Company offers to broker drilling leases for Poland

One would think that before hiring a company to represent the citizens of Poland Township a simple background check of that company should be done. This is called "due diligence".
Sulmona Energy LLC, who is trying to arrange the mineral right leases for the township was formed December of 2011 by DAMIAN P DEGENOVA according to the Ohio Secretary of State, about a year ago.The main spokesperson for this company is Jamie Garayua, who is Shorty Navaro's godson from the just closed Staduim Lincoln Mercury in Boardman. A Google search of Mr. Garayua shows that he was the owner of "On Course" used cars, that failed, the general manager for "Pine Lake Reserve", that failed, and is now an unemployed 20+ year used car salesman. What education do these people have with the very complicated in's and out's of mineral rights? How much could they have learned in the last year since this company was formed? What history do they have with other clients or is Poland Township their first client? The citizens and elected officials of Poland Township had better be more cognizant about who represents what could be very valuable assets that could very well be squandered by people who know little to nothing about what they are selling.

I guess everyone has an opinion. So, in the spirit of rebuttals, I’d like to offer mine. First let me say that the citizens of Poland Township and Village have council members that represent them and look out for the best interest of the township and village. I believe those council members will do the “due diligence” required of them and will make educated and informed decisions that will benefit both the township and village.

Stadium Lincoln Mercury in Boardman was not “closed”. Stadium Lincoln was “sold” to Crown Ford in Warren and the Mercury franchise was closed by the Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company. Volkswagon/Mazda franchise was “sold “ to the Preston Auto Group. I’m guessing Shorty felt it was time to move on and begin looking towards retirement; a guess, of course. I also feel that the sale of Volkswagon/Mazda would not have been possible if the buyer didn’t feel the purchase was attractive enough to make the investment. That attractiveness can be attributed to the efforts of Jaime Garayua who poured his heart and soul into that company for years and can take credit for its more recent successes which made it possible for Shorty to make the sale. The current economic times has taken its toll on many in this valley, people and companies. Foreclosures, job losses, businesses shutting down, etc. Pine Lake Reserve was not immune to these tough times. I’m no businessman but I do know that it’s tough to sell when many don’t have the money to buy. Mr. Garayua and his partner decided to close the On Course lot because Garayua was offered, and accepted, a position at the recently “sold” Volkswagon/Mazda dealership. I thought a little help with the facts was needed.

Attorney Damian P. DeGenova and Jaime Garayua have local ties and sincere interest in the development and progress of the local community and have lived and worked in the area most of their lives. Both currently reside in Poland. DeGenova has been reviewing these types of leases for years for oil companies and in the past year decided to start his own company negotiating leases. I don’t see anything wrong with that. From the little I have been able to accumulate in the past several days they have surrounded themselves with experts in the field to assist with the particulars of this business. And Garayua has taken it upon himself, volunteered, to coordinate with Retrain America and Youngstown State University to provide education to our local veterans in an effort to train a local workforce that can fill the void of personnel needed in this field. I’m not familiar with any other oil or leasing company making this kind of effort to help the people in our community.