NEWS
October 19, 2011
August 9, 2011
EVENTS
February 6, 2012
The Farm to Table Conference provides a forum for farmers, consumers, and food entrepreneurs to discuss ideas and opportunities for developing the local food system of Memphis.
RESEARCH
Maury Radin is co-founder of BioDimensions, Inc. Maury has over 30 years of experience in business ownership, management and operations. He started his career with Manpower Employment Services (a Memphis-based regional franchise of Manpower Inc.) where he ultimately served as President/Chief Executive Officer. Under Maury's leadership Manpower employed over 10,000 temporary and contract workers managing a $50 million annual business. During this time period he also founded a captive insurance company to pool resources with other Manpower franchisees. Since retiring from Manpower in 2000, Maury has provided leadership and investment capital for a number of business ventures related to sustainable agriculture, green technologies and biobased products. In 2005 Maury helped launch BioDimensions to provide business development and consulting services to help build supply chains in the new bioeconomy.
Read more about Maury here.
Peter Nelson is co-founder of BioDimensions, Inc. Mr. Nelson has over 10 years of experience working with new crops, agricultural technology, and biobased products. He has worked with business startups, multinationals, universities and regional economic development agencies. Mr. Nelson has written extensively on the new biobased economy. In 2009 he co-authored the Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta with Dr. Randy Powell and Battelle Technology Partnership. He is also a co-author and co-editor of the new book Plant Biomass Conversion (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). As a small farmer in the 1990's, Peter appreciates working with other farmers and foresters to develop profitable opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy. He has developed a model “farmer network” funded by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture; this model is now being replicated in other southeastern states. He has also been extensively involved in producing commercial scale trials of new bioenergy crops in the U.S. and Canada. For the last three years he has organized a New Crops Workshop for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a leading forum for the exchange of ideas among leading agriculture and biotechnology companies. Working with Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Mr. Nelson co-developed the AgBioworks™ Regional Initiative to establish a multi-state public-private partnership for developing biomass related projects.
Read more about Pete here.
Randy Powell earned his Ph.D in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Powell has over 30 years executive experience in both Europe and the United States. Dr. Powell spent most of his career with Eastman Chemical Company in a variety of operational and management roles in the United States and Europe. As Vice President of Performance Chemicals Manufacturing for Eastman Chemical Company, he was responsible for three specialty chemical manufacturing facilities located in Arkansas, Tennessee, and the United Kingdom. In 2005, he initiated a biobased products business strategy for the Batesville, AR site, which included the commercialization of biodiesel and premium fuel pellets, and a cellulosic ethanol R&D program in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He subsequently led a transition team that managed divestiture of Eastman’s Specialty Chemicals business and served as President and COO for the new company, FutureFuel Chemical Company in Batesville, AR.
Chris Ramezanpour’s work with BioDimensions includes research, business development and supply chain analysis for specialty oilseed crops. Mr. Ramezanpour earned his Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2008. He has worked closely with community groups, international institutions, non-profit organizations, local governments and small businesses in the United States, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire and Zambia. Mr. Ramezanpour previously worked as a field agent for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Kilifi, Kenya, where he assisted in the management and development of the farming-as-a-business component of the FAO Farmer Field School (FFS) Program. This included field research, strategic planning, program development, agribusiness skills training and crop marketing assistance for a network of 1200 farmers.
BioDimensions, Inc. | 20 South Dudley, Suite 802 Memphis, Tennessee 38103 | 901.866.1800
Executive Team
Company Advisors
Elizabeth Hood, Ph.D.
Dr. Elizabeth Hood earned her PhD in Plant Biology from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is currently a professor in the College of Agriculture at Arkansas State University, where she also serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer. Dr. Hood is also founder and CEO of Infinite Enzymes, an agricultural biotechnology firm developing plant-based enzymes for converting cellulosic biomass into ethanol and other biobased products.
Andrew Jordan, Ph.D.
Dr. Andrew Jordan has a Master’s degree in Agriculture Engineering and a PhD in Engineering from Clemson University, where he taught agriculture engineering from 1973-76 before beginning his career with the National Cotton Council of America (NCCA). Dr. Jordan served as the Vice President of Technical Services for NCCA from 1983-2007, as well as the Executive Director of The Cotton Foundation from 1993-2007. Dr. Jordan specializes in projects and analysis of agricultural and biological engineering systems. Dr. Jordan has extensive experience in the development of corporate plans for agricultural research policy, and the development of sustainable agriculture standards and production plans. In addition, Dr. Jordan has made numerous trips to Ghana and other West African countries assisting communities and institutions to implement safe drinking water systems and to conduct assessments of agricultural development needs.
Arielle Moinester
Arielle Moinester began consulting with BioDimensions in 2008 to aid in economic analyses of alternative crop and valued-added agricultural enterprises in the Mississippi Delta. Arielle brings to BioDimensions her experience and passion for designing, implementing and managing business and development projects that seek new intersections between traditional approaches to sustainable agricultural development and free market economic efficiency. Arielle has worked with the International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI, in Washington, DC and with AVRDC, The World Vegetable Center in Arusha, Tanzania researching African indigenous vegetables and sustainable productivity growth of horticulture in sub-Saharan Africa. Arielle earned her M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics and an M.S. in International Agricultural Development from the University of California, Davis.
