US renewables business Green Plains has appointed Ryan Loneman as its general counsel, replacing former legal chief Michelle Mapes.
Loneman joins from irrigation and infrastructure business Lindsay Corporation, where he was vice president for legal. At Green Plains, Loneman will lead the company’s legal function and advise leadership on corporate governance, strategic transactions and regulatory matters. He will take up his new role on 26 January.
Nebraska-based Green Plains is a biorefining company that turns renewable crops into low-carbon energy and agricultural feedstocks.
Chris Osowski, president and CEO of Green Plains, said: “Ryan brings a wealth of legal experience and a strategic perspective that will be invaluable to Green Plains. His expertise in corporate governance, compliance and complex transactions positions him well to support our long-term growth strategy.”
Loneman arrives after a decade at Lindsay, having originally joined as corporate counsel before becoming associate GC a year later. He was promoted to his current role in 2021. Prior to his time at Lindsay, he spent six years as a corporate attorney at Kirkland & Ellis.
Mapes, meanwhile, departed Green Plains on 31 December after almost 16 and a half years with the company, the last eight of them as chief legal and administration officer. She will remain on to provide part-time consultancy services to the business until June, according to an SEC filing.
Prior to joining Green Pains, she spent three years as a partner at Husch Blackwell Sanders following five years as GC at Farm Credit Services of America – her first in-house role. She started her legal career at Nebraska-based national firm Kutak Rock.
In other US energy-related moves, in October nuclear tech business NuScale Power made its second CLO appointment in less than four months, hiring James Canafax from Maritime Partners to replace Shahram Ghasemian.
In September, US nuclear tech peer The Nuclear Company hired Robert Harmon as its first CLO from construction tech business ICON. Harmon was previously deputy GC at Tesla.
And in May, another nuclear tech business – Terrestrial Energy – hired Brian Romanzo as GC from franchise development business REP’M Group ahead of the former’s plan to transition to a publicly-listed company.
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