MOLPUS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Vice President - Timberland Investments
• Vice President - Timberland Investments / Vice President - Timberland Investments

Ashley has an extensive background in timberland transactions. Prior to joining Molpus, he was a partner with the law firm of Adams and Reese LLP. His practice focused primarily on forestry, real estate and financing transactions. During Ashley's 15 years of practice, he represented timberland management companies in acquisitions and sales of more than 8 million acres of timberland along with timberland related issues such as complex structuring on acquisitions and dispositions, financing of acquisitions, fiber supply agreements, natural resource opportunities (solar, wind, mineral and carbon), environmental issues and conservation easements. Ashley is a graduate of Mississippi State University (B.A. Banking and Finance, 2000) and the University of Mississippi School of Law (J.D., 2003).

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors of PriorityOne Bank
• Special Advisor to the President
• Special Advisor to the President / Special Advisor

Bob currently serves as Special Advisor to the President, where he assists and advises Molpus's President on acquisitions, business development, investment design, strategic planning, and any such other matters as may arise. Bob is also the managing broker of record for Molpus. Bob previously served as Molpus Woodlands Group's (Molpus) second President. He was also a member of Molpus's Investment Committee as well as serving on the Executive Committee for the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). In 1989, Bob joined Dick Molpus on the staff at the Mississippi Secretary of State's office, where his duties included assisting approximately 90 school districts with management of more than 600,000 acres of public trust school lands. He served as Assistant Secretary of State until 1993. He then joined the Molpus gubernatorial campaign as its finance director until December of 1995. Bob then served as executive assistant and legal counsel for Mississippi's Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce until he joined The Molpus Company in July 1996. Bob is a longtime member of the board of directors of PriorityOne Bank, where he serves on the Executive and Compensation Committees. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Mississippi Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, serving as its Vice Chairman, is a former member of the Board of Directors of the NAFO, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Millsaps College. Additionally, he is a board member of "We Care" Food and Clothing ministry serving as its chairman in Scott County. He is also a member of the Mississippi Bar Association and a past member of the American Bar Association. Bob is a graduate of Millsaps College (BBA 1979) and Mississippi College School of Law (JD 1988). Prior to attending law school, Bob worked as an independent insurance agent and a real estate broker, and he currently holds real estate broker licenses in thirteen states.

Job Titles:

• Deputy Chief Operating Officer
• Member of the Property Management Team

In 2002, Chad joined Molpus as a Lands and Harvesting Manager in southwest Louisiana and has worked in multiple capacities while with the company. Starting in 2012, he served as Property Manager in Idaho and Eastern Washington, until he accepted the position of Operations Director for the Northwest Region in 2016. In 2023, Chad relocated to Hattiesburg, MS where he was promoted to Deputy Chief Operating Officer. In his new role, Chad works directly with Ken Sewell, Molpus's Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, on the day-to-day management of Molpus's nationwide operations, including budgetary and operational management, operational analytics, and organizational planning and structuring. During his tenure with Molpus, Chad has also served as Harvesting Manager-Silsbee, Texas, Inventory Manager-Southeastern U.S., and Division Forester-Antlers, Oklahoma and Corrigan, Texas. Prior to Molpus, he was employed by F&W Forestry Services, where he gained considerable experience in forest inventory. Chad has served on the Idaho Pro-Logger Advisory Committee, the SFI Implementation Committee for Idaho (Chair) and Washington, and the Trucking and Labor Task Force Coalition. Chad is a 1998 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, where he received his Bachelor of Science in Forestry with a minor in biology.

Job Titles:

• Director of Acquisitions
• Director of Acquisitions / Director of Acquisitions

In 1999, Charlie joined Molpus Timberlands Management and served until early 2007 as Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for all forest management operations on up to 1.3 million acres during his tenure. Previously, Charlie gained almost 20 years of technical, operational and managerial experience with American Can Company and Kimberly-Clark Corporation (formerly Scott Paper Company). Charlie is a member of the forestry associations in Mississippi and Louisiana. He previously served on the board of directors and the Executive Committee of the Mississippi Forestry Association and served on the board of directors of the Forest Resources Association. Charlie graduated from Purdue University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management and received a Master of Science in Forest Biometrics from Purdue in 1980.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Property Management Team
• in 2012 As Property Manager
• Operations Director, North Region
• Operations Director, North Region / Operations Director, North Region

Craig joined Molpus in 2012 as Property Manager in Northern Minnesota where he was responsible for the management of 286,000 acres. He is responsible for managing client properties in Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Prior to his employment with Molpus, Craig gained 29 years of inventory, procurement, operational and managerial experiences through employment with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Boise Cascade and Forest Capital Partners. He serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota Forest Industry and the Minnesota Forest Resource Partnership. He also serves on the Forestry Advisory Committee for the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Craig graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management with a minor in Forest Soils.

