Archive for the ‘Company News’ Category

15
May

McKinstry Announces New Vice Presidents

McKinstry, a leader in integrated construction, energy, service and smart building innovations, has announced that Jamie Pedersen has been hired as Vice President General Counsel and Heidi de Laubenfels has been hired as the Director of Communications and External Relations.  In addition, Ron Johnson has been named Vice President of Facility Services, Mike Locke has been named Vice President of Energy, and Scott Thomson has been named Vice President of Business Development, Construction.

Jamie Pedersen has joined McKinstry as Vice President General Counsel and also serves as a member of the McKinstry Governance Team. Jamie comes to McKinstry from K & L Gates where he served as primary outside counsel to McKinstry for more than 12 years, as well as providing outside counsel to other organizations during his tenure there.  Jamie has vast experience in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financing, and the creation and structuring of business ventures. Jamie earned his Juris Doctorate degree and his Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies, Distinction in the Major – Soviet/East European Studies at Yale.

Heidi de Laubenfels has joined McKinstry as Director of Communications and External Relations. She comes from The Seattle Times, where she served most recently as Deputy Managing Editor for Strategy and Product Development. In that capacity, Heidi led interdisciplinary teams to drive change and develop strategic business initiatives, new products, and marketing and communications projects. In addition to The Times, Heidi has worked in numerous capacities at The Denver Post, The Phoenix Gazette and The Bellingham Herald. She graduated with honors in June 2009 from Seattle University’s Leadership Executive MBA program and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Western Washington University.

Ron Johnson has been integral to the stabilization and continued growth of McKinstry’s Facility Services and Knowledge Response Center businesses.  Johnson earned a reputation as a key leader within McKinstry, and as a person who could bring together diverse groups to take on significant challenges and opportunities.  In his new role, Ron will be responsible to scale the organizational infrastructure to expand McKinstry’s Smart Building and Data Center Management services across the country. Ron is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering Physics.

Mike Locke, P.E. was part of the original team that launched the energy services business at McKinstry.  Locke, who has been with the company for 12 years, is a highly respected leader within the firm and has been the bedrock of much of the Energy division’s core processes.  In his new role, Mike will continue to play an integral role in McKinstry’s expansion into new geographies and markets and will be responsible for oversight of operating unit performance.  Mike has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. He is a registered professional engineer and certified energy manager.

Scott Thomson, P.E. has over 30 years of experience in the construction industry and has been instrumental in refining McKinstry’s customer account and relationship management concepts. In his new role he will be helping all construction teams across the Pacific Northwest strategize business development, sales and customer relations and focusing on increasing McKinstry’s integrated mechanical and electrical delivery for all key customers.  Scott holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Seattle University and B.S. in Agronomy from Washington State University and is a registered professional engineer in Oregon and Washington.

14
May

INRIX: CEO Bryan Mistele on 70 VC Rejections

See and hear the interview here.

When Bryan Mistele left Microsoft, he thought INRIX would be funded within a month.  The company was venture funded–Twelve months and 70 rejections later.  Bryan says a healthy balance of persistence and naivete were essential.

Bryan says traffic cameras actually cause more accidents than they prevent.
“Venture capitalists all told us we would be crushed…now we are the leader.”

Source: Jeff Dickey, Geekwire, May 13, 2012.

14
May

Smart Grid: Itron Signs Algeria Deal

Itron announced it had closed a “significant” deal with Algeria’s ENAMC (National Company of Measurement and Control Instruments). Itron and ENAMC will deploy the C&I advanced data collection system over the next 18-months. The system will support modernization of the electric network and enable customers to better manage their electricity consumption.

Source: Itron Press Release, May 14, 2012.

10
May

Energy Storage: Lutz to Join EnerG2 Board

Robert Lutz , an automotive veteran that has worked in the industry for five decades including senior leadership positions at GM, Ford, Chrysler, and BMW has joined the Board of Directors of EnerG2.

EnerG2’s mission is to produce engineered carbons for energy storage at prices and performance levels that enable entirely new storage applications.

Source:  EnerG2 Press Release, May 10, 2012.

8
May

Microsoft to Charge Internal Carbon Fee

Microsoft intends to be carbon neutral during the upcoming fiscal year (beginning July 1) partly be charging internal divisions a carbon fee.  The company says it will reduce carbon emissions as much as possible and buy carbon credits to make up the difference.

