The Team
Cole Gibbs
Founder & CEO
Cole Gibbs, founder & CEO of Dama and an innovative entrepreneur, is pioneering the development of sustainable plant-based bioplastic and compliant packaging solutions for a variety of industries. With only nine percent of all plastic recycled worldwide, and the plastic waste problem growing out of control in all industries, Cole established a practical and sustainable strategy for business and industry using the power of plants and other green technologies. Dama is powered 100% by renewable wind energy. Cole’s concern for the overwhelming amount of plastic waste clogging our seas and damaging soil is what challenged and motivated him to take action. Over the last three years alone, Cole and his team have made a massive impact on the world today by preventing over 2 million lbs of petroleum plastic from entering our environment. As he looks to the future, Cole believes his years of research in the area of sustainable bioplastic packaging, combined with hundreds of relationships in business and industry, will prevent thousands of tons of petroleum plastic from damaging our planet. Cole, an active outdoor enthusiast, attended Salt Lake Community College and Weber State University where he studied Automotive Technology with an emphasis on alternative fuels, including Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Biodiesel, Hydrogen Fuel and Hemp Ethanol. He also worked as a high-altitude prototype test driver for Jaguar/Land Rover. Cole has spoken at numerous events, expos, and symposiums on sustainability, bioplastics, and waste management. Sharing his knowledge and expertise so we can all live a more sustainable life. At Dama, we care about the world we live in and strive to make the world a better place for us all.
Adam Dietrich
Director of
Material Science
Adam Dietrich was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended high school at Chaminade College Preparatory School. After graduation, Adam headed west to earn his undergraduate diploma at the University of Kansas. While at KU, Adam traveled abroad to New South Whales, Australia enrolling at the University of Newcastle. It was there Adam was introduced to biological psychology and the advanced understandings of biochemical change within a living organism due to external stressors. Since then, it has been Adam’s passion to help rebalance the earth to healthier conditions, preserving life for future generations. Adam’s passion further drove him to become a small business owner in 2017 where he took immediate action on climate remediation through the utilization of industrial hemp in his current home state of Colorado. Adam has not looked back and since he joined Dama BioPlastics in 2021, has been focused daily on the production of efficient, sustainable, scalable, and cost-effective methods to process and refine agricultural biomass into value-add, climate-smart materials for the replacement of non-renewable feedstocks across various industries. Adam has contributed to the development of a multi-stage biorefinery & formulation facility for the purpose of refining all agricultural biomass waste into feedstocks used within the development of bioplastic and geopolymer formulations. Adam, along with the Dama Team, understands the need for carbon-conscious supply chains that are internal, regional, and closed loop to ensure the revitalization of the United States of America.
Wayne Berg
Director of
Business Development
Wayne Berg has been a travel adventurer and an entrepreneur since he was young. When he turned 16, he bought his first car and started chasing hurricanes up and down the east coast in search of a large wave to surf. That led to traveling to other countries to go surfing. After his first trip out of the country, he was hooked on learning about how the rest of the world lives their lives. He now has traveled to 54 countries (and 48 states). Wayne was destined to be an entrepreneur. He started mowing lawns for all of the neighbors at eight years old. Throughout the years, he has owned and managed many businesses such as mortgage lending, real estate investing, and a design-build electrical company with a staff of 25 employees, and annual sales of over twenty-five million dollars a year. Presently, Wayne owns a digital media marketing and video production agency. As the Director of Business Development for DAMA, Wayne is in charge of implementing marketing strategies in order to maximize DAMA's business performance and drive growth. Responsibilities include organizing business events as well as interacting with potential clients and business partners. He feels strongly about the ability to clean up our Earth by switching to bio-plastic products like the ones DAMA is manufacturing.
Mike Erdman
Chief of
Operations
Mike Erdman grew up in Springfield, Nebraska and during his high school years at Platteview High School, Mike developed a keen interest in masonry. In his senior year, Mike competed nationally in a masonry competition and the experience at the national competition fueled his passion for masonry and solidified his determination to pursue a career in the field. In 2008, after the financial crash had its ripple effects in the construction sector, Mike started at PayPal and worked his way into Brand Risk Management. In 2011, he made the decision to move to Denver, Colorado, to go back to school while seeking new opportunities and a change of scenery. In February 2013 Mike joined Mountain High Suckers, a rapidly growing cannabis-infused product company based in Denver. At Mountain High Suckers, Mike took on significant operational responsibilities, handling bookkeeping, compliance, legal agreements, and various other operational duties. He played a pivotal role in ensuring the company's compliance with legal regulations and contributed to its overall operational efficiency. In 2020, Mike identified a need for improved point of sale displays for Mountain High Suckers. He began 3D printing MHS point of sale displays, providing innovative and customized solutions for the company. After working on this for over two years, Mike founded Omaden Production and Design in January 2023. Through Omaden, he extended his expertise in 3D printing to other companies, offering tailored point of sale display solutions.
Jon Guertin
Q.C. & R&D
Jon Guertin is an R&D Technologist with over 18 years of polymer application experience at 3M in Minnesota. Expertise in material characterization by FTIR spectroscopy, thermal analysis by TGA & DSC, microscopy, and rheological techniques. Product development and application experience with custom polymeric materials for automotive badging, pharmaceutical drug delivery, and video display film technologies. Leadership skills for manufacturing and laboratory personnel including safety, housekeeping, equipment maintenance, and calibration. Build-out of multiple laboratory suites including a dedicated dry analysis laboratory for analysis of active pharmaceutical ingredients and custom polymeric materials by highly sensitive analytical techniques. My primary focus will be to lead the quality effort and provide a consistently high-quality raw material that meets the processing specification of our clients. My mission is to identify modern instrumentation and equipment that will be incorporated in the manufacturing of the bioplastic material for specification testing of the finished product. My future responsibilities will include identifying new customer applications of our hemp-based resins and exploring the creation of new polymer types. I share the passion to provide alternative hemp-based materials for the consumer industry that are home/backyard compostable and biocompatible I also envision a future where consumer packaging materials are recycled along with food waste into a natural composting facility or backyard bin where it will be quickly returned to the earth. Development possibilities for hemp-based polymers are as wide as the applications of petroleum-based polymers and I have many ideas for other applications.