Executive Committee
Chair, Rene DeBerdt - Denham-Blythe
Rene is Construction and Development Manager at Denham-Blythe. The Denham-Blythe company was founded in 1976 by Charlie Denham and Dale Blythe, both former recipients of the Construction Management Founders Society Lifetime Achievement Award. As a structural engineer, some of the design projects that Bill had the opportunity to work on included a $11.5 million industrial plant for Caterpillar in Danville, Kentucky, a $2.0 million facility expansion for the Okonite Company in Santa Maria, California, a $4.4 million new manufacturing facility for Webasto in Lexington, Kentucky, and a four-story office building for Lexmark in Lexington.
Vice-Chair, Masakazu Sano - Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky
Secretary, Kay Sargent - Lexington Sister Cities
Kay is the Executive Director of Lexington Sister Cities, a program designed to encourage global understanding between American cities and other world communities. Lexington has sister-city ties with Deauville, France; County Kildare, Ireland; Shinhidaka, Japan; and Newmarket, England.
Treasurer, David Kidd - PNC Bank
David is Senior Vice President in the Commercial and Corporate Banking Department at PNC Financial Services Group. He is in his seventh year at PNC and his seventeenth in corporate and commercial banking. Prior to his banking career, David was in corporate sales at AT&T. In addition to being a board member of JASK, Mr. Kidd is also the current President of the Lexington Children’s Theatre, sits on the Shriner’s Hospital Corporate Council, the board for United Way of the Bluegrass, and is a coach for 4-H Shooting Sports. He is also on the selection committee for Leadership Kentucky and on the steering committee of Leadership Lexington.
Yukie Cooper - Gray Construction
Yukie is Economic Development Manager at Gray Construction and is instrumental in the company’s business development initiatives. Headquartered in Lexington, KY, Gray Construction embodies a family legacy that excels in delivering a full spectrum of services, including engineering, design, construction, digital solutions, equipment manufacturing, and real estate services.
With a reputation for excellence that’s recognized globally, Gray boats a strategic network of regional offices across the US, as well as in Japan and Europe. This expansive footprint empowers the company to adeptly oversee a wide variety of projects, with a targeted emphasis on industries such as Food & Beverage, Manufacturing, Advanced Technology, Mission Critical, Distribution, and Commercial Markets.
Bill Quenemoen - Denham-Blythe
Bill is Chief Executive Officer at Denham-Blythe Company. He is a registered professional engineer in 24 states and member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Concrete Institute. Bill graduated with his BSCE from Ohio State in 1993. Afterwards, he pursued his master's degree in civil engineering at the University of Kentucky while working as a teaching assistant to Prof. Hans Gesund. In April of 1995, Bill accepted a position at the Denham-Blythe Company as a structural engineer in their design department and the following year he received his MSCE degree from UK. In 2004, Bill received his MBA from the Gatton College of Business at UK.
John Ferguson - Pro Tech Quality Solutions
John is the President of Pro Tech Quality Solutions, an industry leader in third party quality assurances services including Containment, Sorting, Rework, Launch Assistance, Representation and Problem Solving.
Robert L. Brown - Lynch, Cox, Gilman & Goodman
Robert represents domestic and foreign companies reach customers in overseas markets. Robert is chair of National District Export Council appointed by US Secretary of Commerce. He is also chair of Kentucky District Export Council, and treasurer of Sister Cities of Louisville. Robert has previously served as chair of the Kentucky World Trade Center, chair of the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and chair of Crane House, a leading Asian cultural and business society. On a global scale, he is chair of the American Bar Association, Section of International Law and its 20,000 members in over 100 countries. In addition to a law degree, he has earned MBA and MS in urban economics (Louisville), MS in Japanese business (Jochi University in Tokyo), and two PhDs in law and development (University of Cambridge and The London School of Economics and Political Science). Recently, he completed an LL.M. in world trade from the University of London. He has also passed the CPA exam. He is admitted in Kentucky, New York, California, District of Columbia, England and Wales, and Hong Kong. From 1990-1993, he was admitted as a foreign lawyer in Japan.
