Our 2024 Summer Meeting Speakers
David Arnold is Senior Vice President in the Americas Power Development and Energy Transition Group of Financial Services at GE Vernova. In this role, he leads origination, diligence, execution and management of strategic investments in gas-fired power generation and projects, including those with carbon capture or other decarbonization technology. He also serves on the boards of the project companies in GE Vernova’s portfolio. David has been in the GE Vernova Financial Services organization and its predecessor businesses since 2004. During that period, he supported the execution of over $4B of equity and debt investments in power, transmission, renewables, midstream and upstream projects both domestically and internationally. Past transactions include Magnolia Power Generating Station, Guernsey Power Station, the Gulf LNG import and export terminal and Regency Energy Partners. Currently David manages a portfolio of investments in ~8GW of development stage gas fired power projects in North America. He completed his M.B.A. in finance at the Yale School of Management and his B.A. in economics at Carleton College.
Melissa Blatt is Assistant Vice President, Workers’ Compensation Litigation, at Encova Insurance. She began her legal career with the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission in 1998 and transitioned to BrickStreet Insurance upon privatization in 2006. She provides legal support to the workers’ compensation business teams for both claim and policy matters, covering 28 jurisdictions. As well, she assists the company’s subrogation department, handles coordination of benefit and conditional payment matters involving the federal government and Centers for Medicare Services, assists with medical payment disputes, and oversees third party litigation.
David Braziel joined RBN Energy in 2013 as Director of Finance and Fundamental Analysis. Prior to RBN, he was with Direct Energy and specialized in data analysis. He began his career with BENTEK Energy before moving to Apache Corporation where he spent five years. Braziel received his BBA in Finance from Baylor University and his MBA from the University of Houston with certificates in Energy Investment Analysis, Economics of Energy Value Chain, Energy Accounting and Finance, and Energy Risk Management. David’s musical preferences lean towards classic rock, with favorite bands including Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Boston.
Shelley Moore Capito was elected by the people of West Virginia to the United States Senate in 2014, and re-elected in 2020. She is the first female U.S. senator in West Virginia’s history and was elected with the largest margin of victory for a Republican in state history—winning more than 70 percent of the vote and all 55 counties, surpassing the previous mark she set in 2014 when she won more than 62 percent of the vote and all 55 counties. After serving West Virginia’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years, and as a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates for four years prior, Senator Capito decided to run for Senate to be an even stronger voice for the Mountain State. She also saw an opportunity to restore order to a Senate stuck in gridlock for far too long. She believes that today’s challenges demand bipartisan solutions and cooperation across the aisle to advance legislation that benefits West Virginia and the country as a whole. Senator Capito is committed to being accessible and responsive to her fellow West Virginians and regularly travels, with proper health and safety precautions in place, to hear from and meet with West Virginians. Senator Capito serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee; and the Rules and Administration Committee. This committee portfolio puts her in a strong position to create new opportunities in the Mountain State and fight for West Virginia priorities, jobs, and families. As a member of the Committee on Appropriations, Senator Capito works to ensure West Virginia’s priorities are represented when our nation’s funding decisions are made. On the Commerce Committee, she oversees ways to address many issues that are critical to West Virginia, most notably broadband expansion, which she has been a leading voice on since she came to Congress. On the EPW Committee, the senator serves as Ranking Member. As the top Republican on the committee, she has advocated for policies that protect vital West Virginia energy and manufacturing jobs and encourage investment in West Virginia’s infrastructure. As a leader on the EPW Committee, Ranking Member Capito is committed to promoting a commonsense regulatory strategy and protecting affordable, reliable energy production; building our nation’s infrastructure, and encourage economic development. She has been a member of the EPW Committee since she became a Senator in 2015. A lifelong West Virginian herself, Senator Capito was born in Glen Dale in the Northern Panhandle. She holds a B.S. in Zoology from Duke University and a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia. She and her husband Charles L. Capito Jr. reside in Charleston. They have three adult children and seven grandchildren.
