Our Team

Mr. Endres draws on more than 25 years of experience in building, operating and managing successful businesses. In 1985, he founded Special Teams, Inc. During his tenure as President and General Manager, Special Teams was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the U.S. in both 1994 and 1995. After Special Teams was sold to American Express in 1995, Mr. Endres assumed the role of President of American Express Special Teams.

In 1998, Mr. Endres co-founded and served as CEO of ExpressGold.com, Inc., an Internet payment company, and successfully spearheaded its merger with CyberSource Corporation (NASDAQ:CYBS) in January of 2000.

In 1999, Mr. Endres became a principal investor and Board member of CoEv, Inc., a manufacturer of electronic equipment. CoEv, which turned profitable within its first year of operations, later merged with Tyco International Ltd in August of 2000.

In 2000, Mr. Endres was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by South Dakota State University’s College of Engineering and in 2005 was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Award for “Emerging Entrepreneur.” Mr. Endres holds a bachelor of science degree in animal science, with minors in computer science and economics, from South Dakota State University.

Mr. Endres has a long history of making valuable contributions to the alternative energy industry at large, and continues to actively participate in the growth of this sector. He served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committees of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Alternative Fuel Institute (AFI), and the Enterprise Institute at South Dakota State University.

In 2001 Mr. Endres co-founded and served as Vice-Chairman of Glacial Lakes Energy, an ethanol production facility in Watertown, South Dakota; and was an investor and Board Officer for Badger State Ethanol LLC in Monroe, Wisconsin.

In 2001 he also co-founded VeraSun Energy Corporation and served as its Chief Executive Officer. VeraSun grew to be a leading producer of renewable fuel building the nation’s first 100 million gallon per year dry mill ethanol facility in Aurora, SD. VeraSun built 4 other large scale ethanol production facilities throughout the mid-west and raised capital in a successful public offering in June of 2006.

In May of 2010, Mr. Endres was named to the South Dakota REACH (Research Excellence: A Critical Hallmark) committee. The REACH committee was formed as a liaison between South Dakota institutions of Higher Education, South Dakota’s EPSCOR, federal agencies, private science and/or engineering research organizations, state government and commercial interests.

Prior to joining Novita, Mr. West was the Director of Grain Procurement at Valero Energy Corporation for 13 years where he built the agribusiness division and established it on a trajectory of growth. He led and optimized the enterprise-wide grain origination and transportation system to create a robust, reliable and highly efficient agribusiness infrastructure supporting 14 ethanol plants across the Midwest. He developed and launched the agribusiness operations, risk management systems, farmer-focused programs and launched new products into the marketplace. Through Mr. West’s leadership, he developed cost effective solutions and delivered overall savings to the bottom line by reducing grain handling costs and evaluating new growth potential for the business.

Prior to his tenure at Valero, Mr. West started his career at Cargill for 12 years as a Performance Marketing Leader. During that time, he held various merchandising positions in domestic grain, feed and processing businesses trading both domestic and export markets while ensuring trade profitability and managing risk.

Mr. West holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College.  Mr. West is involved in a farming operation in Southeastern Minnesota and spends time actively involved in the Sioux Falls school district and coaching youth basketball.

Prior to joining Novita Nutrition, she served as the CFO for a Montgomery’s, a family owned Midwest regional retail furniture business, and during that time, doubled in revenue and centralized operations over multiple locations in less than 5 years.

Prior to Montgomery’s, Laura was the Controller with VeraSun Energy Corporation, a leading ethanol producer, where she started with the flagship plant in Aurora, SD in 2004 and led the accounting department and related financial reporting through through the completion an IPO.

Prior to VeraSun, she was the Director of Materials Management for Rosco Manufacturing, a road maintenance manufacturer, now a Leeboy company located in Charlotte, NC. Over 10 years time, she held multiple positions in senior management with responsibilities in purchasing, enterprise information systems and accounting until the Company was sold in 2001.

Laura has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of South Dakota and holds a CPA certificate since 2007 and actively involved in numerous community groups.

Prior to joining Glacial Lakes Capital, and Novita, LLC, Mr. Eggebrecht co-founded VeraSun Energy Corporation in 2001. He led the site selection and development of ethanol production facility sites, including procurement of property, permitting, project management, and agreement negotiations for all aspects of construction, site development, and transportation. He spearheaded strategic initiatives relating to market access and new markets for ethanol which included negotiations with American automakers, major refiners, petroleum marketers, terminals, pipelines, railroads, and customers. In addition Mr. Eggebrecht led the successful development and launch of VE85®, the nation’s first branded E85 fuel, making it available to more than 170 stations throughout the Midwest and Washington D.C. Mr. Eggebrecht led the development and implementation of VeraSun’s unit train business strategy, including the upgrading of plant infrastructure and development of new unit train receiving facilities.

Prior to VeraSun, Mr. Eggebrecht served as Director of Marketing for Cybersource Stored Value Services, and Regional Vice President for American Express – Special Teams.

Mr. Eggebrecht holds a Bachelor of Science Business Administration from Southwest Minnesota State University. Rick lives in Brookings, SD with his wife and family, and is actively involved in his church and community.

Prior to joining Novita Nutrition, she held a position as International Marketing at Daktronics, a world leader in large-format LED video displays, where she worked with the international sales team to respond to opportunities with the best marketing approach. She also helped promote the international business unit through various media channels, advertising campaigns, public relations efforts and promotions of new high profile installations.

Ms. Kosbau served as Director of Marketing at the Children’s Museum of South Dakota, where she built the brand from the ground floor and was part of the leadership team that launched the museum into a high traffic destination in the region that resulted in media mentions in national publications.

Prior to that, Ms. Kosbau was the Corporate Brand Manager of VeraSun Energy Corporation, a leading ethanol producer, and managed all corporate brands throughout 18 locations, designed and managed a multi-sensory event that resulted in 300 million media impressions, worked with tier one media outlets, cross-promoted with industry partners and designed custom collateral for targeted audiences and events.

Jill has won a Gold Addy from South Dakota Advertising Association and a Bronze for Color Advertising from the Art Directors Club of Denver. She has also held various board positions.