Friday, August 1, 2008

The GERS Employee (and a move to 8 cents?)

What is a company? Well to most people a company is where we spend "at least" a third of our work week, where we "make a living" - a place to work. To approximately 144 souls Greenshift Corporation is the place they work. This Blog is a tribute to the GERS Employee. The most important employees of Greenshift may be the ones that do not deal with the public. They design, build and install the numerous COES and Biodiesel plants being put in points throughout the Midwest from upstate New York to the western edge of the middle west. They crush seed in Montana. They balance the books at One Penn Plaza, New York, NY. Most of their names will remain nameless since their work does not make it to the Public Domain. Some of the readers here disagree with decisions made at Corporate HQ. I am sure we can all agree to appreciate the efforts of the many Greenshift Employees who come to work and get the job done day in and day out. The names and their duties that I included, are available in the public domain. Personnel constantly change, however this information was all found on the Internet, and is believed to be as current as you can get without a key to payroll.

How many employees are there?
As of today, about 144.

Here are the numbers:
58 + 36 + 23 +20 + 07 = 144

This is what the numbers mean:

As of March 31st 2008 Green shift had approximately 124 employees. They added about 20 when they acquired NEXTDiesel on 15 May of this year for my 144 total estimate. In addition to its executive officers, GreenShift Corporation employs sales personnel, staff engineers, process managers, maintenance managers, administrative personnel and general facility technicians.

By far the largest section is the 58 in Cleantech Corporation. The figure of 58 was last published 13 April 2007 in the Clean Tech '07 Annual report. Five public individuals and their jobs include: Dave Winsness Director, Chief Technology Officer; Christopher Kennedy, Project Manager; Dan Page, Project Manager?; Dan Lester, Project Manager. Scott Kreisler, the CEO's brother is also believed to have worked on COES Installations and at NEXTDiesel.

The next largest Division is the 36 employees at GS Design Services. On 31 Dec 2006 the number 35 was published. Since then the purchase of Bollheimer and Associates led to another employee. Six public individuals and their jobs include: Mr. Jerry Schmenk Electrical Engineer; Mr. Doug Warnecke Sales Engineer; Chris Rode Mechanical Engineer Mr. Glen Marquis Electrical Engineer; Philip A. Bollheimer, Design Engineer.

The third largest Division is the 23 employees of Sustainable Systems in Montana. The number 23 was current in March of 2007. Six public individuals and their jobs include: Dr. Paul T. Miller, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer; Robert N. Turnbull (Neil), General Manager; Jennifer L. Kessner, Controller; Dr. David L. Tooke, Ph.D. Director of Operations; Kalie J. Rider, RD. Nutrition Research; David H. Bjornson, CPA, JD, LLM, Secretary, General Counsel.

The newest section is the employees at NEXTDiesel who joined GERS on 15 May 2008. Literature published before then stated the Biodiesel plant had 20 Employees. We have no knowledge if the founders are now GERS employees or who stayed on after the acquisition. These are the 5 public names I have found pre-15 May 2008. Terry Nosan is a GERS Director, was Chief Executive Officer of Biofuel Industries Group, LLC (d/b/a NextDiesel); Jason Eisenberg, Director of Business Development; Tim VerVaecke, Chief Operating Officer, Founder; Michael P. Horowitz, Chief Financial Officer, Founder; Bradly Schram Founder.

(07) Corporate/Administrative: We know that people work at One Penn Plaza in New York, NY. By finding the total number of employees minus the other divisions, it seems we have at least eight quartered at headquarters. We have these names of those identified as working some of the time in New York. They are Kevin Kreisler, Chairman, CEO; Greg Barlage, Director, Chief Operating Officer; Edward Carroll, Director, Chief Financial Officer; David Fred Cantrell, inventor, prior CEO of Mean Green Diesel; John W. Davis, Led deployment of COES at Utica, Inventor; Dr. Richard Krablin, Vice President, Project Management; Dan Saltzman, Controller. Ms. Kathi A. Kreisler, Kevin Kreisler's mother is still listed on Yahoo Finances as a Vice President and Treasurer.

More Numbers: So the Skunk has been able to put names on about 30 GERS Employees out of a total of about 144. That's just over 20%.

