Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

2014 | Doing Business in Connecticut 67 PrOFILE Chip Bottone CEO, FuelCell Energy By Taryn Plumb B ack in college, Chip Bottone worked at a coal-fired power plant – tending to precipitators (which re- move dust from gas), and dealing with the inevitable hitches and quirks of steam valves and boiler pumps. irty years later, he's on the opposite end of the energy spectrum: He heads the clean power company Fu- elCell Energy, which conceptualizes, manufactures, installs, manages and services fuel cell power plants. "e value of that, frankly, is that I understand both sides of the equation," said Bottone, who has served as presi- dent and CEO of FuelCell Energy since February 2011. Distributed plan e publicly-traded company — with roughly $188 million in revenue — is headquartered in Danbury in northern Fairfield County and has manufacturing op- erations in Torrington. Its Direct FuelCell plants have generated more than 1.5 billion kilowatt hours of electricity without burning or combustion, utilizing such fuels as renewable biogas, propane and clean natural gas. "What we're trying to do is build power plants around the world, megawatt size and above, and help transform the utility industry from a centralized form of power to more of a distributed form of power, and make sure that affordable, clean energy adds to the resiliency of the grid," said Bottone. He's long had an interest in the energy industry, going back to his time at the coal-fired plant in Cartersville, Ga., where he landed through a co-op program in college. "It was a great correlation between work and school," said Bottone. "ey were teaching us all this stuff in the classroom, and it was a great way to see it in action." Aer earning his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Geor- gia Institute of Technology, Bottone went on to a robust, 25-year career at Ingersoll Rand. roughout his diversified tenure there, he was involved in sales and acquisitions, innova- tion, global business development, commercialization of technology, and power generation project development. Eventually, he became president of the manufacturer's Energy Systems business, which further piqued his interest in the industry. "I wanted to get into the energy sector, specifically clean energy," he said, noting his particular interest in the great potential of fuel cells. In February 2010, he joined FuelCell Energy as senior vice president and chief commer- cial officer; just a year later, he was promoted to his current position. e company, which was founded in 1969 as Energy Research Corp., now employs roughly 620 people between its two Connecticut locations, Bottone said, and more than 95 percent of its revenues are derived from out of state. "It's good for Connecticut, and, frankly, Connecticut has been good for us," he said. Goals moving forward are to address the broader energy markets, he said, and to build larger and larger plants around the world. He noted that patience is a virtue when working with well-entrenched utility companies; utilities oen tend to be slow to change, because they're risk adverse. "We're making progress," Bottone said. But "we've got a lot more work to do." q dations on ways to save time — and therefore — energy. e cost for the training was more than $15,000, a majority of which will be covered through the PRIME program. e lean training "is going to make us more competitive in a global economy," said James Boryczewski, vice president of Edco. His sister, Dina Palmese, also a vice president at the firm, added, "In the end, what we're hoping to do is improve product flow, minimize our environ- mental impact and reduce the amount of energy we use." Local roots Like Edco, many of the state's small manufac- turers are multi-generational and family-owned, meaning they're deeply invested in Connecticut. Johnson of the Smaller Manufacturer Association — whose membership includes 138 companies — works at the third-gener- ation Marion Manufacturing Co., located in Cheshire since 1946. "ere's a strong desire to stay here," he said. "Connecticut's a great place to live." is is where the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology's "Connecticut. Dream It. Do It." program is working to make a difference. A coalition of manufacturers, associa- tions, educational institutions, economic development and workforce organizations, it was launched in December 2010 to address workforce shortages. Since then, it's reached out to 14,000 mid- dle and high school students through special events and various programming, according to Palisano. ey get hands-on experience that replicates the manufacturing process — from concept, to design, to fabrication, to quality control — and they meet with manufacturers and their employees. e organization's biggest challenge: Replacing "the tarnished image of manu- facturing as dirty, dark and dangerous," said Karen Jarmon, senior communications advi- sor for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. "Misinformation is one of our key chal- lenges," Palisano agreed. "It's changing the image of manufacturing and challenging stereotypes." As she pointed out, jobs are well-paid, more secure than perceived, and cover a huge breadth. "ere are a wide variety of kinds of careers that you could have," she said. DiPentima agreed that roles range from "operators, to sales, to human resources, to finance, to quality control, to logistics, and much more. No other industry offers such a diverse range of job opportunities." q PHOTO/COURTESY

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