Jim Crews has been Vice President of Northeast Business Development for MPLX since 2011. Previously, he held various positions with NiSource Gas Transmission and Storage-NGT&S (and its predecessor Columbia Gas Transmission) from 1995 to 2011. From 1982 to 1985 he worked at Cabot Oil and Gas’ drilling and production division in Charleston, W. Va. In 1985 he served as a field service engineer for Babcock and Wilcox Nuclear Power in Lynchburg, Va. From 1987 to 1995 he worked in engineering, storage and planning for Washington Gas Light Company in Washington D.C. He is a past president of WVONGA. Crews received a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from WVU and is a registered professional mechanical engineer in Virginia and Ohio.
Jeff Isner is the CEO and co-founder of Pillar Energy, LLC located in Charleston, WV. Pillar Energy owns and operates roughly 1800 wells in WV, VA and OH and has 30 employees. He received his B.S. in Economics and International Business from West Virginia Wesleyan College as well as his MBA. He previously served on the IOGA board for 2 terms from 2014-2017 and 2018-the merger of the two associations. He co-chaired the initial Producer Issues Committee as well as chaired the Communication and Education Committee. As chair of the Communication and Education Committee, he introduced IOGA’s inaugural WV Science Teacher Conference planned in the summer of 2018. He currently serves as the Vice President and Program Chair for GO-WV. Jeff resides in Ripley, WV with his wife, Jessica, and their children, Ava, Cohen and Cason. He attends Calvary United Methodist church in Ripley.
James C. Justice, II was born April 27, 1951, to James Conley Justice and Edna Ruth Justice. He attended Raleigh County public schools and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1969, attended Greenbrier Military Academy as a post graduate. Governor Justice went to Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and was captain of the golf team for two years before earning his undergraduate degree and a Masters in Business Administration.
The Governor joined his family’s business in 1976. Because of his strong interest in nature and the outdoors, he started Justice Family Farms in 1977 in beautiful Monroe County, West Virginia. Under his direction, Justice Farming Operations has grown to be a major agricultural enterprise. His companies farm more than 50,000 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Gov. Justice is the largest farmer east of the Mississippi River.
Upon the death of his father in 1993, and over the next 15 years, Jim launched a massive expansion of multiple businesses which included significant coal reserve expansion, Christmas tree farms, cotton gins, turfgrass operations, golf courses, timber enhancement and land projects just to mention a few. Before being elected governor, Jim was the president and CEO of 102 different companies.
Governor Justice spent his career creating thousands of jobs and understands how to put people to work.
In 2009, Justice rescued The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, from bankruptcy. He brought major events like the PGA Tour, training camps for the NFL and NBA, and countless high-profile acts and conferences to The Greenbrier. As governor, he wants to do everything possible to put West Virginia in a positive light.
Jim has carried on his family’s tradition of being major supporters of youth programs in Southern West Virginia. Since 1992 he has been President of Beckley Little League. He has coached basketball teams of all ages for the past 36 years and is currently the head girls and boys basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, WV. On November 29, 2016, Jim was honored when he coached his 1,000th career win in basketball.
In May 2015, Jim announced his campaign to seek the office of governor of West Virginia. After 19 months on the campaign trail sharing his vision for transforming West Virginia, Jim was elected the 36th governor of West Virginia. He won with a broad coalition of support from Democrats, Republicans and Independents.
Jim and his wife Cathy have been best friends since high school. They recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. The Governor and the First Lady have two adult children, James (Jay) C. Justice, III, and Dr. Jill Justice.
U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was sworn into the United States Senate on November 15, 2010 to fill the seat left vacant by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. For Senator Manchin, serving as West Virginia’s Senator is truly an honor and a privilege.
Born and raised in the small coal mining town of Farmington, W.Va., Sen. Manchin grew up learning the values that all West Virginians share — family, common sense, fairness and hard work. As a small businessman, he learned firsthand from his grandfather, Papa Joe, who was an Italian immigrant and the town grocer, the importance of serving the public. As a young man, his beloved grandmother, Mama Kay, inspired Senator Manchin’s belief in public service through her unflagging compassion and desire to help those less fortunate.
From his days as a state legislator to his six years as Governor to his current role, Senator Manchin has always been committed to his philosophy of “retail government” — in other words, connecting with all of his constituents and making service to them his top priority.
