Team members

ProGro BIO Executive Team

Blake Young

Chief Executive Officer
Accomplished CEO and Board Director with 30+ years of multi-disciplinary executive experience across VC, Private Equity, Public and Private ownership structures. Strong history of business transformation, strategy development, M&A, consistent growth and profit leadership, and board governance.



  

Barry Roberts

Chief Operating Officer
Environmental and green technology entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in start-up entities. Proven track record in the development of profitable operational and sales teams from the ground up. Practicing partner in well-known legal practice before pursuing a commercial career. A hands-on problem solver and motivator with many years of experience in advancing small and mid-market businesses.


  

Dr. Robert Bruck

Chief Scientist
Ph.D. State University of New York; Ph.D. Syracuse  University Forest Ecology; Recipient of The North Carolina Award for Science (Highest Civilian Award in the State of NC;  Recipient “Order of the Longleaf Pine" Award, for Distinguished Service to the State of North Carolina; 40+ Academic honors, 300+ peer-reviewed publications; World-renowned microbial pioneer specializing in soil-borne pathogens, plant disease and development of natural microbial solutions.

Jimmy Joyner

President of Commercial Strategy
AgTech expert with a long history in the farming industry, having personally owned and operated large and successful farming operations in cotton, soybeans, and wheat. Proven track record of developing biotechnology products in the agriculture, lawn, garden, and turf markets.

David Copeland

Advisor
Mr. Copeland is an entrepreneur, business owner and private investor with a highly successful track record in business
development across several business models, a proven track record of driving business growth, and a broad network across the AgTech sector. He possesses strong expertise in sales and marketing, and a proven record of developing growth strategies for both company and product expansions. He is the founder and owner of a highly successful Atlanta-based wholesale meat distribution company as well as an investor in several businesses. He has previously served on the board of directors of B.A.S.S., a leading sports fishing organization where he worked closely with the company in securing several highly successful marketing transactions.

Raymond D. Hurt

Advisor
Mr. Hurt has is a successful entrepreneur and owner of several agricultural businesses over the last 33 years spanning numerous
segments including agricultural retail sales, seed manufacturing, row crop farming, and timber production. He currently owns and
operates a family-owned seed manufacturing company that has been a family operated business since 1932. The business provides a wide variety of seeds to the agricultural sector for over 3.5 million acres annually.

Mr. Hurt also owns a row crop farming operation that produces cotton, soybeans, corn, wheat, and oats as well as a timber production business. In addition to these interests, Mr. Hurt has ownership in H&H Pallet Company, Southern Lease Management Group, an excavation and land grading business, and an internet company.

David Shoemaker

Advisor
Mr. Shoemaker is a successful entrepreneur and innovative business owner with over 41 years of experience and success in
multiple agricultural and turf-related businesses within the irrigation and equipment industry. He currently owns and operates multiple distribution locations of agricultural and related products in Georgia and South Carolina. He is also the managing member of the 2nd largest E-commerce irrigation supply store in the United States. Over the course of his career, he has started over 8 irrigation and agricultural companies, many of which are still operating today under his direction.

He is President of Wireless Irrigation Technologies, a fully-integrated design and installation company focused on large agricultural and industrial projects. David has also been the owner of one of the largest private water utility companies in the state of Georgia since 1987.

Amedeo Dino Sgueglia

Independent Board Member
Private Investor; Investinmyideas.com; Founder/Chairman of the Board, CurvePay; President & CEO, My Clear Reports; Founder & President; The Hope Process, President; IRN  Payment Systems.

Michael Nicklaus

Advisor
Michael Nicklaus brings more than 25 years of established business relationships across a wide range of industries. He has successfully managed or owned multiple business ventures throughout the southeast, including a thriving real estate group of 170+ agents that is based in North Pam Beach, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina. Michael has invaluable expertise with premium branding that will assist ProGro in its marketing and will assist with future product expansion.

Amedeo Dino Sgueglia

Advisor
Founder and Chairman of several companies for 30+ years. A self-motivated entrepreneur. Founder of Curvepay in 1988. Creating new and innovative payment solutions through credit card acceptance. Forging exclusive alliances through innovation, when Curvepay was sold it was one of the largest transaction processors in US taxi cabs. Annually almost 100 million transactions in approximately 50,000 cabs. He also serves as Lead investor, Board Member, Director, and strategic advisor to many companies