Paragon Power has a wide breadth and depth of experience implementing transformational technology: from concept & project development, to full spectrum project financing, manufacturing, management, installation and servicing. Our seasoned professionals are proven builders and managers that have provided significant returns for shareholders and investors. They have an unmatched combination of experience in: finance; design engineering & consulting; project management; manufacturing; operations; scientific, climate, and medical research; and technology development.
Sam Bock, Founder, President, CEO, CTO
David Buzby, Chairman of the Board
Daryl Fridhandler, Director, Corporate Secretary
Ryan Williams, Chief Operating Officer
George Thorpe, Engineering and Planning, BA, BScME, PEng.
Betsy Taggart, Director, Strategy & Marketing
Michael Smith, Advisor, Finance
David McGoey, Advisor, Finance
Norman Chow, Advisor, Engineering and Technology Development
David Meyer, Advisor, Prototyping and Custom Fabrication
Mr. Bock is the founder of ParagonPower and coordinates project development & planning, scientific research, technology RD&D, engineering strategy, and organization of management, engineering, and technical teams for Paragon’s projects related to power generation.
Mr. Bock received a degree in Economics / Environmental Science from Middlebury College in 1982. His study of particle physics and chemistry led to his thesis - a technical and economic analysis of the roles oil & gas, coal, nuclear, solar, wind, and other technologies in meeting North America's energy needs. That technical analysis of nuclear power plant systems pointed out inherent design problems related to excessive ionizing radiation and accelerated metal fatigue in reactor vessels and heat exchanger systems used in most plant designs in the United States, and predicted the unforeseen & accelerated decline of the North American nuclear power industry due to these fundamental design flaws. Mr. Bock then worked on Wall Street and in Denver in utility & energy-related project finance for 4 years, prior to founding Paragon Technologies Ltd. in 1989, a technology, medical & health sciences, and environment R&D and consulting company that became ParagonSciences Ltd in 2011. Mr. Bock brings economic, scientific, and technology development expertise related to energy production & emissions and their effects on government & corporate economics, world climate, the food chain, and human & environmental health.
Mr. Bock has been researching economically superior energy technologies and climate change science for the past 20 years. As Paragon’s President & Director of Research, he heads up Paragon’s technical research and planning team which is currently developing a range of advanced energy systems & as well as public policy necessary to increase power plant efficiencies, eliminate climate effects, and detoxify the environment of heavy metals and other pollutants.
In 2003 Mr. Bock began an intensive review of the latest climate data to determine viable technology, government policy, and financing solutions. In 2006 he was first to grasp and report the full extent of unexpected and extreme regional & planetary warming being driven by particulate air pollution, and that un-burnt fuels in carbonaceous soots have caused much of the unanticipated and rapid climate fluctuations seen over the past century.
Paragon and Mr. Bock also work with leading corporate and university research partners to develop advanced metabolic diagnostics & medical systems for the treatment of disease, for use in toxin screening & detoxification, and for use in Olympic & professional sport. Paragon's highly advanced diagnostics & treatments for degenerative disease have reversed paralysis, multiple sclerosis, chronic pancreatitis, various cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, recurrent C-Difficile, and many other serious diseases and conditions. Athletes using Mr. Bock’s athletic coaching and Paragon’s metabolic diagnostics & sport equipment technologies have won numerous Olympic Gold medals, world championships, and have set more than 45 world bests and records.
Mr. Buzby has been a “clean-tech” entrepreneur and executive for the past 23 years, helping start, invest in and/or manage multiple companies in the solar, storage and recycling industries. He was the founding investor, Chairman, and CEO of SunEdison, LLC, a solar integrator, from 2005 until its sale in 2009 and was also an early investor and Board member of SunRun Inc., a residential solar service company, from 2008 to 2012. He additionally was a founding investor and Board member at Prevalent Power, a solar integrator, from 2003 until its subsequent sale in 2005. Previously, Buzby co-founded and was CEO of Recycling Resource LLC, a multi-material recycler, from 1991 until its sale in 1997. He is a founding investor and has been a board member of Stem, Inc., a demand reduction, storage and software company, since 2011. Has known Bock 35 years, and helped develop Paragon’s business plan for the past 4 years. Mr. Buzby earned an MBA from Harvard in 1988 and a BA from Middlebury College in 1982.
