1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,760 The superpower that every citizen has is the ability to 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:06,120 control where they spend their time, money and attention by 3 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,160 focusing these on supporting local businesses who are having 4 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,440 a profound impact on your friends, your family, and your 5 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,640 local community. So if you want to change the 6 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,400 world, you can start with buying local. 7 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,760 Welcome back everyone, to buying local. 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,760 I'm your host Mike Nelson from 5 Towers Media, Glens Falls Today 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,750 and Saratoga Business Report. I am joined today by David 10 00:00:31,750 --> 00:00:34,110 Byrne, which I said that correctly. 11 00:00:34,510 --> 00:00:35,110 That's right. Yeah. 12 00:00:35,230 --> 00:00:37,750 Excellent. David is joining us. 13 00:00:37,750 --> 00:00:40,150 He is. He owns a company called Renewa, 14 00:00:40,270 --> 00:00:42,910 and he's going to tell us all about what Renewa is and does. 15 00:00:42,910 --> 00:00:45,350 And I believe you're also a veteran as well. 16 00:00:46,030 --> 00:00:47,110 Thank you for your service. Thank you. 17 00:00:47,110 --> 00:00:48,990 Appreciate that. What branch of the military were 18 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:50,030 you in? I was in the army. 19 00:00:51,180 --> 00:00:52,140 How long were you in the army for? 20 00:00:52,540 --> 00:00:57,860 I was active for five years. So I I was commissioned in 2001. 21 00:00:57,860 --> 00:01:03,380 So that happened in June and then 911 happened and I was in 22 00:01:03,380 --> 00:01:07,060 New York at the time still because I went to College in New 23 00:01:07,060 --> 00:01:10,420 York. And then you know we we got to 24 00:01:10,420 --> 00:01:15,380 my first unit and ramped up and got shipped out to Kuwait and 25 00:01:16,100 --> 00:01:19,020 was over there for about a year and then came home for a year 26 00:01:19,020 --> 00:01:23,840 and then went back. To Iraq for a year and and then 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,280 at that point I I had kind of completed my initial obligation 28 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,520 and for family reasons I decided to get out. 29 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,320 My son didn't know who I was at the time and it was important 30 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:39,680 for me to be an effective dad and and so I, he was two years 31 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,440 old and my wife and I wanted to have a large family I guess 32 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,080 relatively speaking. You know we have a large family 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,200 with four kids and and that was important. 34 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:49,880 So we kind of pivoted at that point. 35 00:01:51,390 --> 00:01:54,830 That's a great choice to make and I thought, probably not an 36 00:01:54,830 --> 00:01:56,350 easy choice to make, I imagine either. 37 00:01:56,670 --> 00:02:01,350 No, it was very conflicting. And you know, to this day, 38 00:02:01,350 --> 00:02:04,590 honestly, I still think about that decision and wish that I 39 00:02:04,590 --> 00:02:08,710 could have done more. Yeah, I what if, what a crazy 40 00:02:08,710 --> 00:02:12,790 thing to be newly in the military, in the army and then 41 00:02:12,790 --> 00:02:16,190 something like 911 happens. What does that feel like when 42 00:02:16,190 --> 00:02:18,630 you're like, obviously, you know you're going to get deployed at 43 00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:20,600 that point. I mean that's, you know, like. 44 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:26,840 Oh yeah, I mean, I I had an injury in college, so I I was 45 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,400 held over after graduation from college for a couple months 46 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,720 while I did physical therapy and got up to speed. 47 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,960 And so as I mentioned, we were still in New York at the time 48 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,160 and then my my wife was working down in New York City that day 49 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,100 and. I it was hard for me to 50 00:02:42,100 --> 00:02:45,380 comprehend the whole thing. I mean, obviously my wife was 51 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:46,860 fine and we were grateful for that. 52 00:02:47,340 --> 00:02:50,300 But I I ended up going down there and, you know, trying to 53 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:53,060 help out in any way I could and then really trying to wrap my 54 00:02:53,060 --> 00:02:55,540 brain around the the magnitude of what happened. 55 00:02:55,700 --> 00:02:58,940 You know, So I I put on my military uniform and went down 56 00:02:58,940 --> 00:03:00,860 there just to see if I could help in any way. 57 00:03:00,900 --> 00:03:04,260 And you know, you're walking down these streets and they have 58 00:03:04,260 --> 00:03:08,740 these, you know, these morgues that they've identified and. 59 00:03:09,180 --> 00:03:12,820 And kind of centrally located. And they had written in this 60 00:03:12,820 --> 00:03:16,100 paint that was like dripping. It says like morgue and Oh my 61 00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:19,060 God. And dripping paint that it dried 62 00:03:19,060 --> 00:03:21,220 on these, like the sides of these buildings. 63 00:03:21,220 --> 00:03:24,420 And it just, you know, it looked like something out of a movie. 64 00:03:24,460 --> 00:03:26,620 Yeah. And I can't even imagine. 65 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:29,940 Yeah. And. 66 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:31,560 Yeah. The rest is history. 67 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:32,080 Yeah. Yeah. 68 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:33,960 Yeah. Well, again, thank you for your 69 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,960 service and and commitments. And thank you. 70 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:36,280 Yeah. Yeah. 71 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,080 So, so let's talk about renewal. What? 72 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:40,080 Sure. What is renewal? 73 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,440 So Renewal is a clean energy company. 74 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:49,920 And I I actually can explain how we got here by going back a few 75 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,280 years. When I when I got out of the 76 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,280 military, you know, I I had a sense that there were. 77 00:03:57,060 --> 00:04:00,060 Kind of competing interests, it also drove some of the decisions 78 00:04:00,060 --> 00:04:04,220 to to invade Iraq in the 1st place and you know some of that 79 00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:09,500 related to energy and etcetera. So I I didn't understand all the 80 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:12,780 ins and outs of the geopolitics and the military industrial 81 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:15,820 complex etcetera. But I just knew that I wanted to 82 00:04:15,820 --> 00:04:19,540 do something to make my country stronger, and I also wanted to 83 00:04:19,540 --> 00:04:22,980 do something to make us less dependent on the Middle East, 84 00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:25,940 because. Based on my experience in in 85 00:04:25,940 --> 00:04:28,940 Iraq and Kuwait, I I felt like we should depend on them for as 86 00:04:28,940 --> 00:04:31,460 little as possible. I felt pretty strongly about 87 00:04:31,460 --> 00:04:35,940 that. And so I I decided, well, I'm 88 00:04:35,940 --> 00:04:40,700 going to get into some you know, clean energy sector because I I 89 00:04:40,700 --> 00:04:42,900 believe in renewables. You know, the sun is there, 90 00:04:42,900 --> 00:04:46,860 let's harness the power of it. But then I I wanted to, you 91 00:04:46,860 --> 00:04:48,660 know, obviously also be an energy for. 92 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,720 Energy independence purposes, which I felt was critical to 93 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,360 national security, so I wanted to continue to try to make a 94 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,600 difference in some way, shape or. 95 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,840 Yeah, so I got involved just working for a small company at 96 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,000 the time. I lived down in Red Hook, two 97 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,960 hours South of here, and I started working for a company 98 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:11,480 called Hudson Valley Clean Energy. 