Job Titles:

• Vice President - Conservation
• Vice President - Conservation / Vice President - Conservation

Dick Kempka joined Molpus in 2017 and has more than 25 years of executive experience in innovative sustainability, carbon, timberland, grasslands, wetlands, mitigation, acquisitions and sales. Dick has extensive experience leading product development and services to meet the evolving sustainability needs of investors. In addition, he provides strategic planning for conservation, carbon asset management, environment issues, and renewables. Dick serves on the ESG committee. He was formerly Chief Commercial Officer for The Climate Trust, a NGO that mobilizes conservation finance to maximize returns. He also worked as a VP of the Environment for Equator LLC, an asset management firm that managed a $50-million fund that specialized in the generation and management of high-quality carbon credits and environmental assets derived from reforestation projects, forest conservation, sustainable land management, wetlands mitigation banks, and other emission reduction project activities. Before joining Equator, Dick was the Ecological Asset Program lead for Ducks Unlimited (DU), the world's leading wetlands conservation organization. While at DU, he was responsible for the positioning and marketing of DU's carbon offset program and coordinated all carbon sequestration and environmental asset activities throughout the organization. He has more than 20 professional publications and is an accomplished speaker who has participated in numerous professional environmental, carbon, and other industry forums. Dick received his B.S. in Geography and Remote Sensing from Carroll College in Wisconsin and his Master's in Geography and Remote Sensing from Indiana State University.

Job Titles:

• Founder
• Retired Chairman

Dick Molpus is founder and retired chairman of The Molpus Woodlands Group (MWG), a timberland investment management organization headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. MWG buys and manages timberland investments across the United States. A Philadelphia, Mississippi, native and a 1971 business administration graduate of the University of Mississippi, Molpus served for a number of years as vice president of manufacturing for Molpus Lumber Company. In 1980, as Mississippi governor William F. Winter's first appointee, Molpus began service as executive director of the Governor's Office of Federal-State Programs, an agency then in disarray from the previous administration. For his success in bringing managerial efficiency and accountability to that troubled agency, Molpus was selected in 1983 as Mississippi's Public Administrator of the Year by the American Society of Public Administrators. Dick Molpus was among several young gubernatorial staff members known as the "Boys of Spring," who helped guide to passage Governor Winter's historic Education Reform Act of 1982. In 1983, in a race involving seven opponents, Molpus was elected secretary of state of Mississippi; he was re-elected by significant margins in 1987 and 1991. During his tenure, Molpus converted the secretary of state's office from an agency that was a tax drain of $200,000 into one garnering a profit of over $2 million per year. As secretary of state Molpus also served as lands commissioner of Mississippi and in that capacity supervised over 600,000 acres of 16th Section commercial, residential, and timber property that had been set aside in the early 1800s to be used in support of the state's public schools. By forcing renegotiation of some 5,000 below-market leases, he increased by more than $24 million annually the amount of revenue from those properties to the public schools. He also successfully led efforts in the Mississippi legislature for sweeping lobbyist law reform that required lobbyists to report all money spent on public officials. In addition, he proposed and led to passage substantial election law improvements, including a measure allowing citizens to register to vote by mail. In 1993 he was recognized by his peers through his election as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. As president of that organization, he founded Project Democracy, an effort chaired by former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter to increase voter participation in the United States. In August of 1995 he won the Democratic nomination for governor of Mississippi. In November, after a strongly contested race, he was defeated in the general election by the incumbent governor. On January 8, 1996, after completing his third term as secretary of state of Mississippi, Molpus began a timberland investment management organization. Today, The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC, manages for its investors over 1.7 million acres of timberland valued in excess of $2 billion in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. The Molpus companies employ 110 people, with sixteen offices located strategically across the U.S. Molpus Woodlands is a vertically integrated management company with in-house CPAs, attorneys, foresters, biometricians, and GIS specialists, along with silvicultural and harvesting experts. Dick Molpus is a lifelong advocate for this country's public schools. He founded Parents for Public Schools, which now has twelve chapters in nine states. He was co-chairman in 2006 of the highly successful Jackson public school bond campaign that raised $150 million for renovations and new schools in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2010, he was a co-founder of the public school advocacy group, The Parents Campaign, which successfully has passed public school reforms in Mississippi. For his work in public school advocacy, in 2004 he received the National Education Association's H. Councill Trenholm Memorial Award. Additionally, in 2005 he was inducted into the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame and was honored by the Mississippi Center for Justice as a Champion of Justice in 2008. He also has served as an officer of the Board of Directors of Manpower Developmental Corporation, located in Durham, North Carolina, which helps organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from economic opportunity. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Directors of the New York City-based Andrew Goodman Foundation, which focuses on voting rights and justice issues. Molpus created his own personal foundation, The Dick Molpus Foundation, which is focused on systemic transformative improvements in public schools in Mississippi and across the nation. In 2007 President George W. Bush appointed him founding chairman of the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities, a $200 million endowment funded by the U.S./Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement. The endowment, based in Greenville, South Carolina, is focused on improving forest health and assisting timber-reliant communities in the U.S. In 2013, he was inducted into the University of Mississippi Alumni Hall of Fame for accomplishments in the business and civic arenas. In 2017 Dick Molpus completed his term as chairman of the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), which represents some eighty million acres of timberland properties in forty-seven states. NAFO is the group that speaks for large timberland owners and is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the economic and environmental values of privately owned forests through policy advocacy at the national level. In 2023, he retired as chairman of MWG, but continues his advocacy on behalf of the public school children in this country.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Property Management Team
• Operations Director
• in 2016 As a Land Use Specialist
• Operations Director, Northwest Region

