Renewable Energy and CleanTech Finance

Finding ambitious talent is a challenge that every company faces. When it comes to cleantech companies and creating sustainable businesses, filling open positions with the right people can make or break a company. Because of this, we invited Suzanne Rey to join us on Going Green to discuss her experience finding talent in renewable energy and cleantech finance.

Suzanne is a partner in Rey Edwards Inc., a Talent Acquisition and Training & Development Consulting firm serving the Renewable Energy, Real Estate Development, Land Development and Home Building industries since 1986.

We sat down with Suzanne to learn more about her experience and what advice she has for those working in the cleantech and finance space.

Suzanne, thank you for being here. Tell us about the industry you work in:

I am Managing Partner with Rey Edwards Inc. and for the last 10 years I have worked in the renewable energy and CleanTech Finance industries as an HR Consultant and Executive Recruiter. I own the company and employ a few consultants that handle different areas of the business. 

How did you get involved in the sustainable industry?

In 2010 I was asked by the owner of a very large staffing company here in San Diego to establish and head up a green division. Which I did. I developed relationships with a number of utility, commercial EPC and residential solar Integrators. About two years in one of my clients, an aggressive solar start-up, asked me to join them to help them grow. In 3 years I helped the President and CEO grow from 70 to over 1200 employees in three years. After I left I also began working with a few CleanTech Finance clients that offers PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing for both residential and commercial energy retrofits.

What trends are you seeing in your industry?

PACE financing has become very popular. One of my clients is currently at $100M a year In revenue. Some companies have not done as well due to a lack of capital. Some of my larger solar clients did downsize during COVID19 for different reasons. My smaller clients who weren’t as top heavy are still profitable and have figured out how to get around the virus through creative marketing and touch-less sales and installation Strategies.

What is one “Action Item” the viewers can take away from this conversation?

Renewable Energy and CleanTech Finance Is here to stay and is the solution to our nation’s climate crisis as well as hybrid and electric vehicles. We must all do our part to reduce our carbon footprint by retrofitting all of our structures with energy efficiency products. As homeowners we need to do more that get solar on our roofs. We Also need to look at Lighting, reducing water use by landscaping with droit tolerant plants and artificial turf etc.

Thank you Suzanne, for taking the time and sharing your experience finding talent in renewable energy and cleantech finance.

Our goal on Going Green is to bring you the latest in green technology advancements, while also giving you action items to takeaway and apply to your life. We focus a lot on energy, transportation, finance, and media.

Suzanne is an upcoming guest on the Going Green podcast. Going Green interviews leading experts in cleantech, sustainability, media, finance, and real estate on the Going Green podcast. Tune in and subscribe to the podcast on Apple or Spotify to listen to interviews with leading cleantech and sustainable experts.