General and administrative expenses were $935,651 for the first quarter. This includes payroll [[general and administrative expenses (G&A) -- the expenses of operating a business that are not directly linked to the company's products or services. They include salaries, rent and payments to utilities generally known as overhead.]] and is annualized at $3,742,604. I suspect that the annual salary of $150,000, periodic bonuses, four weeks vacation and participation in any employee plans made available to all Company employees that is paid to each director is the top of the pay scale for the company. But the total is less than 26K per employee.The Skunk can see the need here for stock incentives for getting and keeping top people in the expanding alternative energy fields. Looking at a competitor for the labor of a process engineer - the average new ethanol plant producing 100 million gallons of ethanol per year creates 45 direct new jobs, 101 indirect new jobs – average annual salary at a typical plant is over $50,000. 26K will not have the required highly skilled labor beating down the doors to GERS. That is - unless there is a generous stock incentive program that trades the pay for today, for the promise of tomorrow. It looks like about 144 GERS Employees, those who work day in and day out for the Greenshift Corp, those that should be close enough to know, are willing to bet on that promise.

Here are some more Employee tidbits from the 2008 Filings
The first of our patents does not expire until 2019. All of our technical employees enter
into confidentiality, non-competition and invention assignment agreements. The number of individuals with experience in biofuels production is considerably smaller than the number of jobs available for such individuals. We will have to offer substantial incentives in order to obtain the services of individuals with useful experience in the production of biodiesel and ethanol. As a result, our labor costs may be greater than they would be in a less dynamic industry.

". . . vertically integrated agricultural and food supply companies such as Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge, or (others) who decide to enter into the biodiesel production industry, such as Tyson and Conoco Phillips, may have access togreater resources. These companies may have greater success in the recruitment and retention of qualified employees

Some Sources for Skunk Article above:
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http://www.greenshift.com/pdf/GERS%2010K%202007%204-7-08.pdf
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1120802/000126912707000052/gsa10k2006.txt
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1269127/000110241406000034/ver10k05.txt
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1120802/000126912707000052/gsa10k2006.txt
http://sec.edgar-online.com/2007/04/18/0001269127-07-000056/Section19.asp
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Post 2Q Dates to look for in the upcoming 2Q Report

(Due Thursday August, Extended deadline is 20 August.)

1. At the current rate of payment, the entire balance due to Stillwater Asset-Based Fund will be satisfied by July 2008.

2. Commencing on July 1, 2008, GS COES must pay to YAGI on account of the principal amount of the Loans an amount equal to the greater of (a) $100,000 and (b) 30% of its EBITDA for the month.

3. June 30, 2008. The Borrower's affiliate, Sustainable Systems LLC, shall fail to have closed upon the purchase of the Title To Montana Property. " par. 7.1.16


4. "In the event that GS AgriFuels and/or any of its affiliates fails to pay Lender a minimum of $7,500,000 on or before July 1, 2008. . . . . GS CleanTech shall take GS AgriFuels public again as provided herein (the "Go Public Transaction")"

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Interesting insight into Warnecke Design, now GS Design.

Undated Article?
Conveyor System Solution
"Warnecke Design Palletizes Efficiencies into Lamp Buffer Line"

http://www.conveyercaster.com/case-studies/warneke-phillips.htm ******************************

Rare Skunk technical call for next week.


Interested in the technicals? This site came up on the boards this week.

Don't know what these guys are selling - but its free to look.
http://www.allotcbb.com/quote.php?symbol=GERS.OB

Not quite as aggressive in their forecasts as the Skunk- but then who is? Earlier this week GERS sat at the top as a buy with 5 STARS. Interesting to see their support and resistance levels if you trade.

Click on the chart above and take a look at the white Bollinger Bands and the recent "instant" contraction. Finally something more than just a drift down. This tells me technically that something is gonna move next week. The volitility it signals could be in either direction - but I see us moving at least up to meet the top band and the 50 day Moving Average which is just under 8 cents. We could move further, but the Skunk is not gonna say that without some good company news to support the technicals. In any case I would say its time for the GERS traders to have a case of Red Bull standing by - you might get some movement next week - and I would guess at least through the 14th when the 2Q is due. In what direction after the 2Q report?? Well that depends on the numbers released and how investors react to them.

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FORECASTS
". . . in the next six months I expect this stock to have convincingly turned the corner." (Skunk 13 July 2008)**

EOY 60 cents with 45 -75 trading range**

$4.91 Share Price in FEB 2010**
See past posts for details
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Note: I am a shareholder - I do not work for, nor do I receive any direct or indirect payment from GERS or anyone associated with them. (But it would be Kapitalist Kool if I did) I will not intentionally mislead - but I can be wrong (ask Mrs. Skunk for specific frequencies) - so do your own due diligence - and take responsibility for your own financial decisions – (and your own life in general) good or bad. Celebrate today - and some good garage logic luck to ya.

Skunk

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