Episodes
Friday Dec 15, 2017
S05 EP 08: Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power
Friday Dec 15, 2017
Friday Dec 15, 2017
Vermont’s Green Mountain Power obsesses on its customers. Under the leadership of CEO Mary Powell, it has radically restructured, positioning itself as an energy transformation company focused on meeting the needs of consumers with integrated, cutting-edge services that help them use less energy and save money.
In the process, the utility has become the first to help its ratepayers go off the grid, the first to offer residential solar customers the Tesla Powerwall battery and the first and only utility to achieve B Corp certification. And consumers have responded. Green Mountain Power has grown from serving 88,000 customers in 2008 to serving over 260,000 today, with revenues of more than $640 million and $2 billion in assets.
Last month, the Bard MBA’s Meghan Altman talked with Powell about the company’s transformative vision and where she sees the future of the energy system.
Powell has served as president and CEO of Green Mountain Power since 2008 and she’s been the backbone of its comprehensive restructuring and service quality improvement. In 2014, Powell was recognized by POWER-GEN as the Woman of the Year. In 2016, Fast Company named her one of the 100 most creative people in business and in 2017 CEO Connection designated her one of the top 25 most influential women of the mid-market.
Friday Dec 01, 2017
S05 EP 07: Thomas Singer, The Conference Board
Friday Dec 01, 2017
Friday Dec 01, 2017
Transitioning to the Circular Economy: Thomas Singer Profiles Seven Companies Making the Shift
Thomas Singer felt that there was already plenty of good writing about the theory behind the circular economy. So, when he and his Conference Board colleagues thought about what they wanted to contribute to the conversation, they focused on case studies: “real, practical examples of companies that have been involved in these types of initiatives.”
The resulting 2017 report, Business Transformation and the Circular Economy: A Candid Look at Risks and Rewards, profiles the strategies and successes of seven companies at the forefront of the transition to an economy based on recovery, reunse and regeneration.
Bard MBA student Carolyn Pincus spoke recently with Singer about his work and what he learned about why companies like Philips and Waste Management are increasingly pursuing circular economy initiatives.
Thomas Singer is a Principle Researcher in corporate leadership at the Conference Board. His work focuses on CSR and sustainability issues, and he’s the author of numerous other publications, including the comprehensive sustainability benchmarking report, Sustainability Practices.