Advisory Council

Tom Bliss is Executive Director of the Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD), a 15-county economic and community development organization. Prior to joining SENDD in April 2017, Bliss directed Mo-Kan Regional Council a bi-state development district located in St. Joseph, Missouri. During his 14-year tenure at Mo-Kan, he worked to grow a number of programs and services: economic, community, and workforce development; Homeland Security and disaster readiness; and environmental resiliency, including watershed planning.

Mr. Chappelle is the Senior Solid Waste Engineer for Engineering Solutions & Design, Inc. He has more than 39 years of domestic and international environmental engineering experience, with the last 30 years dedicated to solid waste planning and engineering. Mr. Chappelle has published and presented numerous technical papers to local, regional, national and international audiences on a variety of recycling and solid waste issues. In addition, he has served multiple tenures as an officer for local chapters of the Solid Waste Association of North America.

Dale Ekart was born and raised in Imperial, Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and started in the recycling field in 1989 after attending a Nebraska Recycling Conference. Dale started a recycling company in Beatrice from 1990 to 2001. He also started the UNL Recycling program in 1992 and ran that program till 2003. He then began work with Eco-Cycle, Boulder, Colorado in 2003 as Director of Business Recycling. Dale is now semi-retired and doing part-time work for Momentum Recycling (glass benefaction) and consulting for a trash company.

Gene Hanlon has a masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Nebraska. He has worked as Recycling Coordinator for the City of Lincoln since 1987. He has served on the boards of the Nebraska ...

Andy Harpenau owns Gretna Sanitation and Soil Dynamics Composting Farm along with his dad and brother. Hillside Solutions is the waste solutions umbrella company that offers a wide variety of services ...

As Director of Environmental Services for Douglas County, Nebraska, Kent is responsible for administering the County’s NPDES Phase II Stormwater Permit, the County’s solid waste landfill contract, environmental ...

Dana Klabenes is the City Clerk for the City of Neligh since 2011. Prior to her municipality experience, she worked in very different offices for a bank, a cattle feedlot and a hog confinement. She graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University (home of the Corn Palace!) in Mitchell, SD with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and continued education pursuits with a Master’s degree from Wayne State College in Wayne, NE (home of Chicken Days!) in Business Administration. Her experience with recycling started in the high school years and amplified upon returning to live in Neligh after college and beginning to work for the City of Neligh with a now 25 year recycling program. She currently is working on a social media campaign with support from the City Council and department heads. Most recently, she received the Certified Municipal Clerk designation in October 2017 for professional certification from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. When Dana is not working, she enjoys playing volleyball in the town team “old lady league.” She enjoys running yet and runs 5K races occasionally and has run the (Omaha to Lincoln) Market to Market Relay race for two years. She enjoys spending time with her family and attending her children’s activities.

Kelley McReynolds has been in the recycling industry for more than 20 years. He has managed MRFs in Des Moines, Houston, New Orleans, and Lincoln. He is currently the owner of Green Quest Recycling.

Benjamin has been the Environmental Sustainability Director at Central Community College (CCC) since August 2016. His office is in Grand Island but he oversees all CCC campus sustainability projects and manages an ...

Tammy Slater has been Chief Executive Officer at Goodwill Industries of Greater Nebr., Inc. since 2010. She began her career in the alcohol and drug rehabilitation field for adult women, then served as Executive Director of American Red Cross Hall County Chapter, followed by 19 years as Vice President of Human Resources and Services Administration for Chief Automotive Technologies. Tammy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Resources Management from Bellevue University.

Chris Vail is the Executive Director of Keep Keith County Beautiful for the past 6 years. As a Program Manager and an environmental educator she has assisted the Ogallala Public Schools in the successful development of recycling programs and education earning the organization numerous awards and prize dollars from the PepsiCo Recycle Rally, Keep Nebraska Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful.

Mark Brohman has been the Executive Director of the Nebraska Environmental Trust since 2006. Prior to joining the Trust, he was employed with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission since 1993 and served as Director ...

Ruth Johnston has been the supervisor of the Grants & Planning Section of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality’s Land Management Division since 2016. Prior to that she spent over twenty years with ...