99 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,360 I was an installer and I I was. I had a couple kids at the time 100 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:18,240 and went on the way and I I got this job. 101 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,560 I had to go in there. Five times in person to get this 102 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:22,720 job. Oh, no kidding. 103 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,160 You know, they they're trying to figure out what marketable 104 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,320 skills I had coming, you know, out of a combat. 105 00:05:30,610 --> 00:05:34,690 Environment and having served and and the bottom line is I 106 00:05:34,730 --> 00:05:37,290 think it was tough for people to understand what what skills 107 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:40,130 could transfer to the small business environment. 108 00:05:40,210 --> 00:05:43,130 And anyway, Long story short, I got a job working as an 109 00:05:43,130 --> 00:05:48,770 installer installing panels on residential rooftops And you 110 00:05:48,770 --> 00:05:51,370 know, so you're, you know, it's a summer day like today, you 111 00:05:51,450 --> 00:05:55,570 know, maybe 85 degrees and you're like, well, I'm a I'm a 112 00:05:55,570 --> 00:05:58,970 young fit guy. Yeah, I'm I'm just got back from 113 00:05:58,970 --> 00:06:02,360 doing. Tough stuff over over in Iraq 114 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,320 and I can take on the world and then you're you're you're 115 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,960 humping these panels up and down a ladder you know all day and 116 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,960 then you're up on the rooftop and and the heat is just 117 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,200 radiating off and and and it's you know Iraq could get hot 118 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:16,880 right. It'd be like 120 degrees 119 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,720 sometimes but it was kind of a dry heat and and it it it was 120 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,080 just a different experience on the rooftop and and I, you know 121 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,880 I I admire anyone who who does that for a living and and I was. 122 00:06:28,910 --> 00:06:31,350 Trying to support a family, you know, taking home, you know, 123 00:06:31,350 --> 00:06:34,190 after taxes and all that good stuff, you know, probably 13 124 00:06:34,190 --> 00:06:37,910 bucks an hour. And you know, my wife was trying 125 00:06:37,910 --> 00:06:41,350 to buy, you know, healthy organic food, You know, for the 126 00:06:41,350 --> 00:06:44,270 young kids that it was like we, we didn't always balance our our 127 00:06:44,270 --> 00:06:47,470 monthly budget, but that's how I started in the solar industry. 128 00:06:48,030 --> 00:06:49,790 And then I was there for five years. 129 00:06:49,790 --> 00:06:52,830 And then I took a job working for a solar manufacturer, LG 130 00:06:52,830 --> 00:06:55,630 Electronics. And I was traveling all over the 131 00:06:55,630 --> 00:06:57,990 country, you know, working for LG. 132 00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:00,550 I I love my job. I was, I was really supplying 133 00:07:01,030 --> 00:07:05,910 panels to large scale developers or construction firms who were 134 00:07:06,150 --> 00:07:08,150 building very large scale projects. 135 00:07:08,630 --> 00:07:11,350 And it was a dream job. You know, I'd I'd take our 136 00:07:11,350 --> 00:07:14,270 customers over to Korea sometimes to see our factory and 137 00:07:15,550 --> 00:07:17,830 you know I had a corporate card. So that was that was awesome. 138 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,720 And now it's a little different when it's my own company. 139 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,040 And anyway, so I worked there. So you still have a corporate 140 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:29,200 card anyway? Yeah, that. 141 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,680 But back then we had big customers buying. 142 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:40,060 You'd have some customers buying maybe. 30-40 fifty $60 million 143 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:43,500 worth of product a year. So if you if you dropped $1000 144 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:44,980 on a nice steak dinner, that was OK. 145 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:48,100 Out at a trade show in in Vegas. You know it was OK? 146 00:07:48,220 --> 00:07:51,820 Yep, Yep. If I if I tried to do something 147 00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:56,500 like that, now my my office manager, who's my wife have some 148 00:07:56,500 --> 00:08:00,300 questions for me, yes, yes, I bet about a happy response, but. 149 00:08:01,300 --> 00:08:04,580 But that's how I got into it and. 150 00:08:05,390 --> 00:08:07,110 We do a couple different things at renewal. 151 00:08:07,110 --> 00:08:11,030 So we have one side of of the business which is a consulting 152 00:08:11,310 --> 00:08:14,790 side where we offer development services for large scale solar 153 00:08:14,790 --> 00:08:16,790 projects. And you know when I was working 154 00:08:16,790 --> 00:08:19,750 for LG for those five years, I met a lot of developers, I met a 155 00:08:19,750 --> 00:08:22,510 lot of large construction firms. It seemed like there was a need, 156 00:08:22,510 --> 00:08:27,870 there was kind of a a gap there and in in the services or at 157 00:08:27,870 --> 00:08:30,030 least in the supply of some of the services they needed. 158 00:08:30,030 --> 00:08:32,590 So, so we started doing, you know. 159 00:08:33,860 --> 00:08:37,299 Design consulting services for large scale solar, we we've 160 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:40,580 we've worked on about 40 large scale projects here in New York. 161 00:08:40,780 --> 00:08:44,100 We we appear before the town boards and present you know our 162 00:08:44,100 --> 00:08:47,500 civil design and the environmental studies and you 163 00:08:47,500 --> 00:08:49,620 know all the due diligence we've done on the project to try to 164 00:08:49,620 --> 00:08:52,780 get it to notice to proceed so we can move forward. 165 00:08:53,380 --> 00:08:55,660 And then the other side of the business that's the solar you 166 00:08:55,660 --> 00:09:00,020 know development services, the other side is doing EV charging 167 00:09:00,020 --> 00:09:01,980 station installation. So we have. 168 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:06,480 Electricians in house and you know a crew and we're hiring 169 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,400 actually a couple people here in the next couple weeks to expand 170 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,640 our capacity and we started off doing a lot of, I call it light 171 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,160 commercial work. So we're working on like small 172 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:21,640 like motels, hotels in the area. You know, we did Landmark Motor 173 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,760 Inn down in South Glens Falls a bunch up here in Lake George. 174 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,360 As I say, I saw a few on your website. 175 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:31,340 Colonel Williams and. There there's several others 176 00:09:31,340 --> 00:09:38,180 that we did in South Glen or sorry in in Lake George and and 177 00:09:38,180 --> 00:09:39,340 throughout the Hudson Valley actually. 178 00:09:39,340 --> 00:09:42,220 And now we're we're kind of evolving and we're doing larger 179 00:09:42,380 --> 00:09:46,540 projects sometimes for car dealerships or other kind of 180 00:09:46,860 --> 00:09:50,300 larger commercial industrial clients who who need like a 181 00:09:50,300 --> 00:09:53,820 larger Bank of EV chargers from I mean we're going to start to 182 00:09:53,820 --> 00:09:56,540 see them like we see gas pumps now I would imagine right with 183 00:09:56,540 --> 00:10:00,500 the number of Ev's on the road every day is increasing the you 184 00:10:00,500 --> 00:10:04,300 know with what the, I don't say the legislation that's been 185 00:10:04,300 --> 00:10:07,540 passed as far as you know increasing the number of not 186 00:10:07,540 --> 00:10:10,580 just you know what the manufacturers are producing 187 00:10:10,580 --> 00:10:12,140 right, like what is it is it 2035? 