Leadership
James W. Bohlig
Chief Executive Officer
James W. Bohlig, Chief Executive Officer
ames W. Bohlig has over 45 years of experience in the nuclear energy, cogeneration, renewable energy and waste and construction industry sectors, and is one of the Co-Founders and CEO of CarbonSweep, LLC. Prior to co-founding CarbonSweep, Jim held various positions including Founder, President and Owner of ReInvention Strategies, LLC, a sustainable waste solutions company. Jim also served as Co-Founder, Owner and Chief Development Officer of RePower South, LLC, a company formed in 2013 to develop an operational platform deploying the Accordant Energy Zero Waste Technology under license in 9 Southeastern States. Prior to Repower South, he served as Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Development Officer of ReCommunity Holdings II, Inc./Accordant Energy, a company which aimed to lead a “recovery revolution” by repositioning waste as a strategic community resource instead of a growing liability, and one that offered recycled commodities, low-carbon energy, engineered feedstock and bio-fuels. The company raised $100 Million Private Placement for purchase from Casella Waste System all company recycling assets and related Zero Waste proprietary Intellectual. He also served as President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Development Officer and Director of Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (“Casella”), a leading regional integrated waste management company. During his 19 years with Casella, Jim was a principal growth agent in growing Casella’s top line from $11M to over $550M and the driving force in the company’s innovation and intellectual property efforts. Prior to his various roles at Casella, Jim worked at Westinghouse Electric Corporation in various nuclear and waste to energy development and leadership roles.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Chemistry from the U.S. Naval Academy, and is a graduate of the Columbia University Management Program in Business Administration. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer.
Kenneth J. Cassutt
General Counsel & Chief Administrative Officer
Kenneth J. Cassutt, General Counsel & Chief Administrative Officer
Mr. Cassutt is one of the Co-Founders and serves as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer for CarbonSweep. Ken has been a member of the California bar since 1980 and was a member of the New Mexico bar from 1985 through 2013. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1979, and his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine in 1976.
During the early part of his legal career, Ken worked in the Coachella Valley, New York City and Beverly Hills. Areas of practice included federal and state securities and banking laws, real estate syndications, and general business and real estate law.
In 1985, Ken accepted a position as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Mexico. For 2 ½ years, Ken represented the State prosecuting illegal land developments and fraudulent timeshare projects.
From 1988 through 2013, Ken was in private practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico, practicing in the areas of general business, real estate and land use law. Ken served on the City of Santa Fe’s Policy Planning Commission for three years, and later was appointed by the Santa Fe City Council as a hearing officer for land use appeals.
In 2013, Ken took an extended leave from the practice of law, and worked with a Texas-based company, Skyonic Corporation, to develop a carbon capture and utilization plant in South Africa. Ken resided in Johannesburg, South Africa from March 2015 through May 2016 to advance that project.
In June 2016, following Skyonic’s takeover by investors, Ken returned to San Diego and resumed the practice of law. In 2018, Ken joined forces with Jim Bohlig and Rich Serio to form CarbonSweep.
Richard Serio
Chief Development Officer
Richard Serio, Chief Development Officer
Mr. Serio is one of the Co-Founders and serves as the Chief Development Officer for CarbonSweep. Previously, Rich was a Senior Advisor for Corporate Fuel, a NY-based Investment Bank and Advisory firm. In addition to his role with Corporate Fuel, Rich has maintained an active and independent Consulting firm and served as a senior-level advisor to several clients in the environmental services and waste sectors. Included amongst those assignments were 2 greenfield landfill development projects, and several energy infrastructure development projects focused on extracting value from waste materials an MSW to diesel project in the Caribbean, a cow manure to RNG AD project in the upper Midwest, a large farm-based dairy, swine and hemp AD project in Indiana and 3 urban anaerobic digesters that will produce renewable natural gas and sustainably manage large volumes of organic waste. Rich has deep experience in waste facility operations management, energy from waste technologies, business development and feedstock sourcing.
Mr. Serio’s career has spanned over 30 years of diverse business experience. Prior to CarbonSweep and Corporate Fuel, he led a large private equity-backed Waste Management Fund strategy, from capital raise to business development and the subsequent acquisition and integration of portfolio companies in the non-hazardous solid waste management industry.
Previously, Mr. Serio served as a Vice President at Covanta Energy, a New Jersey-based corporation that owns and operates more than 40 waste-to-energy facilities. Before Covanta, Earlier in his career, Mr. Serio served as Market Vice President at Interstate Waste and Progressive Waste Solutions, where he was responsible for operations and sales in the NY State and the Greater NYC Metro area. He also held the role of Area President at Republic Services, where he managed all facets of Republic’s business in the New York and New Jersey area. For several years (and concurrent with other positions) Rich served as CEO of ZeroTruck. ZeroTruck was a bootstrap startup company that converted conventional fossil fuel powered medium-duty trucks to electric vehicles. The company had some success, selling 15 vehicles to government and private customers, including Google, but ultimately failed to raise enough capital to sustain operations and reach profitability in the period after the CleanTech bubble burst in 2008.
Before shifting his career focus to the Environmental Services industry, Rich worked in the Business Process Outsourcing field of business, where he held several progressively senior leadership positions managing large, complex domestic and international companies. Rich began his professional career as an Industrial Engineer with United Parcel Service where he gained significant leadership experience and foundational skills in the transportation and logistics sector. Mr. Serio received his Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) in Environmental Science from Hofstra University.
Mr. Serio also serves as a Board member for several active companies serving the environmental services market.