Board of Directors
James Russell (J.R.) Reger
Chief Executive Officer, Director
James Russell (J.R.) Reger was the Chief Executive Officer of the Company since December 31, 2009 and has been our Chief Executive Officer and a director since April 16, 2010. Mr. Reger was born and raised in Billings, Montana and is the fourth generation in a family of oil and gas explorers and developers dating back more than 60 years. Mr. Reger’s great grandfather was Vice President of Land for Mobil Oil’s Rocky Mountain operations. His grandfather, Jim Reger, co-founded the exploration firm of Norsworthy & Reger. Prior to accepting the position as CEO of the Company, Mr. Reger was the President of South Fork Exploration, a mineral leasing company in Billings, MT with experience and interests in Montana and North Dakota. Mr. Reger holds a B.A. in Finance from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. We believe Mr. Reger’s qualifications to sit on our Board include his extensive experience in our core business of oil and gas exploration and production.
Lyle Berman
Director, Chairman of the Board
Lyle Berman has been Chairman of the Board of Voyager since its inception in March 2002 and Executive Chairman since April 1, 2005. Mr. Berman served as Voyager’s Chief Executive Officer from February 25, 2004 until April 1, 2005. Since January 1999, Mr. Berman has served as the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Lakes Entertainment, Inc. (“Lakes”), a publicly-held company that develops and manages Indian-owned casinos. From November 1999 until May 2000, Mr. Berman served as President of Lakes. Mr. Berman served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Grand Casinos, Inc. from October 1991 through December 1998. Mr. Berman served as Chief Executive Officer of Rainforest Cafe, Inc. from February 1993 until December 2000. Lyle Berman is the father of Bradley Berman, who serves as a member of the Board. We believe Mr. Berman’s qualifications to sit on our Board include his decades of experience in owning, operating and managing a wide variety of companies both large and small, public, and private, in industries as diverse as gaming, television production, restaurants and apparel.
Mitchell R. Thompson
Chief Financial Officer, Director
Mr. Thompson was the Chief Financial Officer of Plains Energy Investments, Inc., the predecessor company to the Company, since December 1, 2009 and has been the Company’s Chief Financial Officer since April 16, 2010. From November 2008 to December 1, 2009, Mr. Thompson was with Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co. in Billings, Montana where he was an assurance manager. From September 2004 to November 2008, Mr. Thompson held positions as a senior associate with Grant Thornton LLP in Minneapolis. Mr. Thompson has been a licensed CPA since 2006. Mr. Thompson holds a B.S. and master’s degree in accounting from Montana State University.
Josh Sherman
Director
Mr. Sherman is a Partner at Opportune, LLP, an independent consultancy focused on the energy industry. Mr. Sherman is currently the partner in charge of the Complex Reporting Group of Opportune in Houston and Denver. Mr. Sherman has over 12 years experience with the technical aspects of financial reporting, SEC filings and financial due diligence assistance.
Prior to working with Opportune, LLP, Mr. Sherman worked in the audit and global energy markets departments with Deloitte & Touche where he managed the audits of regulated gas and electric utilities, independent power producers and energy trading entities. A Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Mr. Sherman holds a BBA and a Masters in Accountancy from the University of Texas.
Joseph Lahti
Director
Joe Lahti is a Minneapolis native and leader in numerous Minnesota business and community organizations. After graduating from Harvard University in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, he completed a 12-month commercial lending training program at First Bank Minneapolis before working with Syncronamics, Inc., where he specialized in scheduling and staffing-level consulting at Hughes Aircraft and Pac Tel. He joined CIGNA Financial Services as a financial counselor in 1985 and left to become president of McQuillan Lahti and Associates in 1989. At both firms he advised business owners in the areas of tax, investment, insurance and succession planning strategies and related product selection.
From 1993 to 2002, Joe held the positions of chief operating officer, president, chief executive officer and Chairman at Shuffle Master, Inc., a company that provides innovative products to the gaming industry. Under his leadership, the company’s revenues increased from $500,000 in 1993 to $50 million in 2002. Shuffle Master was consistently ranked as one of the country’s top small publicly owned companies by Forbes and Fortune magazines.
As principal of JL Holdings since 1989, Joe has provided funding and management leadership to several early-stage or distressed companies. In addition, JL Holdings has opportunistically created successful commercial real estate partnerships since the early 1990’s.
We believe Mr. Lahti’s qualifications to sit on our Board include his experience serving on the Board of Directors of four publicly-traded companies. Through his public company Board experience, he has participated on, and chaired, both Audit and Compensation Committees.
Myrna Patterson McLeroy
Director
Myrna Patterson McLeroy has extensive experience in the oil, gas and energy industries. In 1986 Ms. Patterson McLeroy started the McLeroy Land group which is a client-centered brokerage firm specializing in all land related matters within a variety of industries including oil and gas. We believe that Ms. Patterson McLeroy’s qualifications to sit on our Board include her extensive brokerage and industry experience in land related matters.
Loren J. O’Toole II
Director
Loren J. O’Toole II has been a licensed attorney since 1981 in the O’Toole law firm of Plentywood Montana. Mr. O’Toole has almost 30 years of experience in advising companies on various corporate matters, including those involved in the oil and gas exploration industry. Mr. O’Toole graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center. We believe Mr. O’Toole’s qualifications to sit on our Board include his legal background in advising companies in the oil and gas industry, and the legal issues of companies doing oil and gas exploration in Montana and North Dakota.