TEAM

 

Belvedere Terminals was formed by bringing together experts in fuel distribution, transloading and railroading. The management team has extensive experience within the petroleum distribution, retail transportation fuels, and rail and terminalling industries.  The Company has a dedicated development team which has developed the project to date, and going forward will lead the construction of the facilities, the staffing and training of the staff and the start-up of the business.

EDWIN COTHRON – President & CEO

Ed Cothron is the CEO and Founder of Belvedere.  Mr. Cothron has over 25 years of experience in commercial real estate including the development of over 50 gasoline convenience and retail centers. Mr. Cothron has a thorough knowledge of the petroleum industry and related fields through his 29 years of management, training, and service-related experience, most of which has been spent in the petroleum industry where he excelled in management, training, and public relations.  Mr. Cothron has managed and owned multiple businesses including the Dexron Group from 1995 – 2001, where he as President and developed 4 projects valuated at $14 million and managed 30+ employees.  Mr. Cothron studied Computer Science & Engineering at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL.  Mr. Cothron volunteers with St. Anthony Hospital of Catholic East Charities.

TIM SCHWARZ – Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Schwarz has spent his entire career in finance. He began his career as a commercial banker focused on middle market secured lending. Following that he spent over twenty years on Wall Street, fourteen at Morgan Stanley in the Power and Utility Group, with significant experience in power, renewable energy and infrastructure finance.  Mr. Schwarz has advised on many of the largest mergers and capital raises in the industry and effectively managed multiple strategic relationships at both the senior management and Board of Director level, helping his clients develop long term financial strategies in complex changing markets.  Prior to his career on Wall Street, Mr. Schwarz was the Chief Financial Officer at Allied-Lyons North America, the multi-billion-dollar international parent corporation for Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins, responsible for strategic planning, information technology, treasury and accounting. Mr. Schwarz received his MBA with distinction from Harvard University and his BA in economics from Wesleyan University.

STAN L. FAY – Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Fay has over 34 years of progressive experience in direct sales, channel sales, business development, marketing, and consulting management in highly competitive segments of the Petroleum and Convenience Store Industries.  Mr. Fay has been instrumental in developing and executing the marketing and sales plan for Belvedere.  In particular, Mr. Fay has consulted and implemented new entrepreneurial products and niche services for the Convenience Store and Petroleum sectors.

GREGORY D. CHAFEE – Chief Counsel Thompson Hine Law Firm

Mr. Chafee is currently a partner with Thompson Hine in the Corporate Transactions and Securities Practice and the Energy Group where he is also co-chair of the Water Resources, Technology, & Regulation Group.    He has provided strategic advice and counsel to project developers, owners, operators, lenders, private equity and venture capital investors, suppliers and services providers on financing, including debt and equity offerings, operations and transactions involving conventional and renewable energy.  He has negotiated and structured complex transactions involving electric power generation, transmission and distribution, petroleum, natural gas and LNG production, transmission and distribution and the generation of energy from biomass and biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, waste-to-energy and other renewable resources.  Mr. Chafee previously served as First Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of DS Waters of America and Danone Waters of North America, and Associate General Counsel for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, representing market leading consumer products brands worldwide.  Mr. Chafee received his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law and his B.A. from Brown University.

ERIC ROUSE – Director Business Development

Eric Rouse has spent the last few years helping rail shippers solve complex issues to grow and optimize their supply chain planning and processes. Prior to this, he worked in all aspects of the railroad industry for nearly 20 years, including positions both within railroads and large-scale rail shippers. He is well versed in the complexities of managing multiple logistics terminals and operating multi-faceted supply chains across the commodity spectrum. Mr. Rouse has a passion for finding supply chain bottlenecks, then creating and executing solutions to maximize product flows. He studied mechanical and manufacturing engineering in MN and WI before graduating from Flagler College in St Augustine, FL with Business Administration and Economics degrees. 

BRUCE OWENS – Director of Terminal Operations

Mr. Owens is an experienced director with extensive domestic onshore and offshore experience in petroleum production, pipelines and terminals, technology, maintenance, operations, and asset management.  He supervised and coordinated operations and maintenance of refined product terminals for Conoco/Phillips from 1991 until 2015 when he retired.  The terminals and the pipeline transported and distributed approximately 30,000 – 45,000 barrels of refined products per day through environmentally sensitive High Consequence Areas (HCAs).  Mr. Owens led the successful and safe startup and continued operations of a 25,000 barrel per day railcar loading and offloading facility as well as a three-bay truck loading facility in Montana.  He has completed pipeline maintenance, operations, and installations in environmentally sensitive US Forest Service lands. His environmental safety focus has led to 0 reportable accidents in the last 5 years and 0 pipeline leaks in the last 14 years.   Mr. Owens has had extensive safety leadership, environmental leadership, and other training courses throughout his career.  He holds a certificate in Electronic Engineering Technology from R.E.T.S Electronic Institute.

GRAHAM A. VARN – Director of Florida Operations

Mr. Varn brings over 35 years of experience marketing petroleum downstream with industry leaders FINA and Pure Oil Jobber’s Co- Op to support Belvedere’s development.  Mr. Varn’s long term and extensive relationships with the southeast’s regional jobbers and petroleum suppliers have been instrumental in securing initial, pre-project contracted volume.  Mr. Varn earned his B.A. from the University of Florida.

CHITRA SUBBARAYAN – Director of Real Estate

Chitra Subbarayan has over 20 years of commercial real estate and economic development experience in the Southeast U.S. She uses her background to create projects of value to the community and achieve optimum results for clients in the private sector. She is active in the logistics industry and has focused on existing transportation infrastructure to leverage business opportunities for her clients. Based on changing trends in transportation and market dynamics, she develops strategies to create a lean supply chain based on transportation modes and corridors that best serve the needs of the client.