Member Announcements
Summit Carbon Solutions Appoints Lee Blank as Chief Executive Officer
(AMES, Iowa) July 21, 2021 – Summit Carbon Solutions announced today that Lee Blank has been hired as Chief Executive Officer. He will assume day-to-day leadership of Summit Carbon Solutions, working closely with the company’s sponsor, Summit Agricultural Group, to deliver on the company’s mission to decarbonize the agriculture and biofuels industries.
Blank has more than 30 years of leadership experience as an executive with various companies spanning the agricultural supply chain. Most recently, Blank was Chief Executive Officer of Advance Trading, Inc., an advisory and risk management firm that serves agricultural customers from producers through end users. Previously, Blank was Chief Executive Officer of GFG Ag Services, LLC, an integrated agricultural retailer, and before that was President and Chief Executive Officer of Twin Rivers Technologies, an agricultural processing company, where he was responsible for the development and construction of a $210 million processing facility in Canada. Blank spent the first 15 years of his career with Archer Daniels Midland managing operations across commodity merchandising, logistics, and processing.
“We are excited to welcome Lee as CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions as we continue to build momentum towards executing a transformational project for the agriculture and biofuels industries,” said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group. “This company is deeply rooted in agriculture, as are its stakeholders in rural communities across the Midwest. Lee’s background as an accomplished leader and entrepreneur, his experience in project delivery, and his ability to develop relationships and to engage with these stakeholders make him a perfect fit.”
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to join Summit Carbon Solutions at this critical stage,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. “Throughout my career in the agriculture industry, there has never been a more urgent need, nor a more difficult challenge than decarbonization, but at Summit Carbon Solutions we have an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the industry’s carbon footprint, while bolstering its long-term economic fundamentals. Summit has assembled a world class team to build this world class project and I look forward to leveraging my experience and skillset to lead its execution.”
Summit Carbon Solutions was founded in 2020, and in partnership with 32 bioethanol plants across the Midwestern United States, is developing infrastructure to capture and permanently sequester over 10 million tons per year of carbon dioxide beginning in 2024. Summit recently announced several significant project milestones, including a successful $1.1 billion equity fundraise anchored by TPG Rise, Continental Resources, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, and SK Group, and a partnership with Minnkota Power Cooperative, which provides Summit access to the largest fully permitted carbon storage facility in the United States.
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Summit Carbon Solutions seeks to lower greenhouse gas emissions by connecting industrial emitters via strategic infrastructure to store carbon dioxide safely and permanently in the Midwestern United States. For more information, visit: www.summitcarbonsolutions.com
Summit Agricultural Group is a diversified agribusiness operator and investment manager with operations in the United States and Brazil. Summit deploys capital across the agricultural supply chain with a particular focus at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. For more information, visit: www.summitag.com
(AMES, Iowa) July 21, 2021 – Summit Carbon Solutions announced today that Lee Blank has been hired as Chief Executive Officer. He will assume day-to-day leadership of Summit Carbon Solutions, working closely with the company’s sponsor, Summit Agricultural Group, to deliver on the company’s mission to decarbonize the agriculture and biofuels industries.
Blank has more than 30 years of leadership experience as an executive with various companies spanning the agricultural supply chain. Most recently, Blank was Chief Executive Officer of Advance Trading, Inc., an advisory and risk management firm that serves agricultural customers from producers through end users. Previously, Blank was Chief Executive Officer of GFG Ag Services, LLC, an integrated agricultural retailer, and before that was President and Chief Executive Officer of Twin Rivers Technologies, an agricultural processing company, where he was responsible for the development and construction of a $210 million processing facility in Canada. Blank spent the first 15 years of his career with Archer Daniels Midland managing operations across commodity merchandising, logistics, and processing.
“We are excited to welcome Lee as CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions as we continue to build momentum towards executing a transformational project for the agriculture and biofuels industries,” said Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Summit Agricultural Group. “This company is deeply rooted in agriculture, as are its stakeholders in rural communities across the Midwest. Lee’s background as an accomplished leader and entrepreneur, his experience in project delivery, and his ability to develop relationships and to engage with these stakeholders make him a perfect fit.”
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to join Summit Carbon Solutions at this critical stage,” said Lee Blank, CEO of Summit Carbon Solutions. “Throughout my career in the agriculture industry, there has never been a more urgent need, nor a more difficult challenge than decarbonization, but at Summit Carbon Solutions we have an opportunity to make a tremendous impact on the industry’s carbon footprint, while bolstering its long-term economic fundamentals. Summit has assembled a world class team to build this world class project and I look forward to leveraging my experience and skillset to lead its execution.”
Summit Carbon Solutions was founded in 2020, and in partnership with 32 bioethanol plants across the Midwestern United States, is developing infrastructure to capture and permanently sequester over 10 million tons per year of carbon dioxide beginning in 2024. Summit recently announced several significant project milestones, including a successful $1.1 billion equity fundraise anchored by TPG Rise, Continental Resources, Tiger Infrastructure Partners, and SK Group, and a partnership with Minnkota Power Cooperative, which provides Summit access to the largest fully permitted carbon storage facility in the United States.
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Summit Carbon Solutions seeks to lower greenhouse gas emissions by connecting industrial emitters via strategic infrastructure to store carbon dioxide safely and permanently in the Midwestern United States. For more information, visit: www.summitcarbonsolutions.com
Summit Agricultural Group is a diversified agribusiness operator and investment manager with operations in the United States and Brazil. Summit deploys capital across the agricultural supply chain with a particular focus at the intersection of agriculture and renewable energy. For more information, visit: www.summitag.com