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Tory Arner
Health Advocate & Culinary Artist
 Tory Arner
Health Advocate & Culinary Artist
Tory Arner is the owner, creative force, and Executive Chef behind CleanFuel; a specialized culinary company that supplies healthy delivered meals, supports whole body wellness, and offers individualized and group coaching to help her clients restore their bodies to a natural state of balance.
Her health quest journey began when Tory was approximately thirteen years old and was the next logical step based on her already immense love of food. Having been aware of health consciousness, Tory came across clean eating almost ten years ago. Always lifting weights, doing yoga and living the newest science of fueling her body, Tory thrives in the fitness crowd. She coupled these concepts with a health and wellness based lifestyle she had always adhered to and utilized her B.S. in Biology from Cleveland State University to round out her qualifications.
Prior to forming Clean Fuel, Tory held the position of Culinary Manager for a major food giant and learned many business skills. In 2012 she decided to merge her passion for food, understanding of business, and the science of the human body. CleanFuel is the culmination of her extensive skill set and her exemplary culinary abilities. Tory writes a fresh new menu for CleanFuel every week, custom menu plans for individuals, arranges personal grocery shopping, does custom catering, as well as provide innovative and delivered Organic Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner to her clientele.
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Gary Derrenbacher
Master Welder, Fabricator, Construction Superintendent – Iron Man
Gary Derrenbacher
Master Welder, Fabricator, Construction Superintendent – Iron Man
Gary Derrenbacher is the President of Iron Man, Inc., a company that operates both nationally and internationally specializing in the design, fabrication, and installation of miscellaneous metal structures. Since 1988 Iron Man, Inc. has been the go to firm for some of the most complex steel, aluminum, and general metal projects conceived.
Previous to forming his current company, Gary spent over ten years as the Production and Installation Manager for Anderson Industries based in Denver Colorado. Anderson Industries was a company that fabricated miscellaneous metals, making the Inc. 500 in 1982 as one of the nation’s fastest growing privately owned companies.
Gary began with a course of study at The University of Colorado, Denver Campus, has since cultivated that into a truly extensive and unique skill set. Currently he is a Certified Welder as designated by the American Welding Society, is a Journeyman Ironworker, a steel Frame Superintendent, and a consultant on steel fabrication and design. Previously, Gary was certified by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, was a Journeyman Boilermaker, as well as a Certified Crane Operator.
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Katiejo Kardel
Three-time Emmy Award Nominated Celebrity Hairstylist, Make-up Artist and Photographer
Katiejo Kardel
Three-time Emmy Award Nominated Celebrity Hairstylist, Make-up Artist and Photographer
Katiejo is the owner of Unlimited Creations as well as member of PPA (Professional Photographers of America), NATAS (National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences New York), The Pike County Chamber of Commerce, The Chamber of The Northern Poconos, The Downtown Hawley Partnership, I.A.T.S.E Local 798 Hair & Make-up Union of New York City.
From an early age Katiejo knew that she wanted to become a hairstylist. After successfully completing cosmetology school at The Learning Institute for Beauty Sciences in Manhattan, NY she was soon employed as a full-time stylist. It was here at her first salon job that she was approached about becoming an educator for a very high profile hair care company, Sexy Hair. Under the guidance of Michael O’Rourke, internationally renowned and three-time world champion hairstylist, and Donna Federici, sales and marketing icon, Katiejo very quickly became not only an educator but also an international platform artist with Sexy Hair. Both Donna and Michael saw that Katiejo not only had the creative skills of a hairstylist, but she possessed the soul and exuded the passion of a true hair artist. Her hard work, determination, and passion had led Katiejo to her dream of becoming not only a hairstylist but an educator as well.
While traveling globally for over ten years to spread the education and creative heart and soul of Sexy Hair, Katiejo became a celebrity stylist. Her first television job was ABC’s soap opera “One Life to Live.” While working there Katiejo received three Daytime Emmy Award Nominations for “Outstanding Hairstyling for a Daytime Drama.” Working in movies and TV constantly, she soon developed a celebrity clientele that recognized her talents and skills.
Katiejo is a professional photographer. As a member of the Professional Photographers of America she has created countless photo shoots for a wide range of clients; everything from wedding photos to baby and senior portraits. Her main goal in becoming a photographer was to build a portfolio of her work. Once she started shooting her camera her artistry for taking photographs and creating photo shoots came to life proving she is skillful both in front of and behind the camera.
As a successful hairstylist, make-up artist, and photographer Katiejo credits her second grade teacher, Mrs. Joan Bianco, for mentoring her and demonstrating that one needs passion, drive, and education to succeed. It was Mrs. Bianco who inspired Katiejo to become an educator. Katiejo translates her passion, drive, love of her profession, and creativity to all that she does.
