Where You Could Work

John spends his days working with solar contractors and developers helping figure out the best solutions and products for the job.

After 6 years as a truck driver, John earned a two year technical specialist degree from St. Cloud Technical Community College, and then joined Werner Electric. 

Madhushan teaches computers to decipher thousands of different data sets so they can learn to find hidden patterns and relationships to understand how buildings absorb and lose heat, and how they respond to different heating and cooling loads.  

He earned two bachelor's degrees — in physics and electrical engineering — from the University of Minnesota. 

Eric plays a major part in ensuring that the biomass combined heat and power plant, Koda Energy, runs smoothly.

After serving six years in the U.S. Navy's nuclear division, he vacuum-pulled the methane off of decomposing trash at Fortistar Plant in Inver Grove Heights to power nearby gas turbines, and moved on to Koda when they opened in 2008.

Donna's role includes obtaining approval from utilities, building departments, and electrical departments of different cities in order to install solar systems. 

After working part time in a school district, she co-founded a residential solar installation company before merging with TruNorth Solar in her current role.

TJ works in real estate acquisition and on the development of community solar gardens, spending much of his time pouring over maps, identifying land that could support a community solar garden. 

After obtaining his real estate license he went back to school for a certificate in solar sales and marketing from Century College.

Taylor's job is to manage the solar installation – from scheduling workers and connecting with customers, to dropping off parts and keeping on track with timetables.

A love of the outdoors along with experience in construction got him started as a solar installer, and he rose up to solar construction manager. 

Adam develops and implements manufacturing systems and processes used to create components out of aluminum extrusions, including the support systems that hold solar panels in place.

Adam started his post-secondary studies at Alexandria Technical and Community College, followed by a mechanical engineering degree and a master's in business administration at St. Cloud State University. 

Joffrey spends his days figuring out which energy projects his employer should be putting their time and resources towards. Specifically, he focuses on assets like microgrids.

A marketing degree from the University of Minnesota led to a job at Ford Motor Company and an additional degree from the University of Michigan Business School. After moving back to Minnesota to work for General Mills, he joined the Integrated Energy Solutions team at Mortenson.

Cari oversees every tiny detail that goes into safely transporting hundreds of massive wind turbines from origin to the project site. 

While in college at Central Lakes, she worked as a part time load tracker for ATS Trucking, and has since risen up the ladder. 

After owning a construction company, moving to New Zealand, then back to Minnesota, Zahra launched Vessyll, a next-generation energy storage system for homes and commercial buildings. Zahra's days are never the same. “We’re not walking into a pre-structured industry. This is new and growing every day so you’ve got to be open to solutions and listen and that’s going to help you move forward.”

Steve started in the electrical industry in 1975, and for more than twenty years he’s worked as an instructor at Riverland Community College, most recently running the electrical, solar, and wind training program.

Dennis started EVS, Inc. in 1979 after earning a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota. The family business pivoted from the transportation sector to renewable energy over a decade ago, performing civil engineering for solar gardens and utility-scale solar sites.