Our 2025 Winter Meeting Speakers

Shelley Moore Capito was elected by the people of West Virginia to the United States Senate in 2014, and re-elected in 2020. Shelley became the first female Senator in West Virginia’s history and in 2020, was reelected with the largest margin of victory for a Republican in state history—winning more than 70% of the vote and all 55 counties, surpassing the previous mark she set in 2014 when she won more than 62% 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 the U.S. 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 to hear from and meet with West Virginians. For the 119th Congress, Senator Capito serves on the Appropriations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee as chairman; 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. Senator Capito also serves as the Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy (RPC) Committee, the fourth highest position in Senate Republican leadership. 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. She has been a member of the Appropriations Committee since she became a Senator in 2015. Senator Capito currently serves as the Chairman of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, where she oversees funding across a large range of programs within the U.S. Departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services (HHS), and other independent agencies. To date, Senator Capito has chaired four Appropriations Subcommittees during her time in the Senate. In addition to her current Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee chairman role, Senator Capito has chaired the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee, and the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. On the EPW Committee, the senator serves as Chairman. In this role, Chairman Capito will continue to advocate 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, Chairman 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. On the Commerce Committee, Senator Capito 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. This committee assignment allows Senator Capito to continue advocating for improved connectivity in West Virginia. 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: two sons, Charles (wife Laura) and Moore (wife Liberty), and one daughter, Shelley (husband Colin Macleod). They have also been blessed with eight grandchildren: Celia, Charlie, Eliza, Rose, Arch, Macaulay, Lewis, and Thomas.

Ryan Choquette is the Director of Engineering for Tenaska Development and serves as the technical lead for carbon sequestration and pipeline development. His work covers 10 different sites with an estimated storage capacity of over 750 million metric tons. He also provides engineering support for evaluating and developing solar sites, wind farms, combined-cycle natural gas power plants, substations, natural gas storage and midstream projects for Tenaska. Before assuming his current role in 2023, Choquette served as Project Manager leading a land leasing effort for solar, construction of the Clear Creek wind farm and worked on the Westmoreland combine-cycle power plant. He also led the effort to interconnect the Covert power plant to the PJM interconnect as well as 150 miles of high-pressure natural gas pipelines. Prior to joining Tenaska in 2008, Choquette was employed by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, where he assisted in performing vacuum tests on the integrated electrical assembly for the International Space Station. He also worked for Northern Natural Gas, where he served as Project Engineer/Lead Engineer and Project Manager. He worked on a wide range of projects including pipelines, compression, storage, measurement stations, offshore, gas storage, water disposal and emergency response. He represents Tenaska at the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium and is an American Society of Mechanical Engineers member. Choquette has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Craig Colombo has over 38 years in the Oil and Gas Industry and is Vice President of Gas Supply for Hope Gas.  Colombo  worked with Dominion Energy West Virginia (DEWV) for 34 of those years, where he has established and developed countless relationships with producers and individuals in the oil and gas industry and the business community. During his years with DEWV, Craig was responsible for the procurement and contracting of natural gas supplies and the  contracting of pipeline and storage capacity with multiple upstream interstate pipelines.  Owing to a knowledge of the industry, gained over his career, Colombo has been called on to participate in State Regulatory proceedings as an expert witness and to testify before the WV House Energy Committee in support of producers of West Virginia. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) for over 14 years. NAESB serves as an industry forum for the development and promotion of standards which lead to a seamless marketplace for wholesale and retail natural gas, the business community, participants, and regulatory entities.

Executive Director of the West Virginia Development Office, Michael Graney earned his MBA from the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business in 1990. Since then, he has spent much of his professional career in executive or co-founder positions with companies related to the petroleum industry. From 2015 to 2017, Graney served as director of a leading wholesale distributor of motor fuels and owner of real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels. From 1991 to 2015, he was president of One Stop, a chain of convenience stores based in West Virginia. He has been a member of numerous oil industry professional organizations and a committee member on the Governor’s Natural Gas Vehicle Task Force. Graney has also been active in community and civic service groups, including the YMCA of the Kanawha Valley, Boy Scouts of America Buckskin Council and Charleston Area Medical Center Foundation. He is the current chairman of the board for the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences.