188 00:10:12,500 --> 00:10:14,540 Yeah, that's what they're shooting for here in New York 189 00:10:14,540 --> 00:10:16,700 State. You know, I I think it's 190 00:10:16,740 --> 00:10:19,180 certainly an aggressive goal. Sure. 191 00:10:19,770 --> 00:10:22,850 And and we really enjoy just helping customers who who need 192 00:10:22,850 --> 00:10:26,210 these and and you know people have different reasons for for 193 00:10:26,210 --> 00:10:27,970 installing these. But you know if you're a car 194 00:10:27,970 --> 00:10:31,490 dealer and you know corporate is telling you hey you need this 195 00:10:31,490 --> 00:10:35,330 infrastructure built out before you can get EV product and they 196 00:10:35,330 --> 00:10:38,890 see it as a new revenue stream and you know really important to 197 00:10:38,890 --> 00:10:41,890 meet the demand in the area. Then we we feel like we're 198 00:10:41,890 --> 00:10:44,810 really making a difference that way too, you know and so 199 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,360 question about the EV charging stations as someone who does not 200 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,280 own an electric vehicle, right. How does it work? 201 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:52,920 Like it does it. Does it work like a gas pump, 202 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,320 You know where you go, you slide your card and it charges your 203 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,520 card and charges you money. Is that you know, is that? 204 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,360 Yeah. You can typically use a credit 205 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,960 card in in some cases you have to have an app for that okay, 206 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,600 okay. So that that's still I think a 207 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,600 point of frustration in the market is a lot of. 208 00:11:12,470 --> 00:11:15,470 These software providers require you to download their app, and 209 00:11:15,470 --> 00:11:19,310 then there's various providers, and depending upon which one is 210 00:11:19,310 --> 00:11:22,750 in play in that given location, you have to install that app. 211 00:11:22,750 --> 00:11:25,830 But a lot of them do also allow for credit card transactions. 212 00:11:27,270 --> 00:11:30,870 And yeah, so there's different types of chargers. 213 00:11:30,870 --> 00:11:33,510 Also, there's like what we call Level 2 chargers, which are 214 00:11:33,510 --> 00:11:37,440 just, you know, they're. More cost effective, but they're 215 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,600 also not as robust. They don't have as high 216 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,520 capacity. They don't charge as quickly, 217 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:44,520 right? That's to say they don't 218 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,720 transfer time. So you know, for a lot of these 219 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,360 local spots that we did, you know up in the George Doray 220 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,720 Motel for example, was it was a small one we did, you know, we 221 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:55,440 just did Level 2 chargers because. 222 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,560 They might have folks who are looking to stay in Lake George 223 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:01,040 and they have an EV and they're driving up from, I don't know, 224 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,080 New Jersey and and they're they're saying, well, let's stay 225 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,880 somewhere that has an EV charging station. 226 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,320 And then you know for a lot of these, you know, smaller outfits 227 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,960 that they could avoid losing revenue because they wouldn't 228 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,840 lose to some of their competitors who already 229 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:17,280 installed these on their premises. 230 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:21,080 And so for example, Dorae Motel, they just have, you know, a 231 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:23,080 couple ports, level 2 chargers, but. 232 00:12:23,900 --> 00:12:26,900 If they have clients staying, you know, desks staying 233 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:29,220 overnight, then they can charge. Yeah, they plug in. 234 00:12:29,220 --> 00:12:33,100 What charge? You can get about 30 mph of 235 00:12:33,100 --> 00:12:35,980 charge. So you know, if they're charging 236 00:12:35,980 --> 00:12:39,380 for 8 hours, they're going to get, you know, a decent 200 full 237 00:12:39,380 --> 00:12:40,460 charge or whatever. Yeah. 238 00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:44,540 And now I believe I read something too about just 239 00:12:44,540 --> 00:12:50,630 recently that the industry has decided to use the Tesla type 240 00:12:50,670 --> 00:12:53,910 charger industry standard. That's the that now the industry 241 00:12:53,910 --> 00:12:57,550 standard, Is that correct? Yeah, all the momentum is headed 242 00:12:57,550 --> 00:13:00,430 that way. So there's a, you know, a 243 00:13:00,430 --> 00:13:04,390 testing and Regulatory agency which previously had approved 244 00:13:04,390 --> 00:13:08,150 the the older charger or the original charger, let's call it 245 00:13:08,630 --> 00:13:12,590 connector type and and then Chevy and Ford came online and 246 00:13:12,590 --> 00:13:14,830 said hey, we're going to support Tesla's. 247 00:13:15,300 --> 00:13:19,620 Connector and that's been kind of I guess the tail is kind of 248 00:13:19,620 --> 00:13:22,340 wagging the dog in the industry or you want to describe it but 249 00:13:22,340 --> 00:13:25,580 they're they're kind of driving that that switchover. 250 00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:28,300 So now that testing and Regulatory agency has come 251 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:31,460 forward and said, well, we, you know, we, we support Tesla's 252 00:13:31,460 --> 00:13:34,500 connector as well and that's going to be good for Tesla. 253 00:13:35,220 --> 00:13:37,420 If everyone's using your charger, right, like I'm sure 254 00:13:37,420 --> 00:13:39,860 they've got that patented. That's nice. 255 00:13:42,150 --> 00:13:45,630 Should buy that stock. If you haven't ready. 256 00:13:45,670 --> 00:13:46,670 Yeah. Yeah, right. 257 00:13:47,470 --> 00:13:48,630 Yeah. Doesn't everybody own a little 258 00:13:48,630 --> 00:13:49,270 Tesla stock? They've. 259 00:13:51,230 --> 00:13:52,710 Been around, They've been around, yeah. 260 00:13:53,230 --> 00:13:55,110 So, and I'm sorry, how long did you say you've been doing this? 261 00:13:55,550 --> 00:13:59,270 Five years, Five years now. So you've just passed that magic 262 00:13:59,270 --> 00:14:02,510 number of pass fail for businesses, right? 263 00:14:03,030 --> 00:14:05,390 I don't know that there's anything magical about where 264 00:14:05,390 --> 00:14:11,110 we're at, but I can say that we we are growing and. 265 00:14:11,570 --> 00:14:14,490 You know my goal is never to be like the biggest or you know the 266 00:14:14,490 --> 00:14:17,210 biggest baddest company in New York. 267 00:14:17,210 --> 00:14:19,930 But we want to do the best work, we want to have the best 268 00:14:19,930 --> 00:14:21,810 reputation. So that's something we're 269 00:14:21,810 --> 00:14:24,490 working towards and and we're kind of organically growing as 270 00:14:24,490 --> 00:14:31,290 part of that process and you know we're we we're hiring a 271 00:14:31,290 --> 00:14:33,890 couple people it's going to put us right around 20 employees and 272 00:14:33,890 --> 00:14:36,570 that's amazing and I feel like that's a good place to be in and 273 00:14:37,050 --> 00:14:40,210 you know for me it's it's, it feels really good to be able to. 274 00:14:40,710 --> 00:14:44,390 Provide opportunities that allow people to, you know put food on 275 00:14:44,390 --> 00:14:46,350 the table. Absolutely in the fridge, You 276 00:14:46,350 --> 00:14:49,750 know, because that's that's important. 277 00:14:50,030 --> 00:14:51,430 Yeah. You know it's interesting to say 278 00:14:51,430 --> 00:14:54,430 that too because in the we just recorded an episode of Blue 279 00:14:54,430 --> 00:14:57,590 Collar Startup right before this and we were talking about that 280 00:14:57,590 --> 00:15:01,700 very same thing. And and also, you know, I give a 281 00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:04,740 shout out to Jason McGregor at Minnick McGregor down in 282 00:15:04,740 --> 00:15:06,580 Saratoga. You know, I was having a 283 00:15:06,580 --> 00:15:08,740 conversation one day with him. I think we might have been doing 284 00:15:08,740 --> 00:15:12,820 a video shoot and and he was just making the same sentiment, 285 00:15:12,820 --> 00:15:16,180 right, without like, you know, like hey, this business provides 286 00:15:16,180 --> 00:15:18,860 for eight families. You know that for the people 287 00:15:18,860 --> 00:15:21,100 that work here and you know that's that's that's what's 288 00:15:21,100 --> 00:15:24,380 important to us and kind of and you know I just think it's 289 00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:27,260 amazing when when business owners start to look at their 290 00:15:27,260 --> 00:15:31,090 employees and the people and in like what we say in our company 291 00:15:31,090 --> 00:15:33,330 is like you know the technically, yeah, they're 292 00:15:33,330 --> 00:15:36,210 employees but we work with them like we work together. 