Some of Katiejo’s talents include being a make-up artist for all skin types; professional hairstylist for all hair types and textures including services such as haircutting, hairstyling, and chemical services; working with damaged hair and thinning/loss of hair. Katiejo treats all of her clients with privacy, respect and dignity. She is a Licensed Cosmetologist in New York State and Pennsylvania State.
Katiejo will be launching her beauty accessory line, “Katiejo Kouture”, late in 2015. Every creation is hand-made and one of a kind.
Katiejo’s work can be seen all over the world in places such as New York City Fashion week, television, commercials, magazines, and the Internet.
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Charlie Reisinger
Educator – IT Systems Expert – Open Source Software Advocate
Charlie Reisinger
Educator – IT Systems Expert – Open Source Software Advocate
Charlie Reisinger is the IT Director at Penn Manor School District, in beautiful Lancaster County Pennsylvania. An 18 year Ed-Tech veteran, he leads district instructional technology programs and school enterprise technical operations. An impassioned advocate for open education and empowering students through technology, Charlie and his team deeply integrate a free and open source philosophy into classroom teaching and learning. He recently launched Pennsylvania’s largest high school 1:1 student laptop learning program using Linux and open source software exclusively.
He received a B.A. in Psychology from Millersville University and a M.S. in Instructional Design & Technology from Philadelphia University. In additional to his duties at Penn Manor, he is an adjunct instructor and corporate advisor for the Learning Technologies Masters Program at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. Charlie holds a PDE Instructional Technology Specialist certificate, is a member of the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) and a member of the PA School Business Officials association (PASBO).
Charlie is a contributing author to Red Hat’s opensource.com online community. A frequent speaker, his recent TEDxLancaster talk outlines how open source principles deeply empower student inquiry and learning.
Charlie is a 4 time winner of the PA School Business Officials Award of Achievement for excellence in school technology and a 2009 recipient of Millersville University’s Walker Center Civics Leadership Award for community Internet safety education and outreach. He received a 2010 PA School Public Relations Association Award of Honor for his development of Penn Manor’s blogging platform. In 2011, Penn Manor received the School of Excellence in Technology award from the PA School Boards Association (PSBA).
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Meagan Ruppert
Visionary Business Coach & Entrepreneur
 Meagan Ruppert
Visionary Business Coach & Entrepreneur
I am a visionary business coach and the founder of Return to Roots Gathering, a hoop dance, yoga, flow arts, and music festival that creates a space for conscious, spiritual, and community transformation.
My awakening happened when I discovered hoop dance in 2008. The empowerment and self-love that came out of my hoop practice inspired me to start Return to Roots Gathering in 2011. While I had no production experience, nor any professional connections that did either, I took action in faith – knowing that this project was much bigger than myself and that I would be divinely guided through the process. Now in it’s 5th year, this event is among the first East Coast Transformational Festival, drawing people from around the world.
In addition to producing Return to Roots Gathering, I am a business coach for conscious entrepreneurs in my business, Ascending Circles. My purpose on this planet is to inspire awakened beings to take bold action in their lives and in the world through entrepreneurship and to be ambassadors of the evolving consciousness on planet earth, so that they can create their ultimate reality.
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Casey Alexander Smith
Interdisciplinary and Technological Arts Expert
Casey Alexander Smith
Interdisciplinary and Technological Arts Expert
Casey Alexander Smith is the owner and lead designer behind CSmithDesigns and Co., an arts and design company based in New York.
As a technology enthusiast and arts professional, Casey has continually placed himself at the intersection of analog and digital by creating unique aesthetic opportunities that foster growth and development. Casey holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts and a Master of Arts in Arts Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. With these resources Casey has compiled a multi-faceted perspective on the arts from various vantage points. As an arts educator he has spent time in front of a high school classroom teaching and guiding students on multiple levels of fine arts, performance and design. Behind the scenes he positioned himself as an advocate and supporter of reform to arts education curriculum with the inclusion of visual culture and urban folk exploration. Additionally he has been a contributor to various fine arts projects, as well as a collector of several artists.
With these experiences Casey has grown immensely as an artist and individual and he shares this growth in many of his works. During his time as an independent designer he has worked on a collection of graphics and advertising projects; notably Showtime, AMC and MTV Networks as well as theatrical design work with companies including The New Group, Personal Space Theatrics and Amnesia Wars. Among these successes Casey has continually been grounded and thankful for the simplest of artistic elements and creative expression. He offers his knowledge and experiences and hopes to bring about growth for all those that truly embrace their aesthetic choices.
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Nick Spinelli
Watershed Expert, SCUBA Diver, Conservation Advocate
Nick Spinelli
Watershed Expert, SCUBA Diver, Conservation Advocate
Nick is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed Management District, a position he has held since 2010. He oversees the District’s water quality monitoring program, provides educational programming, writes/administers grants for watershed improvement projects, and leads implementation of the Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed Management Plan.
