Board of Directors

Mr. Borgen is a co-founder of USDG and its predecessor companies and has served as Chairman, CEO and President of USDG since its inception. Additionally, Mr. Borgen served as President of U.S. Right-of-Way Corporation, a private company, since 1993. Prior to USDG, Mr. Borgen worked for 11 years in investment banking in mergers and acquisitions, portfolio management and strategic planning. He began his career with a private investment firm focused on the oil and gas industry. Mr. Borgen has served on the board of directors of several corporations and currently serves on the board of Vertex Energy Inc., an environmental services company that recycles industrial waste streams and off-specification commercial chemical products. Active in several community organizations, he is chair of the USD Foundation and a trustee of Boys and Girls Club of America. Mr. Borgen received a degree in petroleum management and finance from the University of Oklahoma. He was recognized by Goldman Sachs as one of 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2013 and was a finalist for Ernst and Young’s 2014 Gulf Coast Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr. Sanders joined USDG as Executive Vice President, Head of Market Strategy for USDG in May 2014 and became Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer in October 2014. Mr. Sanders’ main focus at USDG is working with the leadership team to identify, develop and execute strategic commercial and market opportunities. Prior to USDG, Mr. Sanders spent 32 years at Koch Industries where he was primarily responsible for building and managing several of Koch’s global trading businesses, including businesses in the crude oil, NGLs, distillates, gasoline and gasoline components, and plastics value chains. He is a 1979 graduate of University of Kansas with a degree in business. He is a current Trustee for KU Endowment and a current member for the KU Endowment Investment Committee.

Mr. Ruple joined USDG in June 2014 and became Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in January 2017. Mr. Ruple is responsible for all operations and project development activities in support of USDG’s commercial development vision, mission and tactical growth strategies. Previously, he served as Vice President, Project Development. Prior to joining USDG, Mr. Ruple held various executive management positions in the commercial and industrial construction industry, with engineering and environmental consultancies, as well as with the BNSF Railway. Throughout his professional career, he has acquired vast practical leadership experience and holds many management and technical certifications. Mr. Ruple received a BS in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Utah and is an active member of both professional and public community organizations.

Chris Meyer is the President & CEO of Cockrell Interests LLC. Cockrell Interests is a Houston-based, 5th generation family-owned investment firm with 70 years of investment experience and a focus on long-term value creation. Cockrell’s asset classes include private equity, agriculture, real estate, venture capital, public equities, and credit.
Previously, Chris was a Senior Managing Director at Lone Star Funds, a global deep value private equity firm based in Dallas that has raised over $80 billion in investable equity. Chris led the fund’s investment and asset management activities for the North American corporate private equity and credit platforms. Prior to his role at Lone Star, Chris was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co. where he served clients across a variety of industries and functions around the globe and led the Dallas office.
Chris was raised in Dallas, Texas, and received a full academic scholarship to North Carolina State University where he graduated magna cum laude with a BS in Industrial Engineering. He then went on to receive his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is married and has five children.

Ernie D. Cockrell is Executive Managing Director of Pinto Realty Partners. Prior to joining Pinto Realty Mr. Cockrell was a founder and Principal with Texas Equity Partners, where he was responsible for the identification and acquisition of office buildings and urban land in the greater Houston area. Prior to joining Texas Equity Partners, Mr. Cockrell spent two years with Transwestern Commercial Services where he was responsible for financial analysis of Tranwestern’s and third party dispositions. He was involved on over $250 million of dispositions. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Houston Baptist University. Mr. Cockrell currently sits on the boards of the Houston Community Foundation, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Amegy Bank, Cockrell Interest Inc., Cockrell Foundation, and the Cockrell Family Fund.

John Wallace currently serves as Managing Director of Pinto Realty Partners. Prior to joining Pinto Realty Partners, Mr. Wallace served as founder and CEO of Latin American Realty Holdings, a full service retail mall and shopping center development and Management Company in Mexico. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Wallace served as Chief Development Officer for Waldo’s Merchandising Services and was responsible for the company’s 346 store expansion plan throughout Mexico. In 1997, Mr. Wallace and other investors acquired Best Foreign American Automotive Corporation and he served as General Manager until the company merged with LKQ Corporation in 2001. In 1990, Mr. Wallace negotiated the exclusive Area Development Rights for Blockbuster Video for the country of Mexico. He served as Managing Director of Grupo Mexicano de Video S.A. de C.V and grew the franchise to 108 stores before selling his interest in 1994. Prior to this, Mr. Wallace served as President of Houston Video Enterprises, which owned the franchise rights for Blockbuster Video in Houston, Texas. Mr. Wallace is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.

Robert K. Hatcher serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cockrell Interests, LLC, Texas Production Company and Pinto Investment Partners. Mr. Hatcher also serves as Chairman of the Finance Advisory Committee for each of the Pinto Companies and on the Board of Directors of certain Pinto Group portfolio companies. Prior to joining Cockrell Interests in 2001, Mr. Hatcher founded and served as Managing Director of Citywest Ventures, a Houston-based private equity and financial advisory firm. During 1999 and 2000, Mr. Hatcher served as Managing Director of Corporate Strategy and Development of Metamor Worldwide, Inc., a multi-national information technology professional services firm. Mr. Hatcher also served on the Executive Committee of Metamor and as President of its venture capital group. Prior to joining Metamor, Mr. Hatcher was a corporate finance and securities partner in Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. He received a B.B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a M.B.A. and J.D. from Tulane University. Mr. Hatcher serves on the Board of Directors of University of Texas Marine Science Institute, the CIBER Institute at the University of Texas and on other civic and academic boards; and is an Adjunct Professor at Rice University.

John Sommers is Principal of Cockrell Interests LLC. Previously, Mr. Sommers led corporate strategy and finance for Sentinel Peak Resources, a portfolio company of Quantum Energy Partners.  Prior to his role at Sentinel Peak, he evaluated and managed investments across the energy space at Quantum Energy Partners. Mr. Sommers began his career in investment banking at Nomura Securities and RBC Capital Markets.  
 
Mr. Sommers graduated from Baylor University with degrees in Business, Finance and Economics.  He is married with two children.