As a Senator, Joe Manchin is committed to bringing this same spirit of bipartisanship to Washington. As he has done throughout his entire life, he remains committed to working with Republicans and Democrats to find commonsense solutions to the problems our country faces and is working hard to usher in a new bipartisan spirit in the Senate and Congress.
Legislatively, job creation is Senator Manchin’s top priority and he believes that government should act as a partner, not an adversary, in helping to create the environment that produces good American jobs. Senator Manchin also firmly believes that our nation can and must do what he did in West Virginia – put our fiscal house in order. He believes we must find commonsense ways to cut spending while keeping our promises to our seniors and veterans by protecting Social Security and Medicare.
Senator Manchin is strongly committed to developing a balanced national energy plan that utilizes all of our resources and recognizes that fossil fuels will be a vital part of our energy mix for decades to come. He believes that a balanced, commonsense approach that considers the needs of our environment and the demands of our economy, can and must be developed if we are to achieve energy independence within this generation.
Senator Manchin currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and also serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs – four critical committees that tackle the important work of addressing our nation’s energy needs, overseeing discretionary spending, standing up for our Veterans, and defending our nation.
Senator Manchin is an avid pilot, outdoorsman, hunter, angler and motorcyclist. He has been married for more than four decades to the former Gayle Conelly of Beckley. They have three children: Heather, Joseph IV and Brooke, and are the proud grandparents of 10.
John “JB” McCuskey is West Virginia’s 21st State Auditor. He is currently in his second term, first elected in 2016. Previously, he served two terms in the House of Delegates and practiced law in Charleston. As Auditor, McCuskey has made it his mission to ensure an efficient, effective, and transparent government. On his watch, McCuskey has turned West Virginia into the most transparent state in the country by allowing citizens to access real-time data about how their tax dollars are spent through WVCheckbook.gov. He also established the Public Integrity and Fraud Unit which has opened more than 200 investigations into local governments, uncovering fraud totaling more than $2.5 million. A tool to fight fraud and abuse is the use of the state Purchasing Card. Over the past five years, McCuskey has pushed for more agencies, boards and commissions, and institutions of higher education to use the P-Card, which offers an efficient method for streamlining the payment process. The P-Card program nets the state tens of millions each year in cost avoidance savings. Since Auditor McCuskey took office, the state and local governments have earned more than $41 million in rebates from the use of the P-Card. McCuskey is also leading the nation in using augmented intelligence and machine learning to streamline government processes and mitigate fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. The Auditor’s Office has established a platform, the first of its kind, to be used to track government spending and highlight fraud and important trends. Additionally, the Auditor is the Land Commissioner for the state of West Virginia. McCuskey pushed to rewrite decades old tax laws, to streamline the property tax process for taxpayers and collectors across the state. This will help speed up the process to prevent houses from becoming dilapidated during what was a very lengthy process. The legislation also created, for the first time, a payment plan for homeowners who fall on hard times. McCuskey is a native of Harrison County, West Virginia. His parents, John and Anne McCuskey, cultivated his deep love of the Mountain State and instilled in him the values of public service. He is a graduate of The George Washington University with a degree in Political Communication. He is also a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law. Before attending law school, McCuskey worked as a civilian for the Department of Defense at the Pentagon in the offices of the Army and Department of Defense General Counsels. McCuskey lives in Charleston with his wife, Wendy, and daughters, Charlotte Anne and Martha Elizabeth, and their dog Pearl, where they own a small business.
Congresswoman Carol Miller represents West Virginia’s First Congressional District and serves on the Committee on Ways and Means. Miller’s focus in Congress is creating jobs, diversifying the economy, innovating and improving infrastructure, protecting America’s borders and supporting West Virginia’s energy industries like coal, oil and gas. Prior to her election to Congress in 2018, Miller served in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 2006 to 2018 where she rose to become the first female Majority Whip. A mother of two and grandmother of seven, Miller is married to her husband Matt, and lives in Huntington, where she owns and operates Swann Ridge Bison Farm and manages real estate. Miller was born in Columbus, Ohio and is the daughter of Congressman Samuel L. Devine and Betty Devine.
