Mont Handley

Mont Handley began their career in 1998 as the Director of Planning and Environmental Services for the City of Portage, Indiana. In this role, they served as a grant writer and an environmental interpreter for the parks department, earning a nearly $1M rails to trails grant for the Iron Horse Heritage Trail and a grant to restore native Oak Savanna habitat in some remnant dunes. In 2000, they became the Senior Sales Manager for the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority. In 2005, they moved to VisitPittsburgh as the National Sales Director. In 2011, they founded and became the Inventor and a Member of the Board of Directors for PittMoss\u00ae, a soil amendment and peat moss replacement made from recycled newspaper that is now commercially available throughout the Northeastern United States. In 2016, Mont Handley joined Purdue University Northwest as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence/Associate Director, Commercialization and Manufacturing Excellence Center. In 2022, they founded and became the Inventor and Interim CTO for Plantennas, INC, a POTplugs Development Company, LLC that is changing names to Plantennas.

Mont Handley has a BA in History from Purdue University, and was a Company Clerk for the 556th MP Co. in the U.S. Army. Mont also holds certifications from the U.S. Small Business Administration for Train the Trainer: Helping First Time SBIR/STTR Awardees (June 2019) and Train the Trainer: Helping Potential SBIR/STTR Applicants (March 2019). Additionally, they have a Business Incubation Management Certificate from the International Business Innovation Association (October 2016) and a Master Gardener certification from Purdue Extension Community Development (May 1998).