4 finalists for Ron Bell Advanced Energy Leadership Award also named
Contact: Katie Laning Niebaum
katie@arkansasadvancedenergy.com
(501) 537-0190
Little Rock, AR – The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association (AAEA) today announced the winners of two new industry awards and unveiled the finalists for the Ron Bell Advanced Energy Leadership Award. The winner of the prestigious Ron Bell award will be announced at emPOWERing Arkansas 2017, AAEA’s 6th annual meeting and policy conference, on October 10 in Little Rock. All winners and finalists of the Arkansas Advanced Energy Awards will be recognized at the event for their significant contributions to the industry.
“These industry leaders have been champions for the deployment of advanced energy technologies in Arkansas,” said AAEA Executive Director Katie Laning Niebaum. “Our congratulations and thanks for their respective efforts strengthening Arkansas’s advanced energy economy.”
Arkansas’s advanced energy economy provides 25,000 jobs and contributes $2.8 billion in economic output, according to research commissioned by the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation. emPOWERing Arkansas brings together advanced energy business leaders, utility executives, policy makers and regulators, and other industry stakeholders to examine the critical advanced energy policy issues facing our state today. Tickets and event information can be found here.
AAEA Arkansas Advanced Energy Awards
Advanced Energy Rising Star Award winner: Gerardo Galdamez, Entergy Arkansas
Recognizing a “rising star” and AAEA member within the industry for contributions to his/her organization and growing impact on the industry
Born and reared in New Orleans, Gerardo Galdamez is a first-generation American who is proud to call Little Rock home. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Tulane University followed by an MBA at UA-Little Rock. Gerardo began his career with Entergy Arkansas in 2011 and helps manage the company’s nationally recognized energy efficiency portfolio, including its residential and smart thermostat program. As Project Manager, he oversees seven “Entergy Solutions” programs, which have delivered over 300,000 MWh in energy savings (enough energy to power every home in Little Rock for three months) while remaining under their allocated budgets. Under Gerardo’s supervision, Entergy Arkansas’ residential portfolio has grown from a fledgling program with a handful of contractors to a portfolio with dozens of local contractors. Gerardo serves as the point person for the overall Evaluation, Measurement and Verification efforts for Entergy Arkansas’ EE program.
Advanced Energy Business Innovation Award winner: Entegrity
Recognizing an AAEA member company for courage, savvy and innovation to expand the market for its products and/or services.
Entegrity is a sustainability and energy services company specializing in the implementation of energy conservation and renewable energy projects. Entegrity’s services include energy savings performance contracting, commissioning, energy modeling, building testing, lighting solutions, renewable energy, water conservation, and sustainability consulting. Founded in 2007 by Chris Ladner as a one-man consulting house, Entegrity has grown to 70+ professionals operating in Fayetteville, Memphis, Little Rock, St. Louis, Denver and Jackson, Miss. The company’s ESPC division was formed in late 2013 following the passage of legislation enabling Arkansas’ Energy Performance Contracting program. Since that time, Entegrity has developed and/or implemented over $50 million in ESPC projects in Arkansas. Earlier this year, the company formed solar and water divisions in response to market demand; the solar team has over 600 kW of projects currently under contract.
2017 Ron Bell Advanced Energy Leadership Award Finalists
Recognizing outstanding and consistent contributions to Arkansas’s advanced energy industry by an individual business leader, research/education leader, or public servant in Arkansas
Bill Harrison
Bill Harrison is an industrial engineering graduate from the University of Arkansas. Upon graduation, he attended the Trane Graduate Engineering Program before joining the Shreveport, Louisiana sales office. There he spent 17 years before being awarded the franchise for Arkansas and returning to his home state in 1983. Through the years, Harrison Energy Partners has expanded its capabilities to include a wide variety of HVAC and energy solutions for its clients. Bill has held several leadership positions in the HVAC industry, most notably having served as the ASHRAE Society President. Bill is still an active member of ASHRAE, as well as the Arkansas Association for Healthcare Engineering, and the United States Green Building Council. He has served as president of the Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering, the Mechanical Contractors Association of Arkansas and as chairman of the Arkansas Construction Industry Coalition.
