Mr. Cowart has served as our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President since April 2009. Mr. Cowart has been involved in the petroleum recycling industry for over 30 years. Mr. Cowart is the founder of the Vertex group of companies and has served such companies since 2001. As a leader in the recycling field, Mr. Cowart helped pioneer the reclamation industry by developing recycling options for many residual materials once managed as a hazardous waste. Mr. Cowart has served on NORA's Board of Directors and as President in 2008. Mr. Cowart was a finalist for the 2015, Gulf Coast Area, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year®. Mr. Cowart has taken an active role in the petroleum industry with his involvement in speaking, consulting, chairing, and serving on various committees and industry associations. Prior to the formation of Holdings, Mr. Cowart served as the Vice President of Aaron Oil Company, a regional recycler in Alabama.

Mr. Carlson joined in 2001 and has since led Vertex from a startup business to a publicly listed (NASDAQ: VTNR) company with an average of $140 million in revenues; achieved through targeted organic and M&A growth strategies. Mr. Carlson Oversees financial accounting, forecasting, budgets, risk management, investments, SEC compliance, and corporate governance. Prior to Vertex Energy, worked in petroleum technology solutions and telecommunications Mr. Carlson earned his BS degree in Business Finance from the University of Houston.

Josh brings nearly two decades of expertise in commercial operations with a proven track record of restructuring and optimizing fuel supply chains for major companies, including Delta Air Lines. He specializes in building profitable wholesale and trading businesses by leveraging his deep understanding of market dynamics and identifying opportunities to create value through operational efficiencies.

Throughout his career, Josh has held leadership roles that delivered significant results in commercial supply chain development, cost reduction strategies, and commodities portfolio management. He has contributed to companies such as Merrill Lynch Commodities, Delta Air Lines (under Epsilon Trading and Monroe Energy), EPIC Fuels, and Veridian Fuels, where he provided consulting services to Vertex Energy before joining the company full-time as Director of Commercial Operations and Risk Management.

As Chief Commercial Officer, Josh focuses on advancing the company’s rack marketing and crude origination strategies, using his extensive expertise to drive growth and deliver impactful results.

Mr. Ruiz joined Vertex Energy in September 2013. During his tenure with the Company, he has been responsible for identifying, developing, and executing both strategic commercial and market opportunities, including the execution of the Mobile refinery acquisition in early 2022. Mr. Ruiz's main focus at Vertex has been working with the leadership team to identify, develop and execute strategic commercial and market opportunities, including strategic acquisitions in support of the company's vision, mission and tactical growth strategy. Mr. Ruiz also has an active role managing the relationships with investors and the banking community. Prior to Vertex, Mr. Ruiz held numerous senior management positions throughout his 20 years of experience in the equipment manufacturing, telecom, energy, automotive and environmental services industry sectors. Mr. Ruiz has a solid international background in Europe and Latin America and his leadership positions have included marketing, finance, business development, operations, sales and project management. Mr. Ruiz received a degree in Electric and Electronic Engineering from the Valladolid Polytechnic, Spain, in 1993 and holds an Executive MBA from IE Business School and a Masters in Marketing and Sales from ESIC Business School.

Ms. Snedegar joined Vertex Energy in 2014 and brings over two decades of business expertise in leadership and executive management. Throughout her career, she has built up a strong reputation specializing in the petroleum industry, focusing on the procurement and sales of off-specification petroleum hydrocarbons, distillate fuels, non-hazardous chemicals, and transformer oils. Notably, Ms. Snedegar was also the Co-founder, owner, and Vice President of the Heartland Refinery Group, LLC, which successfully built the United States' third Used Motor Oil re-refinery producing GR II + base oils in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to her role as VP of Business Development, Erica provided strategic oversight and development for Vertex Energy's base oils, refined intermediate by-products, and the branded products divisions.

Mr. Rice joined Vertex in early 2020, bringing 40 years of energy industry experience to the Company. Previously, he served in executive leadership roles with Rice Oil, Allied Energy Company, Crystal Energy LLC, Division President of Emerge Energy Services LP, and Joint Venture Partner with Lansing Trade Group and Andersons, Inc. Bart has been instrumental in creating supplemental revenue streams around renewables and conventional fuels, pioneering the blending of ethanol with gasoline, biodiesel manufacturing, environmental reclamation, and trans-mix distillation, including hydrotreating and pipeline terminal operations. As President of Renewable and Conventional Fuels, Rice leads the oversight of Vertex's renewables strategy, including the commercial development of alternative feedstocks in the production of renewable diesel.

Mr. Strickland joined Vertex in 2007, serving in a variety of leadership and executive roles ranging from Manager of Supply to Chief Operations Officer, which he held from October 2015 to June 2022. Prior to joining Vertex, Mr. Strickland was employed by Texpar Energy L.L.C., first as General Manager from November 1999 to November 2003, and then as Project Manager from November 2003 to October 2007. From 1986 to 1999, he was the General Manager and Vice-President of Sellers Oil Inc., then one of the largest recycling and fuel marketers of used oil and #6-fuel oil in the southeast. Mr. Strickland has over 21 years of experience in management roles of developing companies in the recycling of used oils and the fuel blending business. In his various positions, he has developed used oil collection fleets, environment services (non-hazardous), terminal business of #6-oil from water ports and helped develop software for used oil collection fleets.

Mr. Stieneker brings over 30 years of environmental services experience to Vertex Energy, Inc. Mr. Stieneker joined the Vertex team in 2009 heading up the collections arm of Vertex, known as H&H Oil. Mr. Stieneker was Branch Manager for Heritage Crystal Clean in the Houston market from 1990 to 2002, managing everything from parts washers' service and hazardous waste to used motor oil. In 2002, he became Regional Manager for Atlantic Industrial Services. At Atlantic Industrial Services, Mr. Stieneker was responsible for locations in Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Georgia and Florida. As of September 2024, Mike assumed the role of Senior Vice President over Vertex's legacy operations, providing oversight for UMO activities, including collections, third-party supply, and refining and processing.