Portland State Magazine Fall 2008

ALUMNI NOTES Green energy entrepreneur Stephen Johnson hopes to produce fuel that is carbon neutra I. STEPHEN F. JOHNSON '02 calls himself an "eco-entrepreneur" with an emphasis on the last four syl– lables. Finances are his specialty, but a commitment to sustainable energy has him working coward the develop– ment of synthetic fuel. There's only so much oil out there, he reasons. "We've run out of global capacity." Johnson is founder and president of American Clean Coal Fuels, a Portland company that expects to develop synthetic fuels for the trans– portation industry. The company's flagship project is the building of a large-scale production facility in Oakland, Illinois, to convert coal to ultra-dean jet and diesel fuel. The company is using a proven process, he says, that in addition to coal, processes biomass materials such as garbage and switchgrass. Johnson's intention is to be "the first producer in the United States, if not the world," to make fuel that is carbon neutral, which means the carbon dioxide emitted by use of the fuel '02 school for homeless children in Seattle. Beegle is CEO of Pov– ertyBridge, whose mission is to imptove opportunities for peo– ple living with trauma inflicted by poverty. She lives in Tigard. Julie Bingham MBA '00 works for Mercer Human Resource Consulting in Indianapolis. She and her husband, Bryan, recent– ly welcomed a new daughter. Joyce DeMonnin MPH '00 is coordinator for the Elder Safe Ptogram in Washington County. DeMonnin founded the program in 2000 in an effort to prevent or mitigate the impact of elder crime and abuse. Kelly Flinn MPH '00 is a pub– lic health educator for the Ore– gon Department of Human Ser– vices Immunization Program. Flinn works for the Vaccines for Children Program, which pro– vides free vaccines for children. Gretchen Kafoury MPA '00 was honored by Walla Walla High School in Washington as a Graduate of Distinc– tion. Kafoury graduated from the school in 1959. She is also a charter member of the PSU Alumni Association. Lisa Laufenberg MPH '00 is an AFIX (assessment, feedback, incentives, exchange) coordina– tor for the Oregon Immuni- 26 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2008 is totally offset-maybe more than offset- by the CO2 removed from the air during the fuel's production process. "I use every, single thing I learned in college every day in trying to put this project together," says Johnson, who majored in finance at PSU. He also credits being home-schooled since third grade, and becoming an Eagle Scout, with instilling in him confidence and independence. He began taking colleges courses at Portland Community College when he was 14, and had an early interest in comput– ers. "But I fell in love with the stock market, and switched to business finance and went over to Portland State," he says. "When I was 18, I began managing my own money; I found I had a talent for it," says Johnson. After graduating at 20, he had learned enough to start his own hedge fund, Sconebridge Asset Management, where he was able to earn his investors a 300 percent return in three and a half years. "We had investments all over the place, but more and more were focused on energy." He realized that what the economy needs is clean transportation fuels, and that he was capable of starting an investor-owned company that could help deliver them. Fortunately, another of his traits is patience: The required permitting and construction process means the Illinois pro– duction facility won't produce its first drop of fuel until late 2012. ■ BY CLIFF COLLINS zation Program. Laufenberg serves on a national workgroup ofAFIX staffers from other agencies around the country. Beth Morrell MPH '00 is a tobacco education and preven– tion coordinator and a public health educator for Yamhill County Public Health Depart– ment. She lives in Portland. Laura Pacewic MPH '00 is director of the teen par- ent program for Camp Fire USA, Mc. Hood Council in Clackamas County. Suzanne Smither MSW '00 is a supervisor with the Child and Family Clinic at Deschutes County Meneal Health in Bend. Smither recencly attended the PSU alumni reception in Bend. Anna Vail MPH '00 is a student in the Oregon Health & Science University psy– chiatric mental health nurse practitioner program. Kerry Aleshire '01 is police chief for the city of Forest Grove. Laura Clementson MPH '01 is a health education instructor working out of her Tacoma, Washington, home. Clementson works with individuals and groups on weight loss management.