Meet Our Team

Governor Bush was the 43rd governor of the state of Florida, serving from 1999 through 2007. During his two terms, Governor Bush remained true to his conservative principles, cutting taxes, vetoing earmarks and championing major reform of government programs.

Under his leadership, Florida was on the forefront of consumer healthcare advances, led the nation in job growth, and launched and accelerated restoration of America's Everglades. In education, Florida raised academic standards, required accountability in public schools and created the most ambitious school choice programs in the nation. As a result, Florida students have made the greatest gains in academic achievement and Florida is one of a handful of states to significantly narrow the achievement gap.

Prior to and after his tenure as Florida's chief executive, Governor Bush was actively involved in the private sector, helping to build the largest full service real estate company in South Florida and owning and operating successful consulting and investing businesses. Governor Bush is a co-founder and Chairman of Dock Square Capital LLC, a merchant bank headquartered in Miami and focused on principal investments, strategic advisory services and joint ventures.

Governor Bush maintains his passion for improving the quality of education for students by serving as the chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national non-profit organization he founded to work with education leaders, teachers, parents and advocates to develop and implement reforms that lead to rising student achievement.

Governor Bush has written three books, Profiles in Character; Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution; and Reply All: A Governor's Story 1999-2007.

Adam Putnam serves as CEO of Ducks Unlimited - only the 6th executive staff leader in the organization's 82-year history. A lifelong farmer and rancher, he has dedicated much of his career to agricultural and natural resource conservation. 

Prior to joining DU, Adam served as Florida's Commissioner of Agriculture where he worked to protect and promote the state's $120 billion agriculture industry, managed 1.3 million acres of state forests, and spearheaded the protection of 50,000 acres of working agricultural lands. From 2001-2011, Adam represented central Florida in the US House of Representatives. During his tenure on the Hill, he was a member of the Agriculture, Financial Services, and Rules Committees, as well as Republican Policy Chairman. Adam also served as Chairman of the Republican Conference, the third-ranking position in the Congressional Leadership.

Former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, is a well-respected figure in the agricultural community. He served as the Governor of Nebraska for six years, during which he was a strong advocate for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. He went on to become the 28th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2005 and later served as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2009 to 2015.

As a member of the National Governors' Association and the Western Governors' Association, Johanns focused on important agricultural issues such as drought relief, ethanol, and the 2002 Farm Bill. During his tenure as Secretary of Agriculture, he played a pivotal role in increasing funding for the Farm Bill conservation title, which provided support for farmers and American landowners in protecting the natural resources they steward.

Secretary Johanns' experience practicing law during the farm crisis of the 1980s taught him the importance of financial partnerships and guidance for farmers. He understands the challenges and needs of those in the agricultural community, and his deep roots in this industry make him an invaluable asset to the future of American agriculture.

George Huber is a co-founder and Managing Principal of Dock Square Capital LLC, a Miami based merchant bank focused on principal investments, strategic advisory services and joint ventures. He is also founder and managing principal of Equity Investment Group an Indiana based commercial real estate investment firm which has completed over $7 Billion worth of transactions throughout the United States covering retail, office, industrial, multi-family, hotel and multiple other property types.

By the early 2000's, Equity Investment Group, as a private retail REIT, had become one of the largest private owner/managers of retail real estate in the United States, with offices in six states and 120 shopping centers nationwide.

Mr. Huber also co-founded, owned and managed Blue Vista Capital Management, LLC, a Chicago based real estate investment management company that raised and managed in excess of $1 Billion of institutional equity through closed-end funds, separate accounts and joint venture relationships totaling approximately $5.25 Billion of capitalization. Mr. Huber also co-owned and served as Managing Principal of Peak Campus Companies, one of the five largest student housing managers and developers in the United States.

Mr. Huber has been active on numerous professional and charitable organizations including serving on the Board of Directors for publicly-traded companies Fort Wayne National Corporation (NASDAQ:FWNC) and Lakeland Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:LKFN) along with leading the boards as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for The Canterbury School; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Board of Directors of Goodwill Industries Northern Indiana; and Chairman of the Board of Directors Downtown Fort Wayne Economic Improvement District.

Mr. Huber holds a B.A. in Business from Vanderbilt University and an MBA with Honors from the University of Michigan.

Dr. John Penson is the Chief Economist at AgAmerica Lending. He became an involved and highly respected Advisory Board member in 2017, while providing counsel to our executive committee. Dr. Penson assumed a full-time role as Chief Economist in June of 2019.

Prior to AgAmerica, Dr. Penson gave presentations on ongoing studies for the Texas Farm Credit District Bank and the Farm Credit Administration Board of Directors in Washington, D.C.  During this time, he stress-tested highly leveraged loans in 26 states. His model is used at AgAmerica to support underwriting functions and look at debt repayment capacity through a two-year projection analysis. Dr. Penson compares this model to driving a car. The rearview mirror represents the underwriting process and analyzes past credit history, whereas the windshield represents the possible outcomes the future holds.

As Chief Economist for AgAmerica, Dr. Penson uses this model to stress test current and potential loan structures and develop a stronger framework for our credit and underwriting process. Through his research, Dr. Penson analyzes and predicts current and potential agricultural trends, updates in legislation, and outlook on top commodities.

Dr. David Mieczkowski is the SVP & Chief Investment Officer for AgAmerica. Since 2018, he has been an involved and highly respected member of AgAmerica’s Advisory Board.

Prior to AgAmerica, Dr. Mieczkowski held the role of Director of Fixed Income & Credit and a Portfolio Manager for SCS Financial—an $18bn investment and wealth management firm that serves families, family offices, and institutional investors—where he is responsible for managing $3bn in capital across cash, core fixed income, and multi-sector credit fund-of-fund portfolios.

Prior to joining SCS, Dr. Mieczkowski was the lead fixed income strategist for Fidelity Investments' Strategic Advisors—a $200bn managed account business—where he advised on asset allocation, manager selection, and business cycle modeling. He was also the Head of Fixed Income Quantitative Research at FactSet Research Systems, where he built out and led a research team that developed fixed-income analytics and multi-asset class risk models for the firm.

Dr. Mieczkowski was a principal editor and contributing author to Investment Risk and Uncertainty: Advanced Risk Awareness Tools and Techniques for the Intelligent Investor.

Before his career in investments, Dr. Mieczkowski worked in academia as a research fellow and lecturer and has taught mathematics at SUNY Stony Brook and Penn State University. He holds a B.S. in Honors Mathematics from the University of Michigan, a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Penn State University, and an MBA from Cornell University.

Wesley Barnett is an experienced entrepreneur and business executive with a comprehensive background in start-up investments and real estate development. He is a board member of Citizens Bank and Trust, All Saints Academy, and the GiveWell Community Foundation. He is also a managing partner of Mayfair Properties of Lakeland.

Mr. Barnett earned his B.S. in Business, Finance, from Wake Forest University. After graduation, he was the Director of Strategic Planning and, later, the Managing Partner of TreeTop Commons LLC, a cloud-based software company that empowers community engagement through the implementation of powerful online tools. During his 12-year tenure with the company, he simultaneously worked towards and completed his Master of Business Administration in three years from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

The son of Carol and Barney Barnett, Mr. Barnett is a Lakeland native who is an active member of the Polk County community, as well as local communities across the state of Florida. His deep commitment to making a positive impact on his community has led him to establish philanthropic organizations, such as United Way and The Children's Movement. He is also one of the founders of Lakeland's Bonnet Springs Park.