293 00:15:36,210 --> 00:15:38,370 You know, they're not we don't own them like you know, they're 294 00:15:38,370 --> 00:15:39,770 helping us. We're helping them and the 295 00:15:39,770 --> 00:15:43,370 business provides for these people and it's just a cool, a 296 00:15:43,370 --> 00:15:45,730 cool thing to to, you know, be a part of. 297 00:15:45,850 --> 00:15:48,770 Yeah, it can really become a platform that that supports a 298 00:15:48,770 --> 00:15:50,890 lot of, a lot of dreams. Yeah. 299 00:15:51,730 --> 00:15:55,420 And you know, I I work with. Friends of mine, I mean, I've 300 00:15:55,420 --> 00:15:59,420 hired friends and I know that's a little taboo sometimes and it 301 00:15:59,420 --> 00:16:04,500 can go sideways very quickly. But in my case, it's actually 302 00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:07,580 worked out really well and I'm grateful to work with people I 303 00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:11,850 respect and I like and. You know, we we don't hang out 304 00:16:11,850 --> 00:16:14,170 all the time. Like you know, you know, 305 00:16:14,170 --> 00:16:16,650 sometimes some of us socially might get together but we're all 306 00:16:16,650 --> 00:16:19,250 busy. I mean you know, I have 4 kids 307 00:16:19,250 --> 00:16:23,130 and they're doing ski racing and travel lacrosse and you know all 308 00:16:23,130 --> 00:16:25,850 this good stuff. So you know between the business 309 00:16:25,850 --> 00:16:30,090 and the family there's not a lot left in terms of budgeting time. 310 00:16:30,090 --> 00:16:34,650 But I guess my point is it for me it's been really rewarding to 311 00:16:34,650 --> 00:16:37,930 be able to work with with with some friends and then you know, 312 00:16:37,930 --> 00:16:41,840 hiring new employees and and. Really just trying to make it a 313 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:43,800 win. Win as much as possible. 314 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:47,360 Yeah, that's awesome. And and how did you end up up 315 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,040 here, by the way? Up here Okay, good question. 316 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:55,560 So I came back from Iraq. We we wanted to move back to my 317 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:01,280 hometown to raise a family, which was Red Hook and and then 318 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,599 like a couple years, well, a few years later. 319 00:17:06,260 --> 00:17:09,060 My, my kid, actually, my daughter ended up really getting 320 00:17:09,060 --> 00:17:10,940 into ski racing. She watched this movie about 321 00:17:10,940 --> 00:17:14,140 Lindsey Vonn Okay. I think she was seven years old. 322 00:17:14,140 --> 00:17:17,260 So it was like 7 years after moving to back to Redwood area. 323 00:17:17,260 --> 00:17:20,260 And she's like, oh, I want to, I want to be like her. 324 00:17:20,260 --> 00:17:22,060 I want to be an Olympic ski racer. 325 00:17:22,060 --> 00:17:24,819 And we were skiing. You know, we were just kind of 326 00:17:24,819 --> 00:17:26,380 learning. I I never skied growing up. 327 00:17:26,380 --> 00:17:28,580 We didn't, we didn't have a, you know, a pot to piss in. 328 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:30,060 So it wasn't really in the budget. 329 00:17:30,500 --> 00:17:32,260 No. And and so. 330 00:17:32,910 --> 00:17:35,430 I was learning with the kids. We initially we couldn't afford 331 00:17:35,430 --> 00:17:38,470 like goggles and like, you know, all the gear. 332 00:17:38,790 --> 00:17:40,630 We just kind of piecemealed together what we could. 333 00:17:40,630 --> 00:17:45,270 And then anyway, I I was just a dad trying to support a dream. 334 00:17:45,270 --> 00:17:48,870 And one thing led to another and she actually became like really 335 00:17:48,910 --> 00:17:51,670 into ski racing. Like it wasn't just like this 336 00:17:52,030 --> 00:17:53,790 vision anymore. She was like really trying to go 337 00:17:53,790 --> 00:17:57,190 after it and and working hard. And we couldn't. 338 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,400 Make that happen. Just skiing twice a week. 339 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,200 You know, at Butternut where we were driving to, it was an hour 340 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,440 away from my home working all week. 341 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,200 And then I spend all Saturday and all Sunday at Butternut in 342 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,680 Great Barrington, MA, an hour away from Red Hook. 343 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,480 And so part of the decision point was finding a place closer 344 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:17,440 to mountains. And so we're one exit South of 345 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,960 West Mountain, which has a great, you know, ski racing 346 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:20,920 program. That's what I hear. 347 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:21,840 Yeah. And. 348 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,680 So my kids are there three days a week or sorry, six days a 349 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:28,140 week. Three of my kids and and also we 350 00:18:28,140 --> 00:18:33,620 wanted to we were renting when I came back to the area my mom had 351 00:18:33,620 --> 00:18:36,060 kind of like a mother daughterinlaw set up and and we 352 00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:40,500 were renting and supporting her but we didn't have our own nest 353 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:44,620 egg investment and we wanted to buy our own home and and so in 354 00:18:44,860 --> 00:18:48,780 you know I'd probably save like $400,000 by buying up here in 355 00:18:48,780 --> 00:18:52,660 this area we bought in in the town of Monroe South Glens Falls 356 00:18:52,660 --> 00:18:55,650 school district and. You know, this is before COVID, 357 00:18:55,650 --> 00:19:00,170 but we got a nice five bedroom, you know, for with one acre for 358 00:19:00,170 --> 00:19:03,930 under 300K, whereas in Red Hook it would have been probably 700 359 00:19:03,930 --> 00:19:08,330 or something like that. So, so that that mattered, too. 360 00:19:08,330 --> 00:19:08,970 That mattered. Yeah. 361 00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:13,610 And so all the all the stars aligned and you ended up in 362 00:19:13,610 --> 00:19:15,970 South Coast Falls. And and I really like the land 363 00:19:15,970 --> 00:19:17,010 here. You know, the mountains. 364 00:19:17,450 --> 00:19:20,250 During COVID, we used to go out to the Hudson River, actually, 365 00:19:20,650 --> 00:19:23,410 which we could walk to, you know, 10 minutes from our house, 366 00:19:23,410 --> 00:19:25,810 and we just go swimming in this inlet in the river and no one 367 00:19:25,810 --> 00:19:27,250 was around. And yeah, that's cool. 368 00:19:27,810 --> 00:19:30,770 You know, just being able to access the High Peaks or it's a 369 00:19:30,770 --> 00:19:34,160 beautiful area that we live in up here and it's, you know, like 370 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,480 I say all the time like this is where people come to vacation. 371 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,000 Like it's it's a beautiful area. There's so much to do. 372 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,200 And you know the sunsets and sunrises are are pretty in any 373 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,440 direction, you know it's or from wherever you are looking at 374 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:49,920 them. But yeah. 375 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,400 I don't have a boat, but you know, I have some friends with 376 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,200 boats and Lake George and that's the key to life. 377 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,560 A friend of mine, years ago I had a boat and. 378 00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:02,610 I had said to one of my buddies and I was like, hey, when are 379 00:20:02,610 --> 00:20:04,650 you going to get a boat? And I was like, but I don't need 380 00:20:04,650 --> 00:20:06,050 to get a boat. You would want a boat. 381 00:20:06,090 --> 00:20:07,690 He's like, why would I ever buy one? 382 00:20:07,690 --> 00:20:09,330 If you own a boat. Yeah, right. 383 00:20:09,330 --> 00:20:11,490 Like, that's the move. Because you know, with the two 384 00:20:11,490 --> 00:20:13,970 favorite, the two best days of boat owner, right, the day you 385 00:20:13,970 --> 00:20:16,410 buy it and the day you sell it. And he's like, yeah, I don't 386 00:20:16,410 --> 00:20:18,250 have that set of problems. He's like, I just show up when I 387 00:20:18,250 --> 00:20:19,970 want to use it and go out with you. 388 00:20:19,970 --> 00:20:23,010 And it's, it's great. No repair bills, None of that 389 00:20:23,010 --> 00:20:25,610 stuff. All we do is win. 390 00:20:25,770 --> 00:20:27,370 Yeah, that's right. That's right. 