Stuart Scandridge, Founder & CEO

Stu Scandridge is the President and Founder of CollegiateZone, Enterprises, LP, a company that provides college preparatory tools and utilities to students. Prior to CollegiateZone, Scandridge was in the horticulture business for 25 years. After successfully managing and owning commercial landscape companies, he decided to pursue his dream of helping high school students achieve athletic success at the college level. In 2000, he created Topjock.Net, Inc. Topjock, a web-based self-marketing tool, lets athletes showcase their talents to college coaches in an effort to participate in inter-collegiate sports, while maximizing college athletic scholarship opportunities.

A few years later he expanded the company’s vision to offer a tool for performing arts and science students to market their talents to college directors. After considerable research and further development, Scandridge raised capital to grow the business and produce an all in one web-based system. Out of this evolved CollegiateZone Enterprises, LP. CollegiateZone has four major brands (Topquest, MindSight™, Topscholar, and Topjock) that offer a magnitude of unique services and features in which all students can benefit. In addition, the company has a complete database of all accredited colleges, thousands of records of college-specific scholarships, portable scholarships, grants, financial aid and endowments, and college directors and coaches.

Scandridge lives in Houston, TX, where he is married and the father of three boys and three girls. Firsthand experience with high school academics and extracurricular activities, coupled with his understanding of college requirements and the competitiveness of college and scholarship opportunities, has allowed Scandridge to develop and deliver a service that is unmatched.

Rashena Lindsay, Chief Marketing Director

Rashena Lindsay has more than 10 years experience developing communications and marketing strategies including corporate and employee communications, external communications, and crisis communications, for companies like Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS and Hallmark Cards, Inc.

In her most recent corporate position, Manager of Corporate Communication for Houston Cellular and Cingular Wireless, Rashena was responsible for creating the company’s strategic communications plan and overseeing the implementation. Communication tactics included twice-weekly employee emails, monthly newsletter, interactive video at employees’ desktops, employee meetings, community relations events and establishing a crisis communications plan.

She was pivotal in the announcement and subsequent communications of the market launch of Cingular Wireless. She developed design strategies, executive speeches and produced videos to help employees transition from Houston Cellular to Cingular Wireless.

Currently, she consults on marketing and communications projects for healthcare, real estate, security, and sports organizations including Memorial Herman Healthcare System, Access2Athletes and Axiom Productions. Rashena holds a Master’s degree in Marketing and Media, and a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism and Corporate Communications

Chuck Watson (Limited Partner & Chairman)

Educated in business and economics at Oklahoma State University, Chuck spent 13 years with Conoco and 17 years as Chairman and CEO of NGC Corp, which became Dynegy Inc.

Gary Edwards (Limited Partner)

Gary W. Edwards is a native of Wichita, Kansas, and received a BSCE from Kansas State University in 1963. He’s a member and former chairman of the KSU Engineering Advisory Council. In 1989, Edwards was inducted into the KSU Engineering Hall of Fame. He also attended the Harvard Professional Management Development Program, Southern Methodist University McGuire Institute of Executives in the Oil and Gas Industry, and The Aspen Institute.

Edwards joined Conoco in 1963 as an Engineering Trainee, with a pipeline subsidiary in Casper, Wyoming. He held various management positions in the company before being elected Vice President of North American Marketing in 1983. Later, Edwards became V.P. of North American Refining, Marketing and Transportation in 1985. He moved to London in 1987 after being named Conoco V.P. of Refining and Marketing, Europe, and Chairman of Conoco Ltd. Edwards returned to Houston in 1991, as Executive V.P. of Refining, Marketing, Supply and Transportation, overseeing Conoco’s global $25 billion downstream business. He retired from Conoco, Inc., as Senior Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development in December, 2001, after 38 years with the company. In that capacity, Edwards helped bring together Conoco and Phillips in the largest merger of equals in history, to form ConocoPhillips. Earlier in 2001, he led the effort for Conoco to acquire Gulf Canada, a $6.5 billion transaction, the largest in Canadian oil and gas history. He also served as a member of the Conoco Management Committee.