Rick Hill is a senior safety and loss control consultant, primarily servicing West Virginia and parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio. He is responsible for partnering with underwriters, agents and clients to evaluate risk, reduce losses and improve operations in an effort to increase productivity and profitability.  Hill has over 30 years of experience in the insurance and safety industries. He previously worked as a safety manager for multiple companies, including United Technologies Corporation, Pratt & Whitney and Weyerhaeuser. Hill also has experience in heavy manufacturing, machine shop environments, industrial plating operations, chemical cleaning, aerospace/aviation maintenance and engineered wood products industries. He specializes in workers’ compensation case management, OSHA record keeping, environmental health and safety (EHS) management systems implementation and maintenance, culture enrichment and EHS compliance auditing.  Hill received a Bachelor of Science in safety engineering technology from Fairmont State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Findlay. He holds professional designations of Certified Safety Professional (CSP}, Certified Professional Environmental Auditor {CPEA) and Registered Environmental Manager (REM). He is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Professionals {ASSP) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association {AIHA). He is an OSHA 70- and 30-hour general industry and construction instructor and serves as an Encova Insurance defensive driving course instructor. Additionally, he is an AWARE Oil and Gas Safety and Health Hazard Awareness training instructor.

Greg Hoyer is the Vice President of Government Affairs for Hope Utilities. Hoyer is a respected external affairs professional with twenty years of energy industry experience across multiple states and at the federal level. He most recently served as Vice President of Government Affairs for Diversified Energy. Prior to joining Diversified, Greg served as Senior Government Affairs Manager for EQT Corporation, helped develop and manage the government affairs practice for Charleston, WV-based LGCR Government Solutions, and held various positions in government and politics. He is an avid cyclist and skier. He lives in Charleston, WV with his wife and daughter and is active in the local community.

Mike John founded NNE in 2009 and continues to serve as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. John previously served as Vice President of Operations of the Eastern Division for Chesapeake Energy from 2005-2009. Prior to joining Chesapeake Energy, Mr. John held various senior executive roles at Triana Energy/Columbia Natural Resources, where he also served on the company’s Board of Directors until Columbia Natural Resources was sold to Chesapeake in 2005. During this time with Chesapeake, Mr. John was instrumental in the drilling, completion, and operation of Chesapeake’s initial 100 horizontal Marcellus wells in Appalachia. Mr. John is a West Virginia native and a 1981 graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in petroleum engineering. He serves on the Board of Directors for the WVU Alumni Association and resides in Charleston, WV with his family.

Joe Leonoro focuses his practice in labor and employment law and has significant experience preparing cases for trial. Leonoro has represented companies in defense of claims involving state and federal employment laws. He works aggressively to tailor a strategy for each client’s litigation needs, and also counsels employers, prior to litigation, in order to resolve labor and employment disputes they encounter.  He has defended employers in wage-and-hour class actions and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, Prevailing Wage Act, and other wage-and-hour statutes in Texas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee; represented employers in state and federal court in claims for discrimination and retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the State Workers Act; Compensation Act, the State Human Rights Act, the State Patient Safety Act, and Harless claims for retaliation; sought injunctive relief and damages for violation of non-compete and non-solicitation agreements; represented national companies, local businesses, non-profits, and government agencies in claims for breach of contract, deliberate intent, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, false arrest, and invasion of privacy; and drafted employee policies and procedures, employment agreements, and independent contractor agreements.  Licensed in West Virginia, Leonoro earned his B.A. from Transylvania University and his J.D. from  West Virginia University College of Law.

West Virginia Attorney General John “JB” McCuskey is the former two-term State Auditor. 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.  McCuskey led 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  established a platform, the first of its kind, to be used to track government spending and highlight fraud and important trends.  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.

Shelby Merinar enjoys that labor and employment law keeps her on her toes. With a detailed, thorough and inquisitive approach to her work, she is able to challenge assumptions and also keep her clients on their toes, alerting them to changing labor and employment laws and helping them deal with their unique employment situations. Shelby has advised clients and defended them in matters involving sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, disability, and age discrimination, as well as day-to-day human resources management. She earned her undergraduate degree from West Virginia University and her J.D. from WVU College of Law. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch- Labor and Employment Law – Management (2024-Present).

Curtis Wilkerson founded Orion Strategies in 2006 with a vision of creating a full-service firm which would enable consistent quality and dependable results. Wilkerson has guided the company through layered expansions with experienced teams in multiple states. Understanding that clients look beyond borders for both policy and economic development, he developed a fully integrated structure within the firm to maximize talent.  Wilkerson has advised numerous organizations and companies as well as state, regional and national trade associations. These efforts include policy influence, permitting, tax abatement, environmental and crisis communication.  Prior to founding Orion Strategies, Wilkerson served as political director for a public relations firm and had consulted for campaigns in Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia. He has received numerous awards including being named a Young Gun.  Wilkerson has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History.