Green Depot
General Manager and General Counsel

As a member of Energy Alternatives’ Advisory Council, Jim Holiber brings a wealth of construction industry and executive-level experience, knowledge and contacts to Energy Alternatives.  Over his 25 years in the industry, his experience includes executive management of major, established companies in addition to start-up expertise with a track record of success.

Jim was recruited to lead Green Depot in 2006, alongside Green Depot’s CEO, Sarah Beatty.  In just 4 years, Jim has been instrumental in growing Green Depot from a concept to the largest and most reputable supplier of eco-friendly construction and consumer products in the U.S. and globally  As Green Depot’s General Manager and Corporate Counsel, he is responsible for ensuring that all facets of operations are optimized for peak efficiency, maximum sales growth, business plan execution, best practices and superior customer relations. This role extends not only to multi-branch operations and sales, but to the successful launch of new locations and vendor lines. In addition, Jim is responsible for ongoing staff training and mentoring, is a member of Green Depot’s Internal Product Assessment committee, and oversees in-house legal affairs.

Jim also currently serves on the Executive Board of the Urban Green Council, New York chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.  He is also the Executive Board’s Treasurer, as well as a member of the its Fundraising and Governance Committee.

Prior to joining Green Depot in 2006, Jim was President and CEO of The Bay Ridge Companies, a multi-location building material distribution company, where he spent 18 years in various leadership roles in operations, sales and finance, and as the firm’s General Counsel. As CEO of Bay Ridge, Jim turned the company around and ultimately orchestrated and oversaw the sale of the company to Marjam Supply Company.  Following its acquisition of Bay Ridge, the owners of Marjam sponsored the start-up of Green Depot and appointed Jim to lead the effort..  Earlier in Jim's career, he held leadership roles at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in corporate strategic planning and the management of in-house TV production. While at NBC, Jim earned his law degree at night and went on to work at a New York law firm handling corporate, real estate and immigration law matters before entering the lumber distribution business.

Jim resides with his wife and two children in Westchester County, New York and enjoys skiing, traveling and spending time with his family.

MetLife, Inc.
Vice President, Corporate Development, Mergers & Acquisitions

As a member and the current Chairman of our Advisory Council, George Luecke brings 15 years of extensive business, financial, capital raising, M&A, corporate development, business development and legal experience to Energy Alternatives. 

His background includes the origination and execution of strategic and financial mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and partnerships, the formation, funding and advisory of start-up companies, capital raising for long-established private and public companies, serving as the Chief Financial Officer for a major business. His experience crosses functional lines, from product manufacturing to distribution, as well as industry lines, from financial services to real estate, in a wide variety of business settings, from Corporate to Investment Banking and Law.  George offers Energy Alternatives the advantages of big business experience, knowledge, skills and contacts, along with his entrepreneurial mindset and fluid, communicative business approach.

He is currently a member of the Corporate Development, Mergers & Acquisitions Group (CDM&A) of MetLife, Inc. with coverage and execution responsibility for the Retirement Products, Auto & Home and Distribution segments of MetLife’s U.S. Business.  He was previously the Chief Financial Officer of the Retirement & Wealth Strategies Group, consisting mainly of third-party wholesaling, marketing, pricing, operations, technology and strategic planning for the company’s Individual Annuity business as well as its Broker-Dealer divisions. His CFO responsibilities included oversight of strategic planning, sales planning, internal key metrics reporting, budgeting and expense management, consolidation and analysis of numerous internal Profit and Loss statements, variable compensation design, analysis and payment for the Third-party Wholesaling organization, profitability monitoring and analysis and numerous financial and accounting operations functions.  Prior to serving as CFO, George has held roles involving Reinsurance and Investments. His Investments role involved in the sourcing and execution of various transactions across the full range of potential structures and asset classes, including Real Estate and Consumer and Commercial Finance.

George was previously an Investment Banker at Banc of America Securities LLC (BAS), where he focused on Mergers & Acquisitions and public and private capital raising transactions.  He was one of four original founders of BAS’ Financial Institutions Investment Banking Group, hired to start up the group in 1999.  George spent several years at BAS in graduating roles, and was a core participant in creating significant growth in the group’s revenues over that time.  Prior to BAS, he was an Investment Banker in Merrill Lynch’s Financial Institutions Group.  He was previously a Corporate Attorney at the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where, again, he specialized in M&A and public and private capital raising transactions. 

George has also invested and/or advised in numerous real estate lending, foreclosure and residential home, condominium and real property investment situations. George received his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School and his B.S. in Management/Finance with honors from Binghamton University.  He worked his way to and through college as part of a small home building team that built 2 to 3 homes per year on Long Island.  He now lives with his wife, Patricia, and their 2 daughters, Eva and Paige, in Westchester NY.