Board Members
Randall Weber - Topy America
Jeff Ayotte - Hitachi Astermo Automotive Systems
Hitachi Astermoi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc., is a Tier 1 supplier of world-class products to the global automotive market. The company operates ones sales and research and development office, one aftermarket sales office, and three manufacturing facilities in the United States.
Vanessa Grossl - Council State of Governments
Vanessa is JASK's Young Professional JET Programme Representative. She is a Policy Analyst at the Council State of Governments. Prior to joining CSG, Vanessa worked in Multicultural Affairs with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. Prior to her time as a civil servant, Vanessa spent nearly a decade as a foreign language teacher. She was a JET Programme participant in Tahara, Aichi for 5 years from 2006-2011 before serving as Vice President and President of the Kentucky Association of Japanese Language Teachers. While in Japan, Vanessa also worked for the U.S. Embassy in Japan at the USDA’s Agricultural Trade Office where she collaborated with foreign governments on a number of initiatives and coauthored several reports, including the 2007 Exporter Guide.
Bob Helton -
Masamichi Inoue - University of Kentucky
Masamichi is an Associate Professor of Japan Studies at the University of Kentucky. Since the mid-1990s, he has been conducting a series of anthropological and cultural analyses of the U.S. military base issues in Okinawa. Masamichi has initiated a project which traces, through a set of case studies, how Japanese culture has evolved since the 20th century as a global sanctuary—a transnational space of refuge, intimacy, and social critique open to social bodies with diverse gender, ethnic, national, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, he has been conducting fieldwork with the campus police to examine issues of security in the increasingly globalized environment of post-9.11 American society. “Border-crossing” as a form of intellectual enterprise mediates and unites these projects, manifesting itself as Masamichi writes Japan (including Okinawa) from a global perspective on the one hand and explore global America as a Japanese intellectual on the other.
Jeff McKenzie - Dentons Bingham Greenebaum
Jeff is a Partner at Dentons Bingham Greenebaum. He serves as corporate, transactional and business counsel to numerous industrial, commercial and service businesses. Jeff has provided extensive services and is a principal legal advisor to national and regional clients in the following industries: distilled spirits; hospitals and healthcare; financial services; automotive production; logistics and distribution; steel production and fabrication; construction; engineering; architecture; consumer products; real estate development and brokerage; pharmaceuticals; professional services; restaurants; and medical products and devices. Dentons is the world's largest law firm. Their global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in 184 locations serving 76 countries.
Philip Koester - Waterfront Botanical Gardens
Philip is the President of the Waterfront Botanical Gardens. The Waterfront Botanical Gardens was started by Botanica, an umbrella organization for the local gardening community that was started in 1993 to help enlighten, entertain, and educate the community about the botanical world. In 2001, Botanica learned that it was the beneficiary of a trust established by member Helen Harrigan, a local gardener with a desire to see a botanical garden and conservatory built in Louisville.
Karen Wheeler - Suntory Global Spirits
Karen is Community Relations and Operations Support Coordinator at Beam Suntory. Beam Suntory is a world leader in premium spirits with a mission of inspiring human connections. The company is a subsidiary of Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd, which itself is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.
Doug Whitlock - Eastern Kentucky University
Doug is President Emeritus of Eastern Kentucky University. He graduated from EKU in 1965. He later received honors such as becoming part of the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2011 and the University's 11th President. He has also served as a member of the Madison County Schools Board of Education (1999-2011), the Richmond Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Commerce Lexington's Central Kentucky Public Policy Council, Bluegrass Tomorrow Board of Directors, the International Town and Gown Association, the Southern Growth Policies Board and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
During his tenure, Eastern Kentucky University garnered several national recognitions, including: designations by Forbes and U.S. News as being among America's best colleges; distinctions as a community-engaged university by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Washington (DC) Monthly magazine; and recognition for two consecutive years as one of America's "Great Colleges to Work For," including 2010's designation as an Honor Roll institution, by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Most notably, perhaps, is EKU's recognition as a veterans-friendly campus by G.I. Jobs magazine and a Number 1 ranking in the nation by Military Times EDGE magazine with its "Best for Vets" honor.
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