391 00:20:27,370 --> 00:20:32,530 All we do is win Bogey's Pub and Grill at a Meadows Golf Club. 392 00:20:32,730 --> 00:20:35,290 Not just for hungry golfers, they have a little something for 393 00:20:35,290 --> 00:20:37,530 everyone. The pub side offers a nice 394 00:20:37,530 --> 00:20:40,490 friendly atmosphere, televisions to watch your favorite sporting 395 00:20:40,490 --> 00:20:44,490 events, booths for a nice lunch, a pool table, PGA golf 396 00:20:44,490 --> 00:20:48,570 simulators with over 80 courses. They also have a formal dining 397 00:20:48,570 --> 00:20:51,730 room if you're looking for a more traditional dining space. 398 00:20:53,050 --> 00:20:57,970 So, so you moved to the area you build this business which I 399 00:20:57,970 --> 00:21:01,990 think is amazing, 20 employees. So you guys you know it's a 400 00:21:01,990 --> 00:21:05,630 healthy size business. What do you think the biggest 401 00:21:05,630 --> 00:21:08,870 challenges that you you see on a regular basis with your company 402 00:21:08,870 --> 00:21:11,550 right now? Yeah, great question. 403 00:21:11,670 --> 00:21:15,230 And I just want to be accurate because I do have a few of those 404 00:21:15,230 --> 00:21:17,310 twenty who are part time. Yeah, yeah, so. 405 00:21:17,390 --> 00:21:20,790 That's fine. So we we're very family 406 00:21:20,790 --> 00:21:22,550 oriented. We try to support, you know. 407 00:21:22,940 --> 00:21:26,420 Families and and employees in their roles as moms and dads. 408 00:21:26,540 --> 00:21:29,100 And so sometimes it works out just for someone to work part 409 00:21:29,100 --> 00:21:34,220 time with us. I would say probably our biggest 410 00:21:34,220 --> 00:21:41,380 challenge is, is finding, you know, motivated electricians who 411 00:21:41,540 --> 00:21:44,420 who want to come on board because they're in very high 412 00:21:44,420 --> 00:21:47,480 demand. And you know obviously there's 413 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:51,640 been a labor shortage for quite a while and you know sometimes 414 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,360 we're competing with much larger companies. 415 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,120 So we we like to connect with folks who are kind of like 416 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:58,880 minded who want to be in the small business world. 417 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,520 It can be quite a different experience in many cases and 418 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,680 being in a in a corporate environment and we we do our 419 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,200 best and you know every year we're trying to improve our 420 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,920 offerings to employees and so I would say definitely you know 421 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:18,490 finding. You know, really solid manpower 422 00:22:18,650 --> 00:22:25,090 is is our biggest challenge. And you know, also I would say 423 00:22:25,090 --> 00:22:27,570 on the technical side for our development services, you know, 424 00:22:27,570 --> 00:22:30,450 for example, if you're hiring engineers and they're also, you 425 00:22:30,490 --> 00:22:35,090 know, not not the easiest to come by either, which is 426 00:22:35,090 --> 00:22:37,490 interesting in this because I don't know if you knew this or 427 00:22:37,490 --> 00:22:39,570 not. And this is an old statistic. 428 00:22:39,570 --> 00:22:44,320 It's probably maybe 10 years old, but 10 years ago and it 429 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:49,320 might still be is that Glen's Falls had the highest number of 430 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:54,040 engineers per capita than like any other place in the country. 431 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,320 And that was really this crazy thing just because of all the 432 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,240 different types of businesses that are locally. 433 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,780 I mean we have a high demand for all types of engineers in in 434 00:23:05,780 --> 00:23:08,100 this area. It's really interesting thing, 435 00:23:08,100 --> 00:23:10,780 but yeah, compared to other parts of the country. 436 00:23:11,020 --> 00:23:15,460 I'm not looking hard enough. Well, you know it it really does 437 00:23:15,460 --> 00:23:18,220 come down to two though that there's just so much industry 438 00:23:18,220 --> 00:23:22,100 here that requires engineers, which is and it's really is. 439 00:23:22,100 --> 00:23:24,900 I mean if you look around you know Glens Falls, Queensbury 440 00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:28,620 getting down to Saratoga, you know there is just so many 441 00:23:29,060 --> 00:23:32,050 organizations that or engineering type firms whether 442 00:23:32,050 --> 00:23:34,450 it's environmental or or mechanical. 443 00:23:34,450 --> 00:23:37,170 I mean it's it's crazy, there's a lot of industry in this part 444 00:23:37,170 --> 00:23:39,330 of the country, but. Cool. 445 00:23:39,490 --> 00:23:41,210 Yeah. Fun fact. 446 00:23:41,330 --> 00:23:43,450 Yeah. Learn something every day. 447 00:23:43,530 --> 00:23:44,450 That's right. That's right. 448 00:23:44,450 --> 00:23:46,490 Of course, that could be completely off now because 449 00:23:46,530 --> 00:23:48,130 again, that's an old, old statistic. 450 00:23:48,130 --> 00:23:51,690 But it used to be, yeah. One other challenge for us Mike, 451 00:23:51,690 --> 00:23:56,370 has been just the sales side, business development. 452 00:23:57,010 --> 00:23:59,770 You know, particularly on the EV charging station side of the 453 00:23:59,770 --> 00:24:04,970 house because you know a lot of people they they may want EV 454 00:24:04,970 --> 00:24:07,970 charging stations but they may not feel that they need them, 455 00:24:07,970 --> 00:24:11,210 right. So if you're a if you're a 456 00:24:11,210 --> 00:24:14,130 business and you have you know a couple 100 employees in a decent 457 00:24:14,130 --> 00:24:19,410 sized parking lot or you're a larger hotel, you know our job 458 00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:22,410 is to help people see the merits of. 459 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,240 Of that business case of installing these and and there 460 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,120 are a lot of tax incentives as well, you know federal and state 461 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,800 tax credits etcetera. So it's our job to kind of help 462 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,400 them understand how it can benefit their business. 463 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,080 But the point is we don't get a lot of inbound calls. 464 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,040 You know there there's certain companies, you know, I was 465 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:44,160 talking with a friend of mine who's a residential electrician 466 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:45,640 and they're, they're doing pretty well. 467 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,920 They're locally based here and and they'll get, you know, 30 to 468 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,010 40 calls a day. Actually sometimes more than 469 00:24:53,010 --> 00:24:56,290 that, like maybe 50 calls and then like 20 of those are solid 470 00:24:56,290 --> 00:24:59,250 leads that they convert to. Yeah, to bookings, OK. 471 00:24:59,810 --> 00:25:02,810 And so those are good numbers. Yeah, those are good numbers an. 472 00:25:03,650 --> 00:25:06,850 You know he has a steady incoming stream of leads and and 473 00:25:06,850 --> 00:25:09,730 we don't, we don't have that, we we don't, I mean we'll have that 474 00:25:09,850 --> 00:25:12,370 once a month someone will call us and say hey I'd like to get a 475 00:25:12,370 --> 00:25:15,010 quote from you because we, we saw you on the National Grid 476 00:25:15,010 --> 00:25:18,050 website or whatever as a qualified, you know, approved 477 00:25:18,050 --> 00:25:20,770 installer. But but all of our business 478 00:25:20,770 --> 00:25:23,730 development is cold calling, right and that that takes a 479 00:25:23,730 --> 00:25:27,970 special breed of of of salesperson to do that. 480 00:25:28,050 --> 00:25:29,490 And so that's a that's a challenge. 481 00:25:30,130 --> 00:25:34,550 Do you do those calls, David? I I used to when when we started 482 00:25:34,550 --> 00:25:38,190 doing EV charging about 2 1/2 years ago. 483 00:25:38,190 --> 00:25:40,710 I was doing that and I actually missed those days. 484 00:25:40,710 --> 00:25:43,510 To be honest with you. I I really feel energized. 485 00:25:43,510 --> 00:25:46,830 I Everyone's different. It must be the military 486 00:25:46,870 --> 00:25:49,310 background. You got, you know you got you're 487 00:25:49,310 --> 00:25:50,870 just a glutton for punishment, right? 488 00:25:50,870 --> 00:25:53,630 You're like. I've been accused of that 489 00:25:53,630 --> 00:25:58,550 before, but yeah, I, you know, people react differently to 490 00:25:58,550 --> 00:25:59,070 that. But. 491 00:25:59,070 --> 00:26:01,830 But for me, it's energizing to get out there and just try to. 492 00:26:02,620 --> 00:26:04,620 Connect with people and see where it all goes. 493 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:08,820 But I'm just these days, I'm too busy kind of trying to lead the 494 00:26:08,820 --> 00:26:09,420 company. So. 495 00:26:10,220 --> 00:26:12,900 So we have a couple guys who do a really good job of that. 496 00:26:12,900 --> 00:26:15,940 But the point is like I hired a veteran, you know, out in 497 00:26:15,940 --> 00:26:20,940 Syracuse and he had the resume and you know he was polished and 498 00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:23,060 seemed like he really had to drive. 