Scott Poor is Senior Advisor to EAA serving clients in the biomass & biofuels industry.
From 2007 to 2010, Poor was Corporate Counsel for Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRE), the nation’s largest publicly-traded ethanol company. Poor joined Green Plains as Corporate Counsel and Director of Investor Relations and External Affairs, managing communications, investor relations and government relations in addition to traditional in-house legal services. Later, Poor was appointed Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary with oversight of governance, reporting, compliance, regulatory affairs and insurance. Poor managed permitting and compliance for ethanol plants in Tennessee, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. Poor directed USDA grain warehouse and commodity compliance for eight elevators. He managed due diligence, transactions and transition for mergers with Virgin BioVerda and Great Lakes Cooperative as well as the acquisition of two former Verasun ethanol plant assets.
Additionally, Poor served as Corporate Counsel and Director of Government Relations for BioProcess Algae LLC, a joint venture developing algae biofuel and carbon sequestration technologies. In 2009, Poor secured grant funding to build an algae photobioreactor pilot project. Poor continues to serve as Corporate Counsel and Secretary for startup wind turbine manufacturer Enertech, Inc. Poor provides wind project development, permitting and planning services.
As a consulting planner and attorney, Poor has expertise in handling controversial projects and resolving NIMBY disputes. Poor was an attorney with the land use and development finance boutique law firm of White Goss Bowers March Schulte and Weisenfels PC in Kansas City, Missouri. Poor has served as advisor to dozens of renewable energy and value-added agricultural developments.
From 2000 to 2003, Poor served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Kansas. During his tenure as a government official, Poor served as counsel to the Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. He has more than a dozen appellate published decisions. In 2002, Poor was counsel in high-profile Congressional redistricting litigation. From 2001 to 2003, Poor was Chairman of the American Bar Association young government lawyers committee.
Poor served one term as Executive Director and General Counsel for the Republican Party of Kansas. In 2004, the National Journal named him a “rising star” in Kansas politics. Poor has worked on nineteen political campaigns in eight states. He serves as an agriculture, renewable energy and environmental policy advisor to Republican and Democrat Congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Poor has managed legislative projects in Vermont, New Hampshire, Montana, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. Additionally, Poor has worked as a PAC manager and public affairs specialist for an agribusiness conglomerate.
Poor is a graduate of the University of Tulsa law school. He holds a graduate degree in rural planning from Kansas State University. Poor has an undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University. He is a former member of the Topeka Planning Commission, Landmarks Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. He is current public member of the Kansas Real Estate Appraisal Board. Poor is a graduate of the Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership program.