Innovation

ReVision Energy is passionately committed to ridding the world of the need for fossil fuels and to improve society while doing it. Their vision is a future where all “enjoy a clean environment and just society throughout New England” and their mission is to “lead our community in solving the environmental problems caused by fossil fuels while alleviating economic and social injustice.” Barry Woods, Senior Director of Mobility Solutions shared, “Working here lets you live in the present moment and line up your passion with contributions to company, community, and society. It has a larger meaning and I see how it is possible to make a difference.”

What is striking about ReVision Energy is their mission to not only influence climate change, but to do so while creating societal change. They have structured as a 100% employee-owned company, practicing the philosophy that every employee no matter what role they play in the company contributes to the solutions and ideas for the enterprise and impacts the bottom line. They are not only innovating in solar with their product offerings, they are innovating in their corporate structure. “When I joined the company about 5 years ago, the co-owners already had a distributed leadership model in place,” continued Woods, “they saw the transition from closely held to employee-owned to be an offshoot of the company’s mission and values. The co-owners felt it was the best way to grow the business and to align with the mission/vision/purpose of the organization.”

Inspiration

It is clear in talking to Woods that he is passionate and driven by the work of ReVision Energy. After taking a course on Environmental Law, he left a 20+ year career as an Attorney to join Revision Energy in his current role relocating from the West Coast to the East Coast of the US. “The Earth is burning. We need to move away from burning fossil fuels as quickly as possible or the environment and world for our children and grandchildren will be very bleak. Working here lets you live in the present moment and line up your passion with contributions to company, community, and society. It has a larger meaning and I see how it is possible to make a difference. Working here does not feel like work. We are driven by business acumen as well as altruism. It is a testimony to a rare thing: there are not many workplaces that provide day-to-day inspiration for the work that is done.”

Overall impact

“Innovative thinking is pretty deeply seeded in all employee-owners and in the day-to-day of the work. One recent example is in our apprenticeship program for electricians.” says Woods. ReVision Energy was faced with one major talent roadblock to growth: lack of trained electricians, delaying installation of solar panels for up to six months. “ReVision Energy’s response” to this Talent challenge continued Woods “was to create the first-of-its-kind employer-based apprenticeship for solar energy professionals to earn their electrical license. This year we saw our first graduating class of licensed apprentices who have completed the entire 4-year program and are on their way to becoming Master Electricians certified in their states. Our apprenticeship is a mix of paid on-the-job learning and technical instruction, with ample opportunity for leadership and professional development. We cannot demand that people remain with us after training, but we believe most will. We sow goodwill by paying for training and paying them while they train and we believe most will self-select in [to work at ReVision Energy] as a result.”

ReVision Energy also works to increase awareness of solar options for public entities that typically have limited financial resources. Revision launched their solar Power Purpose Agreement (PPA) a decade ago which is a system where the installation of the solar technology is paid for by investors and the school or non-profit is charged only for the power used. ReVision Energy has worked with a number of non-profits and schools to combine PPA and federal tax incentives for solutions that work for their financial situations and enables community entities to shift away from fossil fuels. (https://www.revisionenergy.com/at-work/solar-ppa-schools-non-profits/)

Business benefit

ReVision Energy’s employee-owned structure combined with its altruistic mission results in a workforce that is naturally focused on weighