational improvement programs and total store makeovers. Return to Top
Johnny Bertucci
Johnny Bertucci has been in the software development business for over 30 years. Twenty of those years have been spent with Dr. Nelson developing the website and reports and graphs that are instrumental to the Study Group. In 2007, Johnny launched RowLogic, a software development company that focuses specifically on the petroleum marketing industry. Return to Top
Ben Scellick
Ben Scellick, CPA is on the management team of Finance & Resource Management Consultants, Inc. dba Study Groups. Prior to joining Study Groups Ben worked in public accounting and then was part of a financial advisory firm for a decade where he served as the president and chief investment officer. Ben graduated from Western Washington University with degrees in both accounting and finance and is a Certified Public Accountant. He and his wife Kamille live in Bellingham, WA with their three daughters. Return to Top
Gene Gerke
Gene Gerke has been helping companies develop and implement innovative strategies for more than 30 years and his clients span all segments of the industry – retail chains, single-store operators, major oil companies, wholesalers, product and service suppliers, equipment manufacturers, software providers and industry trade associations. He has been inducted into the industry’s Technology Hall of Fame.
Gene has also spent 25 years helping develop a strong entrepreneurial culture where he lives – participating in Startup Weekend, forming an angel investor network, building a world-class business incubator, etc. Return to Top
John G. Kleine
Through a career spanning 50 years with Amoco, BPAMA, and facilitating Study Groups, John has a deep understanding of the petroleum business resulting in the industry-leading organizational model between supplier and marketers.
In 2010 under John’s leadership a high level, strategic relationship was launched focusing on a winning balance between marketers and suppliers. This became the platform for the recovery of the BP brand in the US following the Gulf of Mexico incident.
Charting a course through an ever-changing industry requires the collaboration of many business leaders. No longer can we do it alone. BPAMA has become the “hub of the relationship wheel” between markets and suppliers. Return to Top
Bill McCollough
Bill McCollough is an industry veteran with over 40 years experience in marketing, finance, information technology, acquisitions and operations. He served in senior management positions with CITGO Petroleum Corp and as Executive Director of Petroleum for Heartland Payment Systems. Return to Top
Alan L. Sylvester
George Overstreet
Alan Sylvester currently owns and serves as President of GenerAction LLC, a private consulting company primarily serving the petroleum industry, with emphasis in strategic and business planning, acquisitions, asset evaluation and optimization, as well as operational management. Sylvester retired from CITGO Petroleum Company in 2006 after 30 years of service as President of CITGO Pipeline Investment Company; and General Manager, Non-Refining Operations. He is a registered Professional Engineer. Return to Top
Mr. Overstreet is Associate Dean for Research and Center Development, Walker Professor of Growth Enterprises, and Professor Finance at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. He also serves as the Director of the Center for Growth Enterprises and on McIntire’s Foundation Board of Directors.
He has served as the Academic Director of the Consumer Banker’s Association (CBA’s) Graduate School of Bank Management and has taught at the American Banker Association’s Stonier Graduate School of Bank Management, the Banking School of the South, Citicorp’s Management Associate Development Program, and the SRCUS Graduate School of Credit Union Management. Mr. Overstreet has developed and taught strategic financial planning seminars to over 1000 petroleum distributors through the PMAA, SIGMA, PMEF, NACS, and major oil companies including Exxon, Chevron, Mobil, Texaco, Marathon, Union Oil, BP and American Petrofina.
George and his wife Susan have two adult sons, and live near Charlottesville, Virginia. He is an ever hopeful fly fisherman, an ardent antiquarian and preservationist. Return to Top
Lynne is a licensed mental health counselor in the state of Washington. Following her lifelong dream of becoming a mental health professional, she obtained a Master of Counseling degree in 2007. Lynne has an avid desire to facilitate health in couple relationships; she has found that the Seven Principles provide solid tools to lead couples. Lynne and David Nelson have been married 44 years. Today they enjoy the empty nester phase of life while their lives continue to be enriched with four adult children and their families.
Lynne Nelson
Dennis Folden
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Dennis Folden lead four decades of growth, innovation and success for the fifth-
largest, privately held, company-operated convenience store chain in the nation,
Kum & Go, L.C.
He played a significant role in executing corporate strategy, key acquisitions, and
comprehensive marketing initiatives through data-driven and people-focused
leadership. With an emphasis on customer service, Dennis consistently delivered
revenue, cash flow and profits that exceeded company and industry goals. As the
company grew, he drove innovation and diverse initiatives, from raze and rebuilds to
new construction. Today there are more than 420 stores and over 4,000 associates in
the Kum & Go family.
As Chief Operating Officer with oversight of the Operations, Marketing, Fuels, Facilities
and Quality departments for all stores ($2.5 billion in annual revenue and 400,000 daily
customers) Dennis drove a five-year, 14.2% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes Depreciation and Amortization) guiding the
organization to number one in customer satisfaction rankings in CSP Magazine in 2006,
and number two for 2007 and 2010. Dedicated to delivering value to all stakeholders-
Dennis served the organization and his community, serving on various corporate and
industry boards of directors, including Kum & Go, McClure Engineering, and the
Lutheran Church of Hope Mission board.