About Me

Graduate of the University of Washington USA in 1995 with an MBA and corresponding Certificate in Environmental Management and the University of Illinois USA in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and a minor in Nutrition.

An American citizen who originally visited Poland in 1995 with the program MBA Enterprise Corps to consult private businesses in strategy and business development. Served as President and CEO of Symbio Polska S.A., Poland’s largest organic food producer and exporter, from 2001 to 2009, listing the company on Poland’s Newconnect stock market in 2008. The company worked with over 1000 family farms throughout Poland, converting their farms to organic, restructuring their product mix to higher-value fruits and vegetables, outsourced the processing of their products into an array of semi-finished products such as IQF frozen, purees, and concentrates and finished products such as jams, juices, granola, and baked goods, exporting the semi-finished products to numerous countries in Western Europe and North America. Also served as Vice President of A. Blikle Sp. z o.o., a leading cafe chain with a 150-year history, successfully restructuring the company’s personnel and debt as well as identifying key areas to develop such as franchising and new product development. Prior to these posts, Steve worked 2 years as Channel Marketing Manager at Coca-Cola Poland as well as 3 years in Poland’s venture capital industry. Prior to coming to Poland, he worked six years in the U.S. food industry, including four years in product development for Keebler Company, the USA’s number 2 cookie and cracker manufacturer.

Currently co-owns Bison Bakery www.piekarniazubrowka.pl and LOV Food www.lovfood.eu based in Poland’s Białowieża region, the European Union’s largest wild bison reserve, producing a wide variety of sourdough breads, pastries, and organic cookies and granola.

Hobbies include bicycle touring, kayaking, travelling, health and wellness, and nature photography. He has bicycle-toured 9700 km in 13 countries, kayaked over 1000 km, climbed Mts. Kilimanjaro, Olympus, and Rainier, and has visited 53 countries in total including the Trans-Siberian railway journey from Beijing to Warsaw.