Patrick Morrisey was elected as the Attorney General for the State of West Virginia on November 6, 2012, reelected to a second term Nov. 8, 2016, and reelected to a third term Nov. 3, 2020. He was initially sworn into office on January 14, 2013. Patrick Morrisey is the first Republican to serve as Attorney General in West Virginia since 1933, and as a resident of Harpers Ferry, Morrisey is also the first Attorney General from Jefferson County in our state’s history. Since becoming Attorney General, Morrisey has made fighting fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption a top priority of the Office. Shortly after taking office, he instituted a new policy for hiring outside counsel that has dramatically increased transparency and saved the state more than $37 million. He has also returned more than $57 million in monies to the state and has brought in many millions more to state agency clients and consumers. In late 2015, Attorney General Morrisey established a partnership with the Social Security Administration to fight disability fraud. That program saved $24.6 million since its inception in West Virginia. Morrisey has been one of the most active Attorneys General in the country fighting federal overreach by filing lawsuits and submitting amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts on a number of issues, ranging from protecting the Second Amendment to defending state jobs and our valuable energy resources. Morrisey led a 19-state coalition to victory in the U.S. Supreme Court after a multi-year challenge to the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, one of the most illegal and unprecedented regulations in our country’s history. The Office’s 2022 win in West Virginia v. EPA is among the most significant administrative and environmental law decisions of recent decades. Most recently, he led a 13-state effort challenging a provision in law preventing states from lowering taxes. He has been out in front defending the Second Amendment and human life. During his tenure in office, Morrisey also has transformed the Office to aggressively fight the state’s substance abuse epidemic. That includes development of best practices for prescribers and dispensers, a first-of-its-kind initiative in West Virginia endorsed by a broad array of state and national stakeholders. Morrisey has fought the opioid epidemic on multiple fronts, including realizing more than $712 million in settlements with opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and marketers, while preserving the ability of counties and cities to realize over $400 million more. He filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that achieved sweeping reforms to the nation’s drug quota system – in part due to his lawsuit, illicit prescribing has declined significantly. In October 2020, Morrisey scored a historic victory in securing a $101.35 million settlement to recoup state road funding and restore competition in the state-approved asphalt and paving market. It marked the largest, single-state antitrust settlement in West Virginia’s history. Morrisey secured a $160 million Internet settlement in December 2015, which marked the largest, independently negotiated consumer protection settlement in West Virginia’s history. He also strengthened the Office’s Consumer Protection Division, enabling it to vigorously enforce the state’s laws and proactively educate citizens about scams and ways to protect their identities. In practice since 1992, Morrisey worked on many high profile health care matters in private practice prior to serving as Attorney General, and possesses a broad array of experience on regulatory issues, Medicare, Medicaid, policy, fraud and abuse investigations, legislative matters, strategic counseling, and legal and policy challenges to federal statutes and regulations. Between 1999 and 2004, Morrisey served as the Deputy Staff Director and Chief Health Care Counsel to the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, helping draft and negotiate major legislation, including the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 and the Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness Act of 2002. Morrisey served as the principal liaison for the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on health care issues to the White House, the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Morrisey graduated with honors from Rutgers College in 1989 earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in history and political science. He received a juris doctor from Rutgers Law School-Newark in 1992. Prior to law school, he also served as a tennis umpire, working his way up to officiating at the U.S. Open in 1988 and 1989. A product of a working-class family, Morrisey is married and has a stepdaughter. His father was a World War II veteran and his mother was a registered nurse with the Veterans Administration.
Morgan K. O’Brien is Hope Gas’s and Hearthstone’s Chief Executive Officer. He is a native Pittsburgher who was raised by a blue-collar Irish-Catholic family to value all people and all forms of work. His work ethic and value of other people helped him rise to become CEO at Duquesne Light Company the electric provider for Western Pennsylvania. He later moved over to become the CEO at Peoples Gas serving Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.
