Vista Proppants and Logistics (“VISTA”) is a leading pure-play, in-basin provider of frac sand solutions in prolific producing regions. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and in partnership with Ares Capital Corporation, Angelo Gordon, and MSD Capital, VISTA offers leading E&P and oilfield service companies high-quality, fine grade sand with the cost advantages of a regional provider.
We produce high-quality, fine-grade sand. Our sand compares favorably to that mined in Wisconsin and Illinois and meets applicable industry specifications and customer requirements for a large addressable market of wells. We believe the low overburden, homogenous geology, and strategic location of our mines near major rail lines and large water and power sources provide us with a cost advantage over other Texas-based sand mines.
At the same time, the proximity of our mines to active oil and gas plays enables significantly lower logistics costs as compared to northern white sand providers. Our rail infrastructure offers access to all major rail carriers in North America, which provides the logistical flexibility our customers require. We believe these advantages, along with our proprietary transload network, not only assure lower cost, but also increase security of supply from mine-to-wellhead.
During his career, Steve Herron has been involved in the launch and building of a number of successful industrial minerals and logistics businesses. Steve was educated at Hanover College, Ball State University, and Harvard Business School. He is a licensed geologist and has spoken and published extensively on the geology of industrial minerals, sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, and urban resource development.
Following his tenure as a geologist, Steve worked as a regulatory affairs consultant for a short time then returned to operations where he served in numerous capacities ranging from Director of Technical Services to Director of Sales and Marketing. Steve has founded several successful businesses revolving around large-scale industrial sand supply and distribution in the oil and gas industry. He has been credited with the geologic discovery of the first regional sand play in Nebraska, the first pure-play sand logistics company, and he was the first geologist to commercialize the West Texas Sandhills. The commercialization of the Sandhills has been credited as one of the most significant discoveries of oilfield minerals in the past several decades.
Steve has served as vice-chair/chair of several committees of the SME and IMA-NA and served on various non-profit boards including Emerald Mountain School and Steamboat Mountain School. When not working with Vista, Steve lives in Steamboat Springs, CO with his family, and continues to incubate and innovate new businesses in and out of the Patch.
Brad Goebel is the Chief Executive Officer for Vista. Prior to joining Vista as the CEO, Brad served as Manager of Category Management & Strategic Sourcing for Chesapeake Energy where his team was responsible for supplier negotiation, development, strategy and process. In addition to his oil and gas operator experience, Brad previously held roles within the sand industry at Fairmount Santrol, US Silica and SandBox.
Brad holds an MBA from Texas Tech University and BA in Communications from the University of Northern Iowa.
Mrs. Whitley-Smith began her career in public accounting with Whitley Penn where she worked for 10 years. Working closely with Vista Proppants and Logistics as one of her clients, she became knowledgeable of the different aspects involved in the oil and gas industry. Mrs. Whitley-Smith joined Vista in August 2016 in the role of Chief Accounting Officer and less than a year later was named Chief Financial Officer.
Mrs. Whitley-Smith graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with her B.A. in Business Administration. Most recently, she received her Master’s from Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scotty, two daughters, Taylor and Sophia, and their two doodles, Sammy and Dexter. Their family enjoys traveling, spending time on the lake and volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House.
Debbie joined Vista in April 2018 and oversees all areas of Human Resources. She brings more than 25 years of HR experience. Debbie has spent her career predominantly in the oil and gas sector. Prior to joining Vista, Debbie held leadership positions with BNSF Railway, Chesapeake Energy, Weir Oil and Gas, and AZZ, Inc.
Debbie graduated from Tarleton State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration. She is a member of the Fort Worth Human Resources Association and the Society for Human Resource Management. Debbie currently serves on the Finance committee at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.
In her free time, Debbie enjoys spending time with her family, playing golf, and watching college football.
Vista is a proud supporter of the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth from providing and serving monthly meals to the families to participating in cook-off competitions.
As a sponsor of the Oklahoma Youth Expo, Vista is proud to support the growth of the future leaders in Oklahoma. We believe leadership skills make all the difference in developing a successful career for students to support their local communities. Vista is happy to be supporting the region and the future leaders of Oklahoma.
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