ZeaChem Names Peter Cheesbrough as Chief Financial Officer

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – May 1, 2012 – ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable feedstocks into sustainable fuels and chemicals, today named Peter H. Cheesbrough as the company’s chief financial officer. Cheesbrough brings to ZeaChem more than three decades of experience leading private and publically traded companies in the biotechnology, IT and mining industries through commercialization, international transactions, venture capital fundraising and IPO execution.
“Time and again, Peter has shown the ability to lead companies through periods of robust financial growth,” said Jim Imbler, ZeaChem president and CEO. “With his addition to the team, we are better positioned for long-term growth as we move from demonstration scale to commercial biorefining.”
“ZeaChem is an innovative biorefiner with a high total addressable market and executive management team with extensive experience in the energy and chemicals industries,” said Cheesbrough. “I’m excited to build on the strong financial and technical foundation already established to create sustained commercial success.”
Before joining the ZeaChem executive management team, Cheesbrough served as CFO of Ciber, Inc. (NYSE: CBR), helping grow the Denver-based international IT consulting services company to over $1 billion in annual revenue. At Ciber he was responsible for accounting, SEC reporting, treasury, investor relations, IT, legal and human resources.
While CFO of Caridian Biotechnologies, Inc., Cheesbrough implemented a cost reduction strategy to accelerate the time to market by approximately one year. He was also CFO for the health care e-commerce company, Quovadx, Inc. (NASDAQ: QVDX), and led the successful IPO, which raised more than $100 million.
As CFO, Mr. Cheesbrough led the international gold mining company, Echo Bay Mines Ltd. (AMEX: ECO), through years of growth including increasing annual revenues from $80 million to $370 million and completing international capital market financings for acquisitions totaling more than $500 million.
Andy Vietor, ZeaChem’s former CFO, will remain with the company as VP Finance, in a role that focuses on finalizing project financing for its first commercial biorefinery for the production of advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals, which is expected to have a 25 million gallons-per-year capacity and come online by the end of 2014. Mr. Vietor will also work closely with and support Mr. Cheesbrough in other financial matters.
“Andy has been integral to ZeaChem’s growth and innovative financing of our demonstration plant in Boardman, Oregon and we can’t thank him enough for his leadership,” said Imbler. “His expertise got us to where we are today and I’m pleased he’ll now focus on the successful financing of our commercial plants.”
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About ZeaChem Inc.
 
ZeaChem Inc. has developed a cellulose-based biorefinery platform capable of producing advanced fuels and intermediate chemicals. ZeaChem's indirect approach leapfrogs the yield and carbon dioxide (CO2) problems associated with traditional and cellulosic based biorefinery processes. In addition, ZeaChem has a significant capital cost advantage compared to other cellulosic technologies. By efficiently extracting the most energy possible from biomass feedstocks, ZeaChem significantly increases output while reducing both production costs and environmental impacts. Incorporated in 2002, ZeaChem is headquartered in Lakewood, Colo., operates a research and development laboratory facility in Menlo Park, Calif., and a demonstration biorefinery in Boardman, Ore.
 
Please visit www.zeachem.com for more information.