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• Leadership

Leadership

Eric T. Paulsen
President & CEO

Eric is co-founder of Houston Mercantile Exchange and leads the commercial and business development efforts of the company. He was formerly Vice President of the Commodity Exchange for ChemConnect, Inc. and was instrumental in the development and growth of the commodity exchange business including the acquisitions of Chematch and Chalkboard.

Prior to ChemConnect, Eric was co-founder and principal in the strategic consulting and merger and acquisition advisory company Plassein Partners where among other transactions, he initiated, developed and completed the rollup acquisition of a number of plastic film processing companies. Eric has over 30 years of experience in developing and managing businesses in commodity trading and financial transaction services with companies such as Enron, Texas Gas and CSX.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University.

Michael G. Ereli
Executive Vice President & COO

Michael is co-founder of Houston Mercantile Exchange and leads the company's technology development and operations by drawing on his experience of more than twenty years in technology, supply chain management consulting and exchange development and operations. Since 1999, Michael has played a critical role in launching Chematch, ChemConnect and developing the exchange platforms that supported the business.

Previously, Michael served as the Information Technology director for Koch Energy, where he led the largest web-based application at the company at that time. Prior to that, he was a principal in the energy practice of CSC Consulting, specializing in electronic commerce, supply chain management, customer relationship management and Internet-based solutions.

Michael started his career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), helping companies in a variety of industries leverage technology for competitive advantage.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University.

Cynthia Wigren
Vice President – Market Development & Strategic Planning

Cynthia leads Houston Mercantile Exchange's market development and growth strategies. Cynthia has over eight years of experience in electronic trading of physical and financial crude oil, refined products, and ethanol, allowing her to leverage her expertise to develop and implement new markets and business strategies at HMX.

Prior to joining the company, Cynthia was Managing Director of Marketing and Business Development at HoustonStreet Exchange. At HoustonStreet, Cynthia managed the day-to-day operations of the electronic trading business, developed and maintained strategic customer and business relationships, researched new markets, and coordinated customer use cases with technical development. She was responsible for the company's expansion into the biofuels and financial swaps markets. Cynthia also initiated and led a project with the New York Mercantile Exchange to develop the first electronic link to ClearPort^® clearing.

Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of New Hampshire and a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.

Chris Stamp
Director of Technology

Chris leads the Houston Mercantile Exchange technology efforts by working closely with top management to oversee the development and implementation of HMX's electronic trading platform and other mission critical systems. Chris has over eight years experience developing electronic trading, online auction, and supply chain systems for the financial services, petrochemical, and manufacturing industries.

Prior to joining HMX, Chris was the Lead Applications Developer at Supply Chain Connect, LLC and held a variety of systems development postions at both ChemConnect, Inc. and CheMatch.com, Inc.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in the Management of Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Houston where he graduated summa cume laude.