Speaker Biographies
Session I Speaker:
Trelynd Bradley, Senior Business Development Specialist, Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)
Trelynd “Tre” Bradley was appointed to serve as Senior Business Development Specialist for the Greater Los Angeles Region in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Tre works under GO-Biz’s California Business Investment Services (CalBIS) team in providing tailored, no-cost consultation to businesses, entrepreneurs, employers, and economic development organizations looking to expand, grow and succeed in California. Before GO-Biz, Tre was the appointed Policy Analyst and Executive Fellow for Governor Brown’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) where he facilitated several key projects leading up to the Global Climate Action Summit - including the publishing of the Fourth Edition of the California Solar Guidebook. Prior to joining the State, Tre managed a small business in retail fireworks, facilitated casework for the Office of U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz, and interned for two airport CEOs under both Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA).
Session II Speakers:
Neil Edgar, Senior Project Manager, Edgar & Associates
Neil Edgar has been a Senior Project Manager with Edgar & Associates in Sacramento, California since 2001. Edgar & Associates, Inc. is a governmental affairs and environmental engineering firm specializing in solid waste management, recycling, composting, renewable energy, and climate change issues.
Mr. Edgar has consulted on over two dozen organic waste management projects for client companies including technical feasibility, collection options, land use compatibility, site design, operations, grant and loan funding, financial modeling, regulatory compliance, and market development.
Mr. Edgar was a co-founder and acts as Executive Director of the California Compost Coalition, a statewide lobbying coalition that focuses on legislative and regulatory development regarding composting and other organics management options. Mr. Edgar is Chair of the United States Composting Council’s Legislative and Environmental Affairs Committee and serves as a policy liaison for the California Organics Recycling Council, a statewide advocacy group dedicated to increasing the sustainable use of recycled organics.
Matt Cotton, Principal Consultant/Owner, Integrated Waste Management Consulting, LLC
In over 30 years of work, Matthew Cotton has become a respected resource for all aspects of the composting industry, from providing permitting assistance to new and expanded composting, anaerobic digestion, and chipping & grinding facilities, to providing hands-on odor mitigation at composting facilities, to conducting important statewide studies of the California organics industry.
During this time he has worked as a consultant, educator, researcher, and advocate for new and expanded organics recycling and composting programs in California and beyond.
Session IV Speaker:
Thomas Gratz, Sales Manager, Hitachi Zosen Inova U.S.A. LLC
Thomas Gratz is Sales Manager for Hitachi Zosen Inova USA, responsible for all sales activities of Hitachi's KOMPOGAS anaerobic digestion and BIOMETHAN biogas upgrading technologies. Mr. Gratz brings over 28 years of experience in sales and sales management, providing solutions to end users in both the public as well as the private sectors. He has been involved with organic waste diversion and sustainability for over 10 years. His experience includes all aspects of sales and sales management for capital equipment and specialty technology products. He successfully managed the start-up of several European Sales Organizations in the US and has a proven track record of implementing advanced new technologies in the US.
Education: BS in Mechanical Engineering, Federal technical College of Moedling, Austria