He has served on the Board of the Pennsylvania Lake Management Society since 2011 and is a past President. Nick graduated from Penn State University in 2007 with a B.S. in Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.
Prior work experience includes time with the National Park Service and the Pike County Conservation District where he served as a watershed specialist. Outside of work, Nick’s interests include natural history, cultural heritage, and SCUBA diving.
He resides in Tafton, PA and is active in several civic organizations. Nick is also active in local emergency response and serves as the Palmyra Township Emergency Management Coordinator as well as volunteering as a member of the Tafton Fire Company and Tafton Dive/ Rescue Team.
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Peter Vargo
Environmental Systems Expert
 Peter Vargo
Environmental Systems Expert
Mr. Vargo is the Founder and President of Nu-Tech Energy Solutions; an established building science and energy efficiency consulting firm. Mr. Vargo is also the Founder and President of STYCORP LTD; a product development company for which Mr. Vargo founded to manufacture, market, and distribute various products based on U.S. Patent 5,934,464 awarded Mr. Vargo in the late 90’s. Some of these products can be seen at www.TALS-Fishing.com. Mr. Vargo was also the Founder and former President of Onsite Compliance Testing Administrators (OCTA); OCTA provided compliance training and testing services such as Drug and Alcohol Testing and various OSHA trainings such as Blood Borne Pathogen Safety training for medical research and testing laboratories.
In addition to private consulting, Mr. Vargo is also contracted by various SUNY schools in New York to teach Building Science related courses. In early 2011, Mr. Vargo was appointed to a national task group by the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) to rewrite and update the NAHB Green Building Standard for 2012. Mr. Vargo has also been an invited guest speaker/lecturer at various functions such as the PHRC (Pennsylvania Housing Research Center) annual conference and building science related seminars at the Penn College of Technology. Currently Mr. Vargo is on both the board of the PHRC as well as on the board of the Wayne County Builder’s Association. Mr. Vargo also develops, markets, and delivers his own Building Science, Sustainability and Energy Efficiency related seminars.
Over the years Mr. Vargo has provided consulting services via Nu-Tech to a wide variety of clients from local single family homeowners, to famous Manhattanites, to the likes of Honeywell, Wintara Group, L.R. Kimball and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
A Pennsylvania native, Mr. Vargo has lived in the Hawley area since 2004. Growing up in central Pennsylvania and attending Lycoming College to study biology and chemistry, Mr. Vargo started his career in New England employed as a lab chemist in the Hazardous Waste Reclamation and Recycling field before choosing the path of self-employment and entrepreneurship in 1997, never to look back.
A dedicated family man, Mr. Vargo is intent on creating environments and experiences for his 3 young sons to learn success via hard work, failure, passion and resolve.
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Tim McLain
Architect – Designer – Dad
Tim McLain
Architect – Designer – Dad
Tim McLain is the Owner of Studio M Architecture + Design, located in Clarks Summit, PA. For the past 16 years, Tim has been involved in a wide variety of design & construction projects across the U.S. His experience with firms located in Santa Monica, Chicago, Manhattan, and NEPA have helped compile a long list of projects that includes large scale mixed use developments as well as interior focused, high-end boutique design & environment branding.
Tim graduated with his Bachelor of Architecture & Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Cincinnati; one of 5 students to be offered the challenge, and one of 2 to complete the coursework for both majors within the time frame allotted for one. This rigor and focus at the start of his career has been the standard to which he holds himself up to today. There’s no project or idea that is too large to take on, and Tim has continuously, successfully managed teams & projects thru the design & construction process.
As Vice President of First Friday Scranton, and a board member of MetroAction (as well as past commitments with the American Cancer Society, NEPA Networkers, and POWER! Scranton), Tim has continuously been involved with community based organizations to help Northeast PA continue to grow and evolve.
www.StudioM-Ad.com
www.DesignADad.com
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Phil Erb
IT Geek – Enjoyer of the outdoors
Phil Erb
IT Geek – Enjoyer of the outdoors
Phil Erb is an IT Systems Administrator for the University of Scranton. Involved in a variety of technologies, spanning systems management to web and collaboration platforms, his belief is that computers should improve people’s workflows, not hinder them.
Prior to joining the University of Scranton, he was a member of the Office of Information Technology at Towson University in Maryland. He also consults with small business and non-profits on their IT and web-related needs.
Phil is a graduate of the Pennsylvania College of Technology, with a B.S. in Data Communications and Networking and has earned multiple Microsoft certifications
As a WordPress enthusiast, and particularly of its community, Phil coordinates the Northeast Pennsylvania WordPress meetup group and co-organized the 2015 WordCamp Scranton conference.
When he’s not in front of a screen, Phil’s outside hiking, camping, or going on some adventure with his family or local Scouts.
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