Ellen joined Molpus Woodlands Group in 2016 as a Land Use Specialist and Real Estate Salesperson. She later obtained her Idaho Broker license in 2020. She is now responsible for managing approximately 80,000 acres of client properties in Idaho and Washington. Prior to joining Molpus, she was employed by Hancock Natural Resource Group and Forest Capital Partners, LLC as a Land Use Forester, gaining experience in all aspects of contracts and land records. Prior to this, she held positions as a Silvicultural Manager and Timber Sales Forester during her six years with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Ellen graduated from the University of Idaho in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resource Management.

Job Titles:

• Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development
• Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development / Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development

George serves as Vice President of Client Relations and Business Development. He is also a member of the ESG Committee and the Valuation Committee. George has an extensive background in investment management. George is responsible for the management of client relations for both separate accounts and commingled fund investments. He also serves on the business development team at Molpus, overseeing fundraising activities and the development of Molpus's co-mingled funds. George previously served the company as Director - Client Relations and Business Development and Senior Analyst. Prior to joining Molpus, he was the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS). He was responsible for managing and evaluating investment programs in accordance with PERS's investment policies and state laws and regulations. He was also responsible for providing the Investment Committee and Board with recommendations regarding all investment matters. George is a Managerial Finance graduate from the University of Mississippi in 2002 and received his Master of Business Administration from Mississippi College in 2013.

Job Titles:

• President

Job Titles:

• Chief Operating Officer
• Executive Vice President
• Managing Director

Ken is responsible for overseeing sustainable forestry operations on all Molpus client properties throughout the United States. Ken also serves on the firm's Investment Committee. In 1999, Ken joined The Molpus Woodlands Group as Director of Acquisitions, responsible for the identification and evaluation of forest investment opportunities. During his tenure, he participated in acquiring over 900,000 acres of timberland for clients of the company. In 2003, Ken was promoted to Managing Director within the Molpus organization. As Managing Director, his responsibilities included the overall management of forestry operations on approximately 465,000 acres located in Southeast Texas. In 2006, he relocated to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and assumed the same responsibilities on approximately 230,000 acres located in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Oklahoma. In 2007, he accepted his current position as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to his employment with the Molpus companies, Ken gained 10 years of technical, operational and managerial experiences in the forest industry through his employment with Champion International Corporation in Cantonment, Florida, and Packaging Corporation of America (formally Tenneco Packaging), in Haleyville, Alabama. Ken received a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia in 1989.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Property Management Team
• Operations Director, South Central Region
• Operations Director, South Central Region / Operations Director, South Central Region

In 2000, Mark joined Molpus Woodlands Group and currently has management responsibilities for client properties in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. During his tenure with Molpus he has also been responsible for the management of client lands in Alabama, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.

