INDUSTRY TITANS JOIN BAKKEN ENERGY

  • August 24, 2021

Bismarck, ND and Westlake Village, CA – Building on an impressive roster of executives and advisors, Bakken Energy is pleased to welcome four additional diverse professionals to the team, each with unmatched experience and accolades in their respective fields.

Joining the Bakken Energy executive team that includes experienced entrepreneurs, company builders, innovators, energy sector professionals, financiers and investment bankers is Martin Murrer as Chief Investment Officer.

Todd N. Kanter, John G. Larkin and J. Russell McClellan join the big-named list of industry advisors. The addition of these team members comes after Bakken Energy’s recent announcement to redevelop the Great Plains Synfuels plant in North Dakota into largest and lowest-cost, clean hydrogen production facility in the United States.

Mr. Murrer will lead Bakken Energy’s development plans after spending nearly 40 years on Wall Street, primarily as an investment banker at major Wall Street firms including Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ), Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. His specialty was the sale of businesses and he completed over 200 merger and acquisition transactions while running merger groups at several firms. Additionally, he has been a Board Member of numerous public and private companies as well as nonprofits.

Todd Kanter, a 40-year veteran of the financial services industry, most recently serving as Managing Director of Silvercrest. He serves on the firm’s Management Committee and as Portfolio Manager and/or Trustee for equity and fixed-income portfolios for high-net-worth individuals, foundations, public corporations and bank trust departments. From 1986-2000 Mr. Kanter was head of DLJ – Boston.  He co-founded Marathon Capital Group in April of 2000 and served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the firm’s equity and fixed-income portfolios. Mr. Kanter served on the board of numerous public, private and non-profit organizations as well as an advisor and mentor to the Tufts Financial Group.

John Larkin is an operating partner, strategic advisor and most recently Chair of the advisory board at Clarendon Capital. He brings 30 years of experience as a nationally recognized and award-winning research analyst on Wall Street with Alex Brown and Stifel. Mr. Larkin brings a wealth of knowledge in the transportation, freight transportation, and logistics industries. Over the years, Mr. Larkin has been recognized as an all-star analyst by Institutional Investor magazine numerous times, a Wall Street Journal All-Star analyst on several occasions, and has been awarded multiple Starmine stock picking and earnings estimate accuracy awards.

Mr. McClellan is an experienced senior executive that brings entrepreneurial energy, strong leadership, proven marketing and communication skills based on creative problem-solving insights developed over 25 years working as a senior marketing executive for major corporations. Mr. McClellan currently provides Marketing and Strategy training and counsel for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, ranked #1 graduate Entrepreneurship program in the world by Financial Times. Prior to founding Argonaut Consulting Group, he was head of client services for Rapp Collins, a division of Omnicom and the world’s largest direct and digital agency.

Bakken Energy was formed from the Family Office of Founder and Chairman Steven Lebow. Previously Lebow founded and co-led Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette’s (DLJ) Los Angeles office and created and led GRP Partners, a U.S. and European venture capital firm. From almost day one, he was the primary financier for companies including Costco Wholesale, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Envestnet, Bill Me Later (sold to PayPal) and ULTA Beauty. CEO Mike Hopkins and co-founders Curt Launer and Shane Goettle, and Chief Investment Officer Martin Murrer lead Bakken Energy’s development plans. Hopkins has successfully developed 54 power projects around the world, totaling more than twelve gigawatts. Launer was the number one ranked natural gas industry analyst on Wall Street for twelve years and is in the Institutional Investor Magazine Hall of Fame. Goettle is a life-long North Dakota businessman and attorney with more than 25 years of state and federal level experience. He is the former head of the North Dakota Department of Commerce and former chair of EmPower North Dakota, which develops comprehensive energy policy recommendations. Murrer has been an investment banker for more than 40 years on Wall Street and oversees the endowment at The Ohio State University.

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About Bakken Energy, LLC

Bakken Energy, LLC, formerly Bakken Midstream Natural Gas, LLC, is an infrastructure development company with a focus on North Dakota’s energy resources. Bakken Energy believes the State has the potential to become a world-class leader in clean energy. The mission of Bakken Energy is to develop and own the infrastructure needed to make the State that clean energy leader.