“The model of accountability is based on an internal carbon fee administered through our corporate finance department and cascaded globally to our business groups,” writes Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s chief environmental officer. “This charge-back model will place a price on carbon and make the company’s business divisions responsible for the cost of offsetting the carbon emissions associated with their electricity use and air travel.”

Microsoft was among the tech companies recently criticized by Greenpeace for not using enough renewable energy to power its data centers.

Source:  Todd Bishop, Geekwire, May 8, 2012.

7
May

McKinstry Cleantech Incubator Expanding

McKinstry is adding an 18,000 square feet of space and a conference center to its Innovation Center in Seattle.  The company recently opened an additional 38,000-square-foot center in Spokane.

“Our vision was to create a springboard for the green economy – from clean tech innovations, to the education sector,” said McKinstry CEO Dean Allen. “We are now realizing how this model can play an integral role in the advancement of our green economy.”  The Seattle facility has tenants Reklaim, E3 Washington, General Biodiesel, EcoFab, Hydrovolts, Washington STEM, Intersect, Everest Sciences, TreeFree Biomass Solutions, and Teach For America.  The Spokane facility will eventually house two dozen companies;  four companies will more in this summer.

“The model has not only shown that it works, but the demand has been inspiring,” said Tony Stewart, vice president in charge of the McKinstry Innovation Center. “We are expanding the concept strategically with our company into other markets as well.”

Sources:  McKinstry Press Release, May 2, 2012.  John Cook, Geekwire, May 6, 2012.

7
May

Cleantech Startups: Fledge Can Help

Fledge is a new Seattle organization that has been created to help create and accelerate cleantech and other environmentally-conscious and energy-conscious companies.  Fledge is a business incubator/accelerator, modeled after TechStars.

  • Teams from around the city, region, and world apply at http://fledge.co/apply
  • Fledge chooses 7-10 applicants to create a “cohort”
  • Each chosen team receives $7,000 in cash
  • Teams will be co-located and will receive entrepreneurial education and advice from mentors
  • At the end of 8-12 weeks (programs will vary), teams will show off their companies at a “Demo Day”

In exchange for the cash, training, and services, the companies provide Fledge with a small percentage equity ownership and pay back the cash out of cash flow, allowing Fledge to reinvest it in future cohorts.

Fledge is accepting applications now (http://fledge.co/apply) for its initial cohort, which is scheduled to run mid-July through early-September.

Fledge is run by Michael “Luni” Libes, a serial entrepreneur, Entrepreneur in Residence at the UW Center for Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship faculty at Bainbridge Graduate Institute.

For further details, go visit http://fledge.co.

7
May

Geothermal Energy: Seattle’s AltaRock Energy Profiled

AltaRock Energy, a Seattle-based geothermal energy developer, is focusing on the research and development of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (“EGS”).  The company was profiled in CrossCut.

A YouTube video posted by the company can be found here.

AltaRock has activities in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada.  AltaRock was founded by Susan Petty who is President/Chief Technology Officer.

Source:  Zachariah Bryan, CrossCut, May 7, 2012.

1
May

General Biodiesel Earns Silver Award

General Biodiesel was named an Emerging Manufacturer with a Silver Award by Seattle Business in the May 2012 edition of the magazine.

30
Apr

2012 UW Business Plan Competition Features Cleantech

Thirty-six teams representing colleges and universities across the state competed in the UW Business Plan Competition Investment Round.   The sixteen semifinalists included several cleantech business plans:

  • GroBox, UW: Aims to make it super easy to grow your own fruits and vegetables in a small amount of space.
  • LumiSands, UW: Develops revolutionary nano-particle color enhancer technology that makes LED lighting more attractive, affordable and eco-friendly.
  • SuperCritical Technologies, UW: Provides a compact power solution that will revolutionize the way we generate and distribute electricity.
  • UrbanHarvest, UW: Will grow the healthiest, tastiest, and most environmentally-sustainable produce available anywhere.
  • ALTERNATE:  Genius Lighting Systems, UW: Prevents business owners from wasting $370 million, annually, by eliminating unnecessary office lighting by offering office owners a smartphone controlled, energy efficient LED panel as a direct replacement for the fluorescent tube.

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