Our team of Duncan Soldner and Paul A. Masson have worked together since the late 1980's on a half dozen controlled growing environment farm upgrades, expansions, restructuring and new technology adoption. Duncan has conceived, lead, management and implemented the farm design, buildout and technology adoption actions. Paul has advised, lead and implemented financial
models that reflected the new technology adoptions.

Duncan Soldner has a professional career water management & regulation, closed environment agriculture (mushrooms), technology innovation and startup companies.

He is the founder of the Clearwater Group, former President of Colusa Mushrooms, Operating Manager of Petaluma Mushrooms, specialist in Dutch-style indoor farming and currently President of the Clearwater Group and the Gourmet Growers Family Farm Cooperative.

He oversaw the permitting, construction and operation of largest, California mushroom farm applying closed loop concepts through controlled environment agriculture design. The farm, built in stages from 2002 through 2008 produces 14 million pounds of mushrooms annually. That farm incorporates a closed loop, zero wastewater system recycling all of its surplus irrigation and wash water. It also generates much of its electrical and hot water needs by burning locally source walnut shells in a kiln resulting with a carbon residue that is sold to the cement industry. The farm also has an air treatment system that collects nutrient rich airborne element and blows that air under cedar chips which degrade to an enhanced soil amendment sold to farmers. All of the growing environment controls aremicro-processor driven with data logged and archived. The grower technicians can remotely accessand manage all aspects of the environmental controls by app on their cell phones.

 
His academic background includes a BS in the Humanities from UC Davis and studies in law at Santa Clara University. He has been a teacher and lecturer in the Humanities at San Francisco State University.

Duncan Soldner's LinkedIn

Paul A. Masson has a multi-disciplinary career as a manager of projects, programs and operating units in Fortune 500 companies, startups, research organizations, state economic development units and Federal government agencies. He isthe former contract CFO of two closed environment agriculture companies focused applying close-loop technology systems, primarily to mycellium (mushroom) growing with expansion into multiple crops, primarily applying Dutch style farming systems.
 

His specialty is integrating earlystage innovations with customized financing to generate new products and services. His hands industry sector experience includes corporate & international banking, investment banking, pension management, production management, information technology (including AI-expert systems), offshore wind, agriculture, aerospace, materials fabrication, manufacturing, transportation and management consulting.
 

He is known for designing and implementing strategies that are tightly linked to implementation, but with
customized operating systems that permit changes that respond to external forces.
 

His academic background includes a BS in Economics from UPenn/Wharton and an MBA in Finance from UPenn/Wharton. He has been a lecturer at several Northern California colleges and universities, including Stanford Business School.

Paul A. Masson's LinkedIn