Job Titles:

• Executive Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development
• Executive Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development Executive Vice President - Client Relations and Business Development

Michael is responsible for the client relations team as well as developing firm-wide strategic initiatives. He also provides leadership and strategic business advice to company executives, management, and across functional teams of the company. He serves on the firm's Investment Committee and ESG committee. Michael previously served the company as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer where he oversaw all aspects of the compliance and legal programs as well as overseeing the company risk management program and managing external relationships such as outside counsel and related vendors. Michael has worked with Molpus since 1999 and has been involved in many facets of the company's work with previous experience including overseeing fundraising activities and in the development of Molpus's co-mingled funds and international tax structures. Prior to joining Molpus, Michael was engaged in a diversified corporate law practice in Jackson, Mississippi. He was selected as one of Mississippi's Top 40 Under 40 for 2009 by the Mississippi Business Journal and is a member of the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Corporate Counsel Association (where he served as past president) and the Mississippi Bar (where he served as past chairman of the Clients' Security Funds Committee). Michael is a past member of the Mississippi Ethics Commission (appointed by the chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court) and the American Bar Association's Advisory Committee for the Paralegal Studies Program for the University of Southern Mississippi.

Job Titles:

• Chief Compliance Officer

Reanna is responsible for all aspects of Molpus's compliance program, including regulatory filings, review of marketing materials, compliance testing, and policies and procedures. Prior to joining Molpus, Reanna was Chief Compliance Officer and In-House Counsel of an SEC registered investment adviser and Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Financial Officer of a publicly traded investment company. Reanna graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and received a Juris Doctorate and LL.M. from the University of New Hampshire School of Law. She is a member of the Florida Bar.

Job Titles:

• Vice President - Sustainability
• Vice President - Sustainability / Vice President - Sustainability

Ruth is responsible for leading the company's policy advocacy on forestry issues and coordinating its sustainable forest management certification programs for Molpus-managed timberlands. Ruth serves on the ESG and Valuation committees. Prior to joining Molpus in 1999, she gained 17 years of operational and managerial experience with Kimberly-Clark Corporation (formerly Scott Paper Company). Ruth is a registered forester in Mississippi and Alabama, and is active in the Mississippi Forestry Association, where she is a past president, former chair, and a member of the board since 1999, and is currently serving as a trustee and chairman for the Mississippi Forestry Foundation. She was honored by Mississippi State University as the College of Forest Resources Fellow in 2015 and Alumna of the Year in 2005. In 2007, Ruth was selected as one of Mississippi's 50 Leading Business Women. She is president of the Crosby Arboretum Foundation and is a member and former chairman of the operating committee for the National Alliance of Forest Owners. Ruth received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry at Mississippi State University in 1982.

Job Titles:

• President

Terrell became Molpus Woodlands Group's (Molpus) third President on August 1, 2022, and additionally serves as Chief Executive Officer. Terrell has experience in all executive functions at Molpus, including acquisitions, business development, investment design, tax structures and strategic planning. He previously served Molpus as Executive Vice President (EVP) and as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). As CFO, Terrell was responsible for the financial management of Molpus, its affiliated entities and the accounting and reporting of client investments. Terrell currently serves on Molpus's Investment Committee as well as the Board of Directors for the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO). He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Mississippi Society of Certified Public Accountants (retired status) and the board of The Citizens Bank of Philadelphia, Mississippi, where he serves on the Audit, Compensating and Loan Committees. Terrell began his career with The Molpus Company in 1987 as vice president of finance with responsibility for all administrative and financial functions of the company. With the launch of Molpus as a Timberland Investment Management Organization (TIMO), Terrell was instrumental in developing Molpus's underlying timberland investment model. Prior to joining Molpus, Terrell was engaged in a public accounting practice in Jackson, Mississippi. Terrell grew up working in his father's logging business. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Professional Accountancy.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Property Management Team
• Operations Director, East Region
• Operations Director, East Region / Operations Director, East Region

