Masada

Miles College political science graduate on sudden journey

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:15:14 +0000

Just before Jessica Findley’s business career took off, she was a waitress in a restaurant at The Summit majoring in political science, not knowing that she was about to embark on a career in the renewable energy industry that is about to take her to London and points beyond.

The 2004 graduate of Clay Chalkville High School got her college degree from Miles College in 2009 with a 4.0 grade point average, and figured she would wind up working for electoral candidates, or with social or civic organizations, or for a government ministry.

That all changed when she got a job a few years ago with ProTire, a tire recycling company, where she learned the basics of the worldwide scrap and garbage business that now considers her a global expert on converting glass, plastic and rubber into liquid fuel. Her success in the field is sending her in September to London for an executive master’s in business program at the Hult International Business School, ranked 29th among peer institutions by The Economist.

Full Article: Birmingham News

Masada to mine uranium in Namibia

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:12:07 +0000

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — A Birmingham-based energy company run by lawyer-turned-businessman Donald Watkins has signed an exclusive contract with the government of Namibia to mine uranium for sale to nuclear power stations worldwide. Watkins said in an interview Tuesday that his Nabirm LLC signed the uranium partnership agreement with a company owned by the Namibian government this week. Uranium is a radioactive ore used to produce nuclear energy. Namibia, in southern Africa, is the world’s fourth-largest producer of uranium, with vast underground deposits.

“Nuclear energy will be a mega-source for power generation in India, Russia and China for the rest of the 21st century,” Watkins said. “We are arranging the acquisition of the necessary exploration and production equipment right now and expect to be operational later this year.” It is the latest energy-industry play by Watkins, whose early professional years were spent as a lawyer. His clients included the city of Birmingham under the administration of former Mayor Richard Arrington; Auburn University football whistleblower Eric Ramsey; and former HealthSouth Corp. Chief Executive Richard Scrushy, who was acquitted of federal criminal accounting fraud charges in 2005 after a legal defense choreographed by Watkins prevailed over U.S. prosecutors.

Full Article: Birmingham News

Baker joins Masada Resource Group

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:01:17 +0000

Former Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary last year, has joined a Birmingham-based bio-fuels company. Baker will serve as vice president for global marketing, Masada’s chairman, Donald Watkins, said in a statement issued this week.Baker served 14 years as state AG, including a stint as president of the National Association of Attorneys General, and previously served in the state House of Representatives.

Source: AJC

Masada eyes Asia for ethanol plants

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:08:58 +0000

Birmingham’s Masada Resource Group, the trash-to-fuel energy company led by Donald Watkins, said today it plans to build hundreds of ethanol plants worldwide.

Source: The Birmingham News