Edwards has been on the board of directors of the American Petroleum Institute, a Director and Vice President of the European Petroleum Industry Association in Brussels, Belgium, and a member of the National Association of Manufacturers Board. He currently serves on the boards of Sunoco, Inc., Entergy Corporation, The Methodist Hospital, The Yellowstone Park Foundation (Emeriti’s), The Club at Cordillera, and the advisory boards of Compass Partners International, L.L.C., Game Creek Club, and Theatre Under the Stars. He has also served as an advisor to one of the Middle East state oil companies. He has served on the board of Sunoco Logistics, Brand Services, The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, and The National Board of Junior Achievement, Inc.
.
Edwards and his wife Peggy reside in Houston, where he is a member of Chapelwood United Methodist Church and a former president of its Administrative Board. They are the parents of two daughters and grandparents of five grandsons. Edwards enjoys golf, skiing, fly fishing, hiking, travel, and rooting for his five grandsons at their sporting events.

John Ogren (Limited Partner)

Mr. Ogren has 37 years of experience as CEO, senior management and operating levels. His experience ranges from major NYSE companies, mid-cap Nasdaq to start-up high-tech companies. He has a wide range experience in international projects in the Europe and South America and lived and worked in the US, UK and Canada. His current business activities include directing, mentoring and investing. He also has a high level of interest and involvement in innovations in public education.

Mr. Ogren is a director of Core Laboratories and the John Wood Group PLC. He is an advisory director of Intrepid Energy, a London based oil company and non-executive Chairman of WellDynamics, a joint venture of Halliburton and Shell.

Larry Dubose (Limited Partner)

Larry G. Dubose, age 56, graduated from Lamar University in 1973 with a degree in Accounting and was employed by Price Waterhouse for a period of three years.  Although not active at present, Mr. Dubose is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas.  In 1977 Mr. Dubose joined LaGuarta, Gavrel and Kirk, a full-service real estate brokerage company. The company negotiated transactions in all areas of real estate including commercial, industrial, office building and syndication.  The company also employed a real estate management department and several residential sales offices.  He served as Chief Financial officer and Vice-President for six years.

Dubose Model Home Company was founded by Mr. Dubose in May 1985 for the purposes of structuring model home purchases in sale/leaseback transactions with builders on a national basis.  The model homes are acquired and managed on behalf of various limited partnerships.  Since the company’s formation it has grown significantly and currently manages properties in numerous market areas nationwide.  The company’s clients are national, regional and local builders.  In addition, the returns achieved by the investors have resulted in a significant growth of the partnership investments. Through Mr. Dubose’s efforts the entities have purchased approximately $300 Million in model homes and have a very profitable track record.  The structure has also provided an excellent opportunity for lenders to participate in a transaction that has a long term documented history of success.  Mr. Dubose has established numerous credit lines with various institutions, including major syndicated lines that involve several banks.        

Since 1985 the company has raised its own capital for the limited partnerships it has formed to buy these model homes.  The source of that capital has primarily been individuals who are growth oriented investors.  In 1998 the company began forming partnerships where the capital has been raised by Broker/Dealer companies and their investors, who are primarily interested in cash flow.  In the twenty years of operation the company has conducted its business in a manner which developed an excellent reputation for performance and integrity among builders, lenders and investors.  In addition, during the real estate down turn in the late 1980s, the company was one of the largest residential management companies managing properties for institutions such as the Federal National Home Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage (Freddie Mac).

In 2004 Mr. Dubose sold Dubose Model Home Company to local Houston Investors.  At the time of the sale the new owners named Mr. Dubose President of the General Partner and President of the new operating company, Dubose Model Homes USA.  Mr. Dubose has an employment and consulting agreement with the new owners.  He has been appointed to a position on the Board of Directors for NetREIT, a new offering scheduled to raise $150 Million in the next year.  Recently he has accepted a position on the Board of Directors for HomeVestors of America, Inc., a company that provides franchising opportunities for residential real estate investors on a national basis.  Larry and his wife, Karen, have been married for 28 years and have four children.