Mark Schmidtlein
Mark Schmidtlein is the Owner and CEO of American Walnut Company, a 100-year old company and the world’s largest provider of American walnut gunstocks for hunting and sporting shotguns and rifles. Prior to his ownership of this company, Mark spent more than 25 years in the banking business working for UMB Bank of Kansas City and The Private Bank and Trust Company (Chicago). Mark has an MBA from Rockhurst University and a BS in Agriculture from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He serves on several non-profit boards, as well as Probiotic Holdings and 9 Point Energy boards.
Matthew Wood
Matt has been a pioneer in developing probiotic technologies since 1996. He has led the development and commercialization of probiotic consortia fermentation technologies for multiple industries, as well as the development and expansion of SCD Probiotics’ global network of manufacturers and distributors. In 2012, he led the launch and funding of Proviera Biotech to develop and commercialize sustainable products for the leather tanning industry. Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in soil and atmospheric sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his master’s degree in bioproduction from the University of Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. In 2011, Matt was awarded for his contributions to soil science and sustainable technology by Poland’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marek Sawicki. Fluent in English, Spanish, and Japanese, Wood is a frequent guest speaker and thought leader across the globe on sustainability and probiotic technology.
Bee Wood
Bee Wood has over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing in the domestic and international markets for probiotics. Bee possesses significant experience in the marketing and regulation of probiotics used in human health, animal health, agriculture, and consumer products. She previously worked as the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at SCD Probiotics.
Wood earned a M.S. in Business Education from the University of Missouri and a B.A. in International Finance from Assumption University. Additionally, she received training as a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) in the United States.
Jose Alexandre Borges
Jose Alexandre Borges has over 25 years of experience in general management, finance, investment banking, and private equity positions in Latin America, having worked with Exxon Mobil, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Tarpon Investimentos, Cremer, and BRF, among others.
At BRF, he led Latin America’s operations as regional CEO and served as global CFO, leading the creation of OneFoods, the largest Muslim halal company, and Banvit Acquisition, the leading poultry company in Turkey.
As Executive VP at FS Bioenergia, he currently leads the commercial and financial divisions. He is also an active investor and supporter of start-up ventures in biotech (Global Biotecnologia), edtech (Essia), and agtech (GlobalYeast), among other initiatives.
He has an undergraduate degree in economics from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.
Michael Goetz
Michael Goetz has over 3 decades experience in c-suite roles, as board member and executive advisory engagements in both public and private companies across Europe and Asia.
Over the last decade he has been retained as an industry expert and specialist for both PricewaterhouseCoopers and AT Kearney where he advised and executed numerous strategic projects in many industries, such as pulp and paper, plastics, and aluminum. As a board member he has been active in both manufacturing and financial institutions. Prior to entering consulting and advisory, Michael Goetz was the former CEO of a major Vienna Prime Market listed company and has also personally established a greenfield FMCG factory in China.
Michael earned a degree in law at the University of Salzburg. He also graduated with an economics degree from the Business School of St. Gallen an completed a credit training with Chase Manhattan Bank in London. His mother tongue is German, and he has achieved fluency in French and English.
Jason Aytes
Jason comes to Proviera with extensive Sales, M&A and capital raising expertise. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in the high-level institutional sales, origination and execution of debt capital markets transactions, and the origination of investment banking and management consulting engagements. Most recently he advised on the asset purchase of a start-up renewable energy company, then joined the owners as one of the first employee’s. Through his sales efforts and leadership, Jason helped it grow into Kansas City’s fastest growing company with revenue growth of over 1000%. Prior to this endeavor, Jason served as a Partner in a boutique investment bank and as a Vice President for a non-bank lender that specialized in acquisition loans to captive insurance agencies. He was instrumental in growing this company from start-up to an industry leader with more than $150 million in agency loans. Early in Jason’s career he spent several years as an associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions group for a publicly traded insurance brokerage, where he structured and negotiated transactions and closed more than 60 acquisitions.
Jason holds a degree in Finance and Banking from the University of Missouri where he was a four year member and varsity lettermen of Missouri’s Intercollegiate wrestling team and he remains an avid sports enthusiast to this day. Jason also enjoys reading, networking, keeping fit and traveling with his wife Kayleigh.