499 00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:26,900 And you know, he he lasted about 5 weeks and and then you know he 500 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:29,100 quit. And that's heartbreaking for me 501 00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:31,380 because, you know, whenever I can hire a veteran, it's a good 502 00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:33,410 day. And when I can give them an 503 00:26:33,410 --> 00:26:36,210 opportunity to provide for their family, that's that's even 504 00:26:36,210 --> 00:26:40,330 better, you know. And so anyway, the point is, 505 00:26:40,330 --> 00:26:44,850 like, not everyone is built so that they can thrive in that 506 00:26:44,850 --> 00:26:47,450 type of cold calling environment where you're physically showing 507 00:26:47,450 --> 00:26:50,450 up and trying to connect with people in person. 508 00:26:50,570 --> 00:26:51,970 It's hard. It's hard. 509 00:26:51,970 --> 00:26:55,330 I'll tell you, I'll share a funny personal story. 510 00:26:55,330 --> 00:26:59,650 So we're talking, I don't know how many years ago now, I think 511 00:26:59,650 --> 00:27:05,290 it was like probably 2010, 2011. I worked for a a franchise out 512 00:27:05,290 --> 00:27:07,690 of Albany that did sales training, right? 513 00:27:07,690 --> 00:27:10,650 And I teach cold calling clinics and I would do a lot of cold 514 00:27:10,650 --> 00:27:13,650 calling and. But at one point in time it got 515 00:27:13,650 --> 00:27:16,930 me so stressed out that I started having like these weird 516 00:27:16,930 --> 00:27:19,730 heart palpitations to the point I thought something was wrong 517 00:27:19,730 --> 00:27:22,330 with me, went to the doctor they were getting, putting a heart 518 00:27:22,330 --> 00:27:27,850 monitor on me, all this stuff. And then I I like realized by 519 00:27:27,850 --> 00:27:30,410 because I went a few days without cold calling and my 520 00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:32,850 heart got better. And so it turned out like I 521 00:27:32,850 --> 00:27:35,650 literally gave myself so much stress from cold calling and the 522 00:27:35,650 --> 00:27:38,970 expectation I was placing on it that I was having this weird 523 00:27:38,970 --> 00:27:41,890 heart arrhythmia thing. So it cold calling's hard. 524 00:27:41,890 --> 00:27:44,410 It's stressful. It's not for everybody. 525 00:27:44,930 --> 00:27:49,570 I got over that obviously. And and and I I did become very 526 00:27:49,570 --> 00:27:51,890 good at networking. I love networking, right? 527 00:27:51,890 --> 00:27:55,010 So like, do we get, do we get connected through the chamber? 528 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,320 Are you actually? Yes. 529 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:03,600 I am a Chamber member and I did an interview with one of the 530 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:07,800 reporters here with Kate Kate. Yeah, Haggerty. 531 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:09,840 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kate Kate's great. 532 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,880 Yeah, So she put us in touch. Very nice. 533 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,040 OK, so. But I love the chamber at the 534 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,880 networking events. Like it's been huge. 535 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:20,640 I don't know if you're going to the I think the common roots 536 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,960 mixer is this evening. If you're listening to this, the 537 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:25,440 common roots mixer has already happened. 538 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:29,280 Because this won't go out till next week, but for us in real 539 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,320 life, yeah, tonight at 5:00. That's awesome. 540 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,600 That's probably something I need to improve upon, is just going 541 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,240 to more chamber events. I've been a member for I think 542 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:44,440 three years now. I went to the Christmas holiday 543 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,240 event this past season and that was awesome And. 544 00:28:49,180 --> 00:28:50,780 I haven't been to too many other events. 545 00:28:50,820 --> 00:28:52,340 Yeah, I tell people all the time. 546 00:28:53,060 --> 00:28:55,700 I've always been a huge advocate of the Chambers of Commerce and 547 00:28:55,700 --> 00:28:59,740 in any town I think it's a for small business especially, it's 548 00:28:59,740 --> 00:29:02,740 an excellent way to get connected with other people in 549 00:29:02,740 --> 00:29:05,300 the business community. And really, you know, I've 550 00:29:05,300 --> 00:29:09,460 always, I've made my career off of networking and in sales 551 00:29:09,460 --> 00:29:11,940 anyway. And but I can tell you that this 552 00:29:11,940 --> 00:29:13,980 Adirondack Chamber, the team that they have right now, that 553 00:29:13,980 --> 00:29:19,460 Trisha is leading Trisha, Amanda, now Ava, Carol, I mean 554 00:29:19,460 --> 00:29:23,540 they're just, they're amazing. The events are amazing, very 555 00:29:23,540 --> 00:29:26,300 accessible. You know, it's just, I can't say 556 00:29:26,300 --> 00:29:27,820 enough good things about the chamber actually. 557 00:29:27,820 --> 00:29:34,380 So, but what I do tell everyone is most, not most, much of the 558 00:29:34,380 --> 00:29:37,930 power of the chamber for a small business person comes from those 559 00:29:37,930 --> 00:29:40,690 events. And so if you're not hitting 560 00:29:40,690 --> 00:29:43,810 those events, you're just not getting even half of what you 561 00:29:43,810 --> 00:29:46,050 could be out of the chamber. I mean, those events are huge. 562 00:29:46,490 --> 00:29:49,050 And so you should go. I will. 563 00:29:49,410 --> 00:29:51,970 And today's, I mean, it's in your backyard basically today, 564 00:29:52,010 --> 00:29:53,890 right? Southlands Falls, Common roots, 565 00:29:53,890 --> 00:29:59,270 Great beer, great people. It sounds good and I I. 566 00:30:00,030 --> 00:30:01,750 Will make more events. No pressure. 567 00:30:01,790 --> 00:30:04,270 I will make more events. No pressure, but I'll be looking 568 00:30:04,270 --> 00:30:05,310 for. It if I say I'm going to do 569 00:30:05,310 --> 00:30:06,670 something, I'll do it. That's good. 570 00:30:06,750 --> 00:30:09,710 So I'm so I'm intentionally not committing to this because I 571 00:30:09,710 --> 00:30:11,510 don't know if I'm going to and I like it. 572 00:30:11,590 --> 00:30:13,590 I like it. I will make more events, yeah, 573 00:30:13,830 --> 00:30:17,310 no, they're great. So, you know, just a little 574 00:30:17,310 --> 00:30:19,030 shout out for the chamber there, but awesome. 575 00:30:19,230 --> 00:30:22,750 Yeah. So business development, you 576 00:30:22,750 --> 00:30:26,390 know that's a I think that's a we've been trying to find we I 577 00:30:26,390 --> 00:30:30,550 should say we've been trying to successfully hire a salesperson 578 00:30:30,790 --> 00:30:33,830 for a year. You know what I mean like and 579 00:30:33,830 --> 00:30:37,950 just trying to find the right person because it's a stressful 580 00:30:37,950 --> 00:30:40,030 environment. Account managers we can find 581 00:30:40,350 --> 00:30:43,510 right and anyone can do an account management as long as 582 00:30:43,510 --> 00:30:44,670 you like talking to people, right. 583 00:30:44,710 --> 00:30:46,950 And you want to help people, you can be a great account manager 584 00:30:46,950 --> 00:30:50,950 but the the hunting part of business development is the hard 585 00:30:50,950 --> 00:30:54,560 part and and that's that's what we're trying to find a hunter 586 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,560 and it's just it's challenging, it's challenging. 