After earning a BS in Ag. Eng. Tech. from Cornell while having the opportunity to play Division I football with the Big Red, Dan set off on a career that would see him make significant achievements in scientific innovation and entrepreneurial business development.
In 1996, Dan received an MBA from the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. As a young college graduate, he worked in Northern, CA and Prudhoe Bay, AK overseeing the construction and installation of crude oil processing facilities with Peter Kiewit Sons Co., for SOHIO.
After a brief return to Oakfield, where he worked at Batavia Farm Equipment, Dan and some fellow Cornell alumni started a company, International Process Systems that developed an innovative technology for converting organic wastes into marketable compost. The company grew to have over thirty worldwide facilities and was eventually sold to Wheelabrator Technologies, Inc..
Dan stayed on as VP & GM for several years before leaving to take on an executive role with BDP Industries, a manufacturer and distributor of solids dewatering and composting equipment. At BDP Industries, Dan managed all facets of the business, where developed and implemented a strategic growth plan for the company.
In 1999, Dan pursued his third entrepreneurial venture as a Business Development Executive, joining Ecovation, Inc., a leader of technology for treatment and conversion of high strength food waste streams into renewable energy. The company implemented numerous waste to energy systems for fortune 500 companies throughout the U.S and was sold to Ecolab, Inc. in 2008.
In 2010, Dan joined Waste Management, Inc., and has worked to develop & grown WM Organic Recycling, an organic waste management and renewable energy division of the company.
During his career, Dan has earned two U.S. patents for his innovations with composting systems. He sits on the Board of Directors of Byrne, Inc., is a member of the Cornell University CALS Dean’s Advisory Committee and Treasurer of the Walworth Shores Association in his hometown of Skaneateles, NY, where he resides with his wife, Ann Hancock Hagen. Ann and Dan have three adult children Allie, Joe who reside in CA and Tom in Boston, MA.