Tom is responsible for managing client properties in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Prior to joining Molpus Woodlands Group in 1999, Tom worked for 23 years with Kimberly-Clark Corporation's Southeast Timberlands Alabama Operations, where he held management and leadership positions of unit manager, region manager and operations manager. Tom has a forestry degree from Patrick Henry College. He is a member of forestry associations in Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Job Titles:

• Director - Real Estate
• Director - Real Estate / Director - Real Estate

As Director - Real Estate, Mr. Gillespie is responsible for overseeing property-level disposition processes, as well as coordinating Molpus's team of real estate brokers who handle its higher-and-better use land sales program across Molpus-managed properties. In addition to real estate transactions, Mr. Gillespie works closely with Molpus's Vice President, Conservation, in evaluating carbon and solar project developments, as well as reviewing any other environmentally oriented revenue streams for client properties. Mr. Gillespie is a registered forester in Mississippi, and he is a licensed real estate broker in Arkansas, Georgia, and Mississippi. Prior to his current role in the Jackson headquarters, Mr. Gillespie worked as an operational analyst with the forestry operations team in Molpus's Hope, Arkansas office. In that role, Mr. Gillespie oversaw harvest operations across a 150,000-acre land base, strategic long-term planning, reforestation efforts, and harvest optimization programs to help maximize returns for the investments. Mr. Gillespie received his bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi and received his Masters of Forest Resources from the Warnell School of Forestry at the University of Georgia.

Job Titles:

• Chief Financial Officer
• Executive Vice President
• Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Tyler joined Molpus in 2012 and is responsible for the overall financial management, analysis, accounting, reporting, and projections of client investments, as well as internal company financials. He supervises the Molpus accounting, financial, and Human Resources staff. Tyler oversees the financial modeling for client acquisitions as well as working closely with financial institutions to secure acquisition and permanent financing as needed. Additionally, he is a member of the firm's Investment Committee. He holds the Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant designations. Tyler began his career with the regional public accounting firm of Horne LLP in the tax department, where his focus was on real estate investment trusts, multi-tiered real estate partnerships, and high-net-worth individuals. He has also worked for a publicly traded agricultural company, where he was responsible for short-term cash investments, implementing programs and processes for tax compliance, and federal and state tax filings. Tyler is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Mississippi Society of Public Accountants. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Mississippi College and a Master of Business Administration from Mississippi State University.

Job Titles:

• General Counsel
• Member of the Mississippi Bar

Wendy provides legal advice to the company's executive leadership on strategic initiatives and matters of corporate governance, as well as guidance to management across the company's multiple business divisions. She also oversees the in-house legal department which is primarily responsible for supporting the company's day-to-day timber management operations. Additionally, Wendy manages the company's relationships with third-party professionals, which includes a team of outside counsel and consultants working together to assist the company and its clients to reach their goals and objectives. Prior to joining Molpus, Wendy practiced law in the areas of corporate, mergers and acquisitions and economic development with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP and prior to that served as General Counsel for SkyTel Corp. Wendy has served on the board of many civic and community organizations across Mississippi including the Mississippi Seed Fund, managed by Innovate Mississippi, The Women's Foundation of Mississippi, The Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy and she is currently Chair of the Madison County Business League and Foundation's Entrepreneurship Committee. Wendy has also been involved with professional organizations including the American Bar Association, the Mississippi Bar Association, and the Mississippi Women's Lawyer Association, having held various offices and spoken at numerous events to both practicing peers and newly admitted lawyers. Wendy was an adjunct professor at Mississippi College School of Law where she taught Business Transaction Drafting to upper-level students. Wendy is a member of The Best Lawyers in America, holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubble, was a top 10 finalist in the Mississippi Business Journal's 50 Leading Business Women event, and has also been named a Leader in Law. Wendy is a member of the Mississippi Bar having earned her Juris Doctorate with distinction from Mississippi College School of Law and prior to that, her Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.