Team

Chris Lloyd

DON Founder and CEO

Successful entrepreneur, disability rights activist, and military veteran, Chris has over 20 years of profitable, organic business development. His DON companies include in-home personal care, residential and commercial construction, insurance, disability rights advocacy, and hemp fiber—combining his passion for disability rights and growing local economies. Chris sees hemp fiber as key to new, long-term economic opportunity for farmers.

Philip Berezniak, J.D.

Partner and Head Legal Counsel

A successful businessman and real estate attorney, Phil brings a wealth of experience in property law and business startups. Phil was instrumental in the growth of DON’s startups and led the process for the numerous property acquisitions.  He worked to support the passing of PA Act 46 in 2017, which opened the state to growing for research purposes, setting the stage for opening the state to general permitting in 2019.

Court Hower, J.D.

Chief Executive Officer

For the past four years Court developed the housing and construction divisions for DON from a startup position.  He has successfully garnered over $2M in grant funding in just the past two years.  Court recently has moved to oversee all DON company operations and coordinates all outreach with government agencies.

Christopher Little, MBA, CPA, FHFMA, CHFP

Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer

An experienced executive with a strong background in finance, audit, project management and compliance, Chris previously worked for KPMG, was a VP of Finance/CFO of a hospital and its related foundation, overseeing its $30M fund. Chris is responsible for quality assurance and contract compliance for all DON entities. He owns a family farm.

Lori Daytner

Project Manager

A former CEO of a $340M public company in Russia and central Europe, Lori has over 20 years’ startup and operations experience in fast-developing emerging markets and now oversees DON’s hemp division.  Her experience includes new business development, marketing, franchising, and organizational change management. Lori’s grandparents operated a potato farm, she is a PA Farm Bureau member and owns an Amish farm.

Steven Empfield

Project Analyst

An accountant with a B.S. in Business Administration, Steven has strong financial reporting and analytical skills which he applied to several successful business improvement projects. Steven is interested in hemp as a bio-component in the plastics industry and heads our research initiative for end-users in this field.