Morris Jenkins
Morris J. Jenkins retired in June 2015 after 41 years of service to the State of Arkansas, most recently as Director of Strategic Planning and Legislative Liaison for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. He has been at the forefront of energy policy in Arkansas, serving in the Arkansas Energy Office from 1978-1998 and leading the agency as Director from 1987-1998. A Pine Bluff native, Jenkins began his career with the Arkansas Legislative Council (now Bureau of Legislative Research) in 1974, after completing graduate-level coursework and earning a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Chris Ladner
Chris Ladner is the Founding Partner of Entegrity, an Arkansas-based sustainability and energy services company, and owner of Home Energy Rx. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University, is a LEED® Fellow, LEED Accredited Professional in Building Design and Construction, Certified Energy Manager (CEM), and Certified Commissioning Authority (CxA), Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) and Certified Energy Auditor (CEA). Chris has participated in a wide variety of LEED, commissioning, energy services, and building testing projects. In 2013, he was honored by the U.S. Green Building Council as the first LEED Fellow in Arkansas, the green building industry’s most prestigious professional designation. Chris has served in many capacities for the U.S. Green Building Council and is a past consultant for the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and Commissioner on the Arkansas Governor’s Commission on Global Warming.
Frank Mayfield
Frank Mayfield has worked in the advanced energy industry for the past 35 years and has been a long-time advocate for real time monitoring and connected analytics. Frank spent 24 years with Harrison Energy Partners where he served as V.P. Energy Services & Contracting, V.P. Operations, Manager Building Automation, & Senior Controls Tech. He is the founder of M2M Systems Integrators, and from 2007-2016 served as CEO recruiting the development team for analytics application for building automation systems that grew into BACbone / DDCx. He also has served on the board of Arkansas Interfaith Power& Light. Most recently Frank has taken on the role of project engineer with Empirical Energy Solutions. A graduate of the University of Missouri – Rolla, Frank joined the Fayetteville/ Springdale Energy Improvement District Board in January 2015 and has been board chair since January 2016, where he has overseen the implementation of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing in the district.
Award finalists are nominated by AAEA members with the winners chosen by board members.
Background on the Ron Bell Advanced Energy Leadership Award
In addition to being the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation’s founding Chairman, Ron Bell is a former Army officer, a cattleman and tree farmer, and a leader of several eco-initiatives in Arkansas for more than two decades. Bell has served as a county conservation board member since 2000, as Chairman of the Ozark Foothills Resource, Conservation & Development from 2004-2006, and as President of the Arkansas Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils from 2008-2010. As RC&D President, he worked with councils to develop a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects which councils have been implementing across the state since 2010. In addition to his service to the conservation community, Bell served as President of Arkansas’s Ozark Woodland Owners Association from 2000-2003. Since 2004, he has also served as the South Central Region Vice President of the national Woodland Owners Association and as NOWA’s national director at large for bioenergy and other renewable programs and legislation as they relate to forestlands. Through all of his work, fueled by personal passion and commitment, Bell’s impact on Arkansas’s advanced energy will be felt for years to come. The Ron Bell Advanced Energy Leadership Award is given annually to a deserving individual (or individuals) whose work is having a significant, sustainable impact on Arkansas’s advanced energy industry.
The Arkansas Advanced Energy Association (AAEA) is the business voice for advanced energy in Arkansas. AAEA is dedicated to growing Arkansas’s economy through expanded utilization of advanced energy technologies, including energy efficiency, demand response, natural gas electric generation, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear, electric vehicles, alternative fuels and smart grid. These are innovations that make our energy supply more secure, clean and affordable. Visit ArkansasAdvancedEnergy.com, and find us on Facebook and Twitter.