Mr. Fridhandler has extensive transactional experience, particularly in asset transactions and project arrangements with the Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer law firm, and a broad general corporate/commercial practice, representing public and private businesses in all aspects from start up planning to preparation for and going public with their enterprises, to ongoing finance, transaction and governance advice. Past clients have included:
Professional Memberships & Community Service:
Mr. Williams worked with Paragon to evaluate distributed generation (D-Gen) technology and is a key contributor to Paragon’s Canadian business model and market design. He has 20 years business experience, the majority with Calgary-based ENMAX Corporation, Alberta’s largest electric utility. Joined the regulated utility prior to the deregulation and redesign of the Alberta electricity industry and during his tenure, worked to develop D-Gen, cogeneration, district heating, central utility scale and renewable generation, and emerging technology projects. Mr. Williams’ innovative business approach and development expertise helped establish ENMAX Corporation as one of the most competitive energy Retailers and technologically advanced electric utilities in Canada.
Mr. Williams’ diverse leadership skill set enabled his management and departmental oversight in Generation Business Development, Commercial and Industrial Accounts, Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures, Sales, Marketing, Account Management, Customer Service, Technology Screening and Strategic Planning. Has managed both established commodity business lines and new electrical start-up product and business lines leading small and large staff compliments. Development expertise managing business lines and/or projects from origination through completion; including business concept, legal structuring, and commercial development; including site control, stakeholder consultation, permitting, regulatory approval, and installation and/or construction. Through his management consulting business, has an extensive network of retail, commercial, and industrial customers for which he navigates the commodity billing and settlement process, contracting of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), and complex wholesale energy transactions in deregulated and regulated electricity and natural gas markets.
Career highlights at ENMAX:
Mr. Williams earned undergraduate and MBA degrees at the University of Calgary / Haskayne School of Business and has a Project Management certification from Mount Royal University. He has a passion for the development of affordable renewable and clean technology, has solar panels on his residence, and utilizes other energy efficiency initiatives.
Mr. Thorpe is a key element of Paragon’s senior engineering and concept development team.
Mr. Thorpe has more than 35 years experience in the industrial sector as a professional design engineer, project manager, product development group manager, and business consultant. He has supervised a wide range of more than 100 research and product development projects, handling client interface, proposal development, government grant programs, concurrent engineering, standards and procedures development, prototyping, project management, group performance and quality control for industry and government. Mr. Thorpe managed many "green-field" startups of large manufacturing operations, including Graf Canada’s and Outland Sports manufacturing plants. Mr. Thorpe has developed intellectual property at every stage of product development, with many patents written and filed.
Most recently, as Engineering Manager for BI PureWater Inc., Mr. Thorpe managed the design, development, and installation of advanced water treatment plants that employ a highly advanced applied catalytic chemistry developed by George and his team. This technology was awarded Waste Water Digest’s 2009 Top Water & Wastewater Projects winner. Mr. Thorpe was responsible for the research of these advanced water treatment innovations and for their integration into new technology.
Prior to returning to private industry in 1996, Mr. Thorpe was Manager of Manufacturing & Engineering Services for the Alberta Research Council, where he headed a group of product development and manufacturing professionals, subcontractors and staff that developed and implemented business plans, marketing plans and manufacturing plans. Mr. Thorpe conducted business development and agreement negotiation, managed projects and staff, and facilitated design reviews. Mr. Thorpe is a founding director of Mr. Bock's company ParagonSciences Ltd.
Founding partner of Paragon Power since Dec 2008. Extensive consumer marketing experience. Owner of 420 Nelson Strategy & Marketing Inc. Provides strategic planning and marketing consulting services to large & small companies and agencies, with a focus on strong communication and simplifying / streamlining business plans against well-defined objectives. Previously one of Johnson & Johnson Canada’s best consumer marketing and distribution strategists and responsible for sales portfolios in excess of $75 million and marketing and advertising budgets ranging from $25,000 to $20 million. McGill MBA 2000.