Toby Z. Rice is President and Chief Executive Officer of EQT, the largest natural gas producer in the United States. As an influencer and champion for the energy industry, Rice has been a strong proponent of unleashing American energy to provide energy security and independence here in the United States and to our allies around the world, while also achieving our ambitious climate goals. He was named President and Chief Executive Officer of EQT in July 2019, after leading a successful proxy campaign to take over control of the company. At that time, he was also elected to EQT’s Board of Directors. Under his leadership, EQT has reduced GHG emissions by 35% and achieved one of the lowest methane intensities of any natural gas producer in the world. In addition, the Company has set the most aggressive net zero goal in the industry, pledging to achieve net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its Production segment operations by or before 2025. Rice has also led EQT to achieve 50% female representation on its Board of Directors. Since May 2018, Rice has also served as a Partner at Rice Investment Group, a multi-strategy fund investing in all verticals of the oil and gas sector, including the largest renewable natural gas company. Prior to being appointed EQT CEO, he served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Rice Energy. Previously, he served in a number of positions with Rice Energy, its affiliates and predecessor entities.
Steve Williams was elected mayor of Huntington, West Virginia, in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020 to become the first three-term mayor in the city’s 150-year history. Since taking office, he has utilized his diverse background in economic development, finance, state government and local governments to shepherd a renaissance in Huntington that has not been seen in decades. Under Williams’ leadership, Huntington was named the $3 million grand prize winner of the America’s Best Communities competition in April 2017 for a comprehensive plan to transform Huntington into the economic gateway of the Appalachian region. This nationwide contest sponsored by Frontier Communications aimed to spur economic development in small communities. More than 350 communities entered. Working with community leaders, Williams’ administration has been able to leverage more than $55 million in additional grants, philanthropic contributions and corporate investment for the neighborhoods of Highlawn, Fairfield and West Huntington since the competition began in 2015. The Highlawn redevelopment project includes the reuse of underutilized, former manufacturing sites located just east of Marshall University. Williams’ vision for these sites includes recreational and riverfront facilities; a baseball stadium; retail and hotel development; research facilities; and green infrastructure for storm water management. Williams’ administration also has worked closely with neighborhood leaders to revitalize the West End of Huntington and the Coalfield Development Corp., which has developed a network of social enterprises throughout the region in building a new economy in the wake of the decline in the coal industry. Coalfield has created more than 40 on-the-job training positions, more than 200 professional certification opportunities, redeveloped more than 150,000 square feet of dilapidated property and successfully launched five new businesses in real estate development, construction, wood working, agriculture and artisan trades. The Fairfield neighborhood is also undergoing a transformation with the development of a former public housing complex, Marshall University’s School of Pharmacy, revitalization of the A.D. Lewis Community Center and the formation of a citizen-based community development corporation known as the Fairfield Alliance. Huntington has also gained recognition as the “city of solutions” for innovative programs to address the opioid epidemic. In 2014, Williams established the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy. The Office formed several partnerships in developing a harm reduction program and focused on reducing drug trafficking and related crime while promoting prevention and treatment options. In 2016, Williams was named to a joint task force of the National League of Cities and National Association of Counties to address the opioid epidemic. In 2019, he was appointed as co-chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Substance Abuse, Prevention and Recovery Services Task Force. Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with Cum Laude honors from Marshall University in 1978 and a master’s degree in public administration from West Virginia University in 1980. He began serving as the city’s director of economic development in 1984 and, later that same year, he was named the youngest city manager in Huntington’s history. He served as city manager until Huntington switched to a strong mayor form of government in 1985. Williams also represented Cabell and Wayne counties in the West Virginia House of Delegates from 1987 to 1994 where he spent much of his time working to reform the higher education and medical education systems in West Virginia. Professionally, Williams established a career in finance with 26 years in investment banking and investment brokerage. He has served as an investment banker, stock broker, sales manager and senior level executive, overseeing many of the largest markets for the largest banking institutions in the nation. Williams returned to politics in 2008 when he was elected as an at-large Huntington city councilman. He fulfilled his four-year term and served as the governing body’s Finance Committee chairman before he was elected mayor. He was named as the 2015-2016 Mayor of the Year by the West Virginia Municipal League. In December 2018, he was elected to a two-year term on the National League of Cities’ Board of Directors. He was re-elected in 2020. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Williams is married to Mary Poindexter Williams. He has two stepdaughters, Nikki Reed and Laura Urban; three beloved family dogs, Darby, Foster, and Bailey; and a cat, K.C.