587 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,920 And what's interesting is sometimes you may not know it. 588 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,520 You may have that streak in you that that allows you to succeed 589 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:05,760 in sales. You don't know it. 590 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,360 And I would say that when I was getting out of the military and 591 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,960 then, you know, I started working as an installer and 592 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,320 solar and then I got a job doing residential sales for that same 593 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,400 company, You know, they gave me a shot. 594 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,320 I had to make more money. You know, I was supporting a 595 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:20,960 family. We're a single income household 596 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:24,050 and. And I I did sales for about 4 597 00:31:24,050 --> 00:31:28,170 1/2 months until I had my landed my first deal. 598 00:31:28,530 --> 00:31:31,410 And I'm so grateful to the owners of that company, 599 00:31:32,130 --> 00:31:34,850 particularly my boss who who headed up the sales and and 600 00:31:34,850 --> 00:31:37,850 marketing teams because he didn't fire me. 601 00:31:38,970 --> 00:31:41,370 And if you would have fired me, you know, three months into it, 602 00:31:41,370 --> 00:31:45,450 like, oh, you haven't sold. Anything like pack up your bags 603 00:31:45,450 --> 00:31:47,730 and get out of here. I you know maybe I wouldn't have 604 00:31:47,730 --> 00:31:51,650 had a career in in the solar industry and so I'm I'm forever 605 00:31:51,650 --> 00:31:56,330 grateful for that and I try to take that experience and and 606 00:31:56,330 --> 00:31:59,090 practice patience. You know when when we hire 607 00:31:59,090 --> 00:32:03,010 someone in sales and you know we we we hired a a gentleman 608 00:32:03,010 --> 00:32:06,490 recently, you know he's been at it for a few months and I said 609 00:32:07,010 --> 00:32:09,560 you know. I I don't really care if you're 610 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:15,760 super motivated in in week one you know and you know if you 611 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,480 are, that's great you know coming hot out of the gates 612 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:19,920 here. But what I care about is you 613 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,040 know the 3rd or 4th or 5th month into this. 614 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,160 If you still get up every morning and you're feeling 615 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,920 hungry and you're willing to get out there and go hunting and and 616 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:31,400 you enjoy what you do. You know and you feel energized 617 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:36,000 by it and you know sure enough it you know it's tough and and 618 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,260 you know he. He had to go for you know 619 00:32:39,260 --> 00:32:42,140 several weeks without really landing any deals and he was 620 00:32:42,140 --> 00:32:45,500 getting nervous and and I said no, you know I believe in you. 621 00:32:45,700 --> 00:32:48,700 I I know you can do this. You've done it in other markets 622 00:32:48,700 --> 00:32:50,980 in other in other sectors, other industries. 623 00:32:51,420 --> 00:32:53,820 I know you can do this but you got to believe in yourself 624 00:32:53,820 --> 00:32:56,820 because I I believe in you and and you know and then he landed 625 00:32:56,820 --> 00:32:59,310 some big deals and. You know there's always ups and 626 00:32:59,310 --> 00:33:02,590 downs you know then then you get you get a customer who cancels a 627 00:33:02,590 --> 00:33:05,910 couple big deals you know and that's tough and and that 628 00:33:05,910 --> 00:33:10,070 happened in this case but I you know I I just kept encouraging 629 00:33:10,070 --> 00:33:13,270 him and and I and and that's really because of my experience 630 00:33:13,270 --> 00:33:16,350 when I started off in sales and and and they they believed in me 631 00:33:16,470 --> 00:33:19,150 I didn't know myself whether I could do sales I it just sounded 632 00:33:19,150 --> 00:33:22,350 fun but I was coming from an environment in which I was so 633 00:33:22,350 --> 00:33:26,030 detail oriented you know in in a combat environment you know. 634 00:33:26,730 --> 00:33:30,410 Where the devil's in the details and you have to really have 635 00:33:30,410 --> 00:33:34,890 everything lined up and squared away and then But then once I 636 00:33:34,890 --> 00:33:39,530 sold my first residential solar system, I was like hooked and 637 00:33:39,970 --> 00:33:42,730 that's it, right? My confidence, just like it just 638 00:33:42,730 --> 00:33:46,210 skyrocketed and then customers or prospects, they can sense 639 00:33:46,770 --> 00:33:49,570 that. Listen, I'll tell you to your 640 00:33:49,570 --> 00:33:51,610 point, I mean sales is hard, right? 641 00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:54,770 And a lot of people don't realize how hard it is and you 642 00:33:54,770 --> 00:33:57,370 you like you said you go months without closing a deal. 643 00:33:57,450 --> 00:34:00,410 But man when you close that deal, how good does that feel 644 00:34:00,650 --> 00:34:03,130 right? And then like you know I I it's 645 00:34:03,210 --> 00:34:05,650 the ups and downs and I think that's the hardest part for a 646 00:34:05,650 --> 00:34:07,290 lot of people. It's just the ups and downs and 647 00:34:07,290 --> 00:34:11,250 being able to weather the the valleys of no sales. 648 00:34:11,250 --> 00:34:16,480 But holy moly, I can there's nothing I I actually just said 649 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:19,960 to one of the guys in my office today or yesterday, I was like 650 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:22,080 how much do we like to close deals? 651 00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:25,679 It's like there is nothing better than closing a deal, man. 652 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,639 Like when you're hunting and you're getting a win, what's 653 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:31,960 better, right? Yeah, absolutely. 654 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,440 And there'll be days like if we land a big deal. 655 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,560 And we needed it. We really, really needed it. 656 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:39,560 And I'll, I'll, I'll be in my office. 657 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,600 I'll just start yelling. Yeah, that's. 658 00:34:42,679 --> 00:34:44,679 Great. And I I still, you know, I still 659 00:34:44,679 --> 00:34:46,480 work above my garage a lot of the times. 660 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,800 So you know, my kids will, The kids are like, oh. 661 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:50,840 There's, you know, they'll be like, what's going on, Dad? 662 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:52,639 close the deal. Yeah. 663 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:55,440 And and I'll get down on my my hands and knees sometimes and 664 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:57,880 and give thanks you know when we close a big deal you know and 665 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,760 it's that the ups and downs you know and that that makes it all 666 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,240 worth it. It really does. 667 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,830 It really does And and you know and listen that's that's why we 668 00:35:05,830 --> 00:35:08,390 want to have people like yourself on this show and and 669 00:35:08,390 --> 00:35:12,190 talk about this stuff is because for small business guys and 670 00:35:12,190 --> 00:35:16,230 girls you know like small business people it's it just 671 00:35:16,230 --> 00:35:18,710 means so much right. When you get a deal, when you 672 00:35:18,710 --> 00:35:22,390 close the deal and and and and that's one of the power or that 673 00:35:22,390 --> 00:35:23,870 is the power of buying local right. 674 00:35:23,870 --> 00:35:25,990 Because you really are supporting your friends, your 675 00:35:25,990 --> 00:35:29,270 neighbors, and it's such a profound impact when someone 676 00:35:29,470 --> 00:35:32,870 buys something from you versus buying it from a huge 677 00:35:32,870 --> 00:35:34,830 corporation or a box store or whatever. 678 00:35:34,830 --> 00:35:37,390 It is like no one's getting down their hands and knees and 679 00:35:37,390 --> 00:35:39,350 thanking God that they made that deal, right? 680 00:35:39,390 --> 00:35:41,630 You know what I mean? So it's, I appreciate you 681 00:35:41,630 --> 00:35:42,190 sharing that. That's. 682 00:35:42,270 --> 00:35:42,830 Great. Yeah. 683 00:35:42,870 --> 00:35:45,590 And and I got to give a shout out, Yes, please do to Whiteman 684 00:35:45,590 --> 00:35:46,990 Chevrolet. Yeah, right. 685 00:35:47,070 --> 00:35:49,430 Right here in in Glens Falls. Yeah. 686 00:35:49,670 --> 00:35:53,070 And you know, we had done a couple bigger, bigger deals, but 687 00:35:53,070 --> 00:35:55,190 a lot, you know, they were primarily down in the Hudson 688 00:35:55,190 --> 00:35:57,780 Valley. And based on connections we had 689 00:35:57,780 --> 00:36:04,100 there and they gave us a shot doing this install for them and 690 00:36:04,100 --> 00:36:06,980 a pretty big project, a lot went into it and it was quite 691 00:36:06,980 --> 00:36:11,180 involved and just grateful to Amy. 692 00:36:12,190 --> 00:36:15,230 Whiteman Brown and and her team for for giving us that shot as a 693 00:36:15,270 --> 00:36:16,910 local company. Yeah, it's awesome. 694 00:36:17,350 --> 00:36:18,870 I bought my last three cars from those guys. 695 00:36:18,870 --> 00:36:21,110 So Amen. They're great people over there. 696 00:36:21,230 --> 00:36:24,710 Go see Nate. So yeah, that's awesome. 