Mr. Smith is a founding director of Mr. Bock's company ParagonSciences Ltd. More recently Mr. Smith and ParagonPower have formed a partnership to help secure investment funding for commercial development of new and transformational energy technologies currently being reviewed by Paragon. Mr. Smith has extensive contacts with the senior management of Canada’s major oil companies and utilities as well as institutional and private investors in Canada and the US.
Until June 2011, Mr. Smith was Chairman, Ross Smith Energy Group. RSEG was founded by Mr. Smith and Allen Ross in 1998 to assist institutional investors invest in the energy sector. In June Investment Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE: ITG), a leading agency research broker and financial technology firm, acquired RSEG.
RSEG provides detailed technical and financial analysis of North American resource plays, public and private corporations, as well as coverage of international and macroeconomic energy issues, for more than 200 clients in North America and Europe, including more than 60 equity fund managers who are new clients for ITG. RSEG’s team of approximately 40 staff includes professional engineers, technologists and financial analysts. With the addition of RSEG, ITG Investment Research will provide differentiated views into the exploration and production activities of North American and international energy companies.
Specialized technical experience within RSEG includes development and exploration geology, reservoir engineering, completions, financial modeling, forensic accounting, economic analysis and geopolitics. RSEG is qualified to provide detailed, independent commentary on all aspects of a company's current operation, its future growth, and external issues that could influence an investment decision.
Mr. Smith's career in the investment industry began in 1981 with McLeod Young Weir. After two years he moved to Peters & Co. Limited, the major underwriter of energy projects in Alberta, where he was a partner and spent fifteen years covering institutional clients in Montreal and in the U.S.
David is very experienced in optimizing business and R&D tax structures. Has experience as CFO & audit committee chairman of various public & private companies. Has advised Paragon since 1989.
Mr. Chow is President & Owner of Kemetco Research Inc. He is a world leader in the development of a wide range of pioneering catalytic chemistry technologies for industry, first with the innovative programs he helped build at BC Research Inc. from 1986 - 1997, and now with his Kemetco Research team in private industry.
Kemetco Research chemists have substantial experience dating back to the 1970’s with BC Research. BC Research specialized in consulting, applied research, and development and was based at a 180,000-square-foot scientific research and development facility at the BC Research and Innovation Complex at the south end of the University of British Columbia campus. The non-profit BC Research Council was founded in 1944, and became a private company in 1993. In May 2007, the Industrial Process Division of BC Research Inc. was acquired by Mr. Chow & Kemetco Research Inc.
Kemetco provides contract research, catalytic process development, customized experimental design, creative problem solving, interpretive reports, and laboratory testing services to industry, primarily in chemical processing, metallurgy, and mining.
Kemetco works closely with clients whose projects originate from industrial process and environmental concerns.
Mr. Chow’s broad knowledge, open approach, & innovative methods are key to the successful commercial development of pioneering applied chemical technologies for emerging power generation technologies, just as he and Kemetco’s team have demonstrated across several very challenging technology development fronts.
Kemetco has developed and patented many highly innovative processes to dramatically reduce energy and materials used in mainstream industrial applications. Mr. Thorpe has worked with Mr. Chow and Kemetco for several years, successfully developing special catalytic chemistries used in BI PureWater’s advanced water purification systems.
Kemetco has a full range of chemical analysis instrumentation to support research and development activities which enables he and Kemetco to provide leading anayltical services with fast turn around times. Kemetco’s close relationship with Noram Engineering and Constructors Ltd., http://www.noram-eng.com/index.html provides integrated R&D and Engineering support for commercialization of new process technologies.
Some of Kemetco's capabilities and projects include:
Mr. Meyer is President & Owner of the Aerotech Group of Companies in Calgary. Mr. Meyer provides his extensive manufacturing consulting experience and a full range of fabrication services to Paragon. His company’s experienced team liaises with Paragon’s engineering teams throughout the entire design and engineering process to ensure seamless delivery of custom-made industrial equipment.
Aerotech has been building highly specialized custom & heavy equipment for many different oil and heavy industry applications for 25 years. Aerotech's fabrications shops are capable of almost any type of specialized metal fabrication for industrial prototyping and commercial development. Clients include Shell Canada, Petro Canada, Weatherford, BJ Well Services, Schlumberger, Trans Canada Turbines, Pason, Siemans, and General Dynamics.