Team
Blue Stream Farms Board
Daniel B. Spickard, CLTC
Senior Associate of Lifetime Financial Growth. Dan also teaches a personal finance class for the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy and is the former President of the Rotary Club of Weirton Heights.
David L Robertson
Reverend Dennis R. Schuelkens, Jr.
Pastor of Sacred Heart of Mary Parish and St. Joseph the Worker Parish and Grade School. Father Schuelkens served as an electronic technician in the Navy for six years, and participated in operation Desert Shield and operation Desert Storm. Father Dennis graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1999 with a BSN (Summa Cum Laude). Additionally, he is the Director of Seminarians, Director of Vocations and the Chaplain to the Boy Scouts.
David A. Velegol, Jr
Regional Engineering Manager for McKim & Creed, Inc and currently is the mayor of the City of Follansbee.
Blue Stream Farms Officers
Daniel B. Spickard, CLTC
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Senior Associate of Lifetime Financial Growth. Dan also teaches a personal finance class for the Duquesne University School of Pharmacy and is the former President of the Rotary Club of Weirton Heights.
Joseph R. Edmiston
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Joe is a Financial Representative at Lifetime Financial Growth located in Pittsburgh, PA and has an extensive background in non-profit leadership and development. Throughout his career he has held Executive Leadership positions with organizations in the Ohio Valley Region. Joe is married to his wife, Kim, of 10 years and has 2 daughters, Emily (7) and Ally (5). Outside of work, Joe enjoys college football and spending time with his family.
Jamie Artman, CRNA
Chief Nutrition Officer
Health Information Management – Perioperative Services, Perioperative EHR Consultant, CRNA at UPMC
Gina R. Johnson
Chief Sustainability Officer
Program Director at Sustainable Pittsburgh, leading performance programs that advance the practice of, and policies to support, sustainable business practices in the region.
John Koutsogiani
Chief Financial Officer
ATEP IT – Controller at Alcoa who manages and directs a wide range of business planning, finance/controlling, IT compliance and business intelligence to enable growth and profitability
Doug Velegol
Executive Director
Founder of Blue Stream Farms. Secured funding to design and build a 2,200 ft2 Learning Center which features a small commercial aquaponic growing system, automation controls, remote data monitoring systems and technology to provide virtual learning. Developed sales channels with local restaurants and Amazon.
Blue Stream Farms Advisors
John Balash
Educational Network Coordinator at Carnegie Mellon University and is working with Blue Stream Farms to develop an Aquaponic Virtual Reality that will help students understand the science involved with aquaponics as they explore the system for the fish tanks to the growing beds.
Brandon A. Gillespie, CPA
Certified Public Accountant at D’Anniballe & Company. Brandon has an undergraduate degree from The University of Tennessee at Martin and is currently working on his Masters of Business Administration at Robert Morris University.
Jason Hughes
WV State FFA Advisor. Jason obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree in agricultural education from West Virginia University and taught high school agricultural education for 13 years at the Wood County Technical Center and at St. Mary’s High School, including courses in Aquaculture, Hydroponics, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources. He was the 2005 West Virginia Teacher of the Year and in 2006, began working for the West Virginia Department of Education, serving as Coordinator of Career and Technical Education in Institutional Programs and for the past 11 years as the Lead Coordinator of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Lourdes (Lou) Karas
Director, Center for Arts and Education, West Liberty University. She is the lead with the Benedum Foundation application for the Blue Stream Farms educational platform and is also integrating current STEAM content to Project Based Learning. Lou is also responsible for CREATE Labs Network for West Virginia which empowers a technology fluent generation through experimental learning opportunities in and outside of school
Ed Powell
Business Coach for the West Virginia Small Business Development Center. Ed is working with the students to teach them all the different components required to not only start a business but how to make it successful.
JD Sawyer
Founder of Colorado Aquaponics. He is working with our students to teach them the design of an integrated aquaponic system. JD has designed the high production area and the pilot system used in the event center. The students will utilize engineering concepts to design and maintain the system in the Research and Learning Development Center.
Jake Young
President & CEO at Mobilize 360. Jake is currently working with students to develop a website and mobile app. The students are collaborating on design and features of both and learning not only how to develop the app and website but also how to make it effective.