697 00:36:25,190 --> 00:36:26,430 That's very cool. So if. 698 00:36:26,470 --> 00:36:28,550 Well, actually I got one more question. 699 00:36:28,670 --> 00:36:31,630 Sure. So I know we're kind of running 700 00:36:31,630 --> 00:36:36,150 running over a little bit but from a business standpoint, 701 00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:37,670 right? Like you talked about, like you 702 00:36:37,670 --> 00:36:39,790 know, you don't have a lot of inbound stuff coming in. 703 00:36:40,230 --> 00:36:45,190 And so if I'm a business owner and I've got a parking lot and a 704 00:36:45,190 --> 00:36:49,350 good amount of cars are coming in my parking lot every day, or 705 00:36:49,350 --> 00:36:51,790 maybe I want to give people a reason to come into my parking 706 00:36:51,790 --> 00:36:55,310 lot, right? Do I make money in those EV 707 00:36:55,310 --> 00:36:58,350 chargers? You definitely will. 708 00:36:58,670 --> 00:37:00,750 And you got to take a midterm view of it. 709 00:37:01,630 --> 00:37:05,350 And the reason is because, you know, there's an upfront 710 00:37:05,350 --> 00:37:09,350 incentive if you make it publicly accessible, there's a 711 00:37:09,350 --> 00:37:12,650 federal tax credit. There's a state tax credit and 712 00:37:12,650 --> 00:37:15,970 there's depreciation, savings okay, but sometimes it takes a 713 00:37:15,970 --> 00:37:18,290 couple years to fully depreciate the asset. 714 00:37:18,770 --> 00:37:21,570 If you're using it, you can use five year makers I guess 715 00:37:22,450 --> 00:37:28,210 depreciation schedule and there there is the upfront investment 716 00:37:28,210 --> 00:37:29,850 but you get a lot of that back and. 717 00:37:30,770 --> 00:37:33,530 Then the point is, when you own that asset and you're operating 718 00:37:33,530 --> 00:37:37,090 it, you know you you generate revenue every time someone uses 719 00:37:37,090 --> 00:37:40,960 that because you own it. You know and and so there's all 720 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:44,240 sorts of fancy structures and deals you can have third party 721 00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,480 ownership or lease deals or whatever kind of like ATM 722 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:51,520 structures. But I I get particularly excited 723 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,080 when people want to own and operate it themselves because I 724 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,120 think you know the the usage, the revenue streams will 725 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,760 continue to increase over time and and they get all these other 726 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,140 tax incentives, you know. Whereas if if they're doing a 727 00:38:05,140 --> 00:38:08,260 lease deal or third party deal, that third party captures those 728 00:38:08,260 --> 00:38:09,300 incentives. OK, yeah. 729 00:38:10,180 --> 00:38:11,260 All right. And that was my question. 730 00:38:11,260 --> 00:38:12,860 I was like, you know what you're talking about, Like people don't 731 00:38:12,860 --> 00:38:15,100 necessarily aren't calling in, you know, if they want to put 732 00:38:15,100 --> 00:38:16,700 these pumps in. But I was just like, well, I 733 00:38:16,700 --> 00:38:18,500 mean if they can make money doing it, like, why wouldn't 734 00:38:18,500 --> 00:38:20,420 they? Not only if maybe making money, 735 00:38:20,420 --> 00:38:23,900 but maybe it's a draw to bring people to your business because 736 00:38:23,900 --> 00:38:26,620 you have those chargers, right? Like gas is at A at a 737 00:38:26,620 --> 00:38:28,420 convenience store, right. That's why they have the gas is 738 00:38:28,500 --> 00:38:31,140 to get you there and then get you inside and grab a cup of 739 00:38:31,140 --> 00:38:31,860 coffee. Right. 740 00:38:31,940 --> 00:38:32,380 So. Exactly. 741 00:38:33,810 --> 00:38:36,330 Any big deal with Stewart's coming down anytime soon? 742 00:38:37,050 --> 00:38:40,210 No, they they already did some deals I think with New York 743 00:38:40,210 --> 00:38:42,770 State, but do they have maybe charges? 744 00:38:42,890 --> 00:38:44,810 They they do at some, yeah, yeah. 745 00:38:44,850 --> 00:38:48,410 But we, we landed our first New York State deal which we're 746 00:38:48,410 --> 00:38:49,610 pretty excited about. Yeah. 747 00:38:49,810 --> 00:38:52,690 And you know we've been a, you know, a veteran owned small 748 00:38:52,690 --> 00:38:55,570 business, it's called SDVOB. We're certified by New York 749 00:38:55,570 --> 00:38:58,250 State and the federal government as such and we haven't really 750 00:38:58,250 --> 00:39:00,730 landed any business in New York State, you know, over the past 751 00:39:00,730 --> 00:39:02,940 five years, so. For me this has been a 752 00:39:02,940 --> 00:39:05,860 significant development for us as a team. 753 00:39:05,900 --> 00:39:09,740 You know we just you know it's not all finalized yet because 754 00:39:09,740 --> 00:39:12,220 they have to vet you know all our credentials etcetera. 755 00:39:12,300 --> 00:39:15,700 But but you know we we're what what's called the lowest 756 00:39:15,940 --> 00:39:21,380 apparent bidder and so yeah we we we'll see where all that 757 00:39:21,380 --> 00:39:24,180 goes. But I I'm, I'm optimistic it's 758 00:39:24,180 --> 00:39:27,380 going to move forward and you know for me it's it's meaningful 759 00:39:27,380 --> 00:39:29,140 because we're you know if it moves forward we'll be 760 00:39:29,140 --> 00:39:34,620 installing these at you know. DMNA, which is deartment of 761 00:39:34,620 --> 00:39:37,380 military and naval affairs, so basically National Guard 762 00:39:37,380 --> 00:39:39,500 armories. Yeah, here on the eastern side 763 00:39:39,500 --> 00:39:41,340 of the state. So that's amazing. 764 00:39:41,340 --> 00:39:44,120 Yeah, well, I'm hoping it all works now. 765 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:46,040 Yes, come through. We'll see. 766 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:50,440 I'm excited, a little nervous at the same time because when 767 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:54,080 you're the lowest parent bidder, you're like, okay. 768 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:58,080 We gotta make sure we're operating efficiently. 769 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,800 That's right, all I's are dotted, Lt's are crossed and 770 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:04,320 things are moving on time. That's great. 771 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:06,680 So David, if people want to find. 772 00:40:08,060 --> 00:40:10,420 Renewa Where do they find you guys? 773 00:40:11,460 --> 00:40:14,260 Our website probably has the most information available. 774 00:40:14,260 --> 00:40:17,420 It's renew energy.com. I'll spell that phonetically. 775 00:40:17,420 --> 00:40:25,140 It's RENUA, so renew energy.com. I'm on LinkedIn as well. 776 00:40:25,540 --> 00:40:30,740 My name is Dave Byrne, last name spelled Byrne. 777 00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:32,220 It's awesome. Yeah. 778 00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:35,860 Hey, thanks for coming in today and spend some time with us. 779 00:40:36,020 --> 00:40:40,080 Really appreciate it. You know, thanks for employing 780 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,760 20 people in the community and and being a part of things and 781 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:44,960 and again, thanks for your service, appreciate that as 782 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,080 well. And yeah, we'll have to get on 783 00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:51,600 again sometime and tell us about how that that project's working. 784 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,360 Out right. We might take a full hour for 785 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:54,240 that one. That's it. 786 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:56,400 That sounds good. She attached me on the right 787 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:58,840 day. Yeah. 788 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,760 Well, thank you so much for the opportunity and. 789 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:06,110 I My promise to you is I I will. Attempt to make it to more 790 00:41:06,110 --> 00:41:07,830 chamber events. Yes, you hear that. 791 00:41:07,910 --> 00:41:10,310 Trisha and Amanda and Ava and Caroline, everybody. 792 00:41:10,310 --> 00:41:12,670 He is. He's making a tentative 793 00:41:12,670 --> 00:41:16,430 commitment. If I don't have a travel 794 00:41:16,430 --> 00:41:20,030 lacrosse commitment for my kids, or a ski racing commitment or 795 00:41:20,030 --> 00:41:22,110 some other, it's awesome. Something else going on. 796 00:41:22,710 --> 00:41:24,150 Well, thanks again, man. All right, thank you. 797 00:41:24,350 --> 00:41:27,310 Thanks everybody for listening. Join us next time. 798 00:41:27,310 --> 00:41:30,510 We've got some great people coming on the show just like 799 00:41:30,510 --> 00:41:33,630 Dave and you know, keep listening and keep supporting 800 00:41:33,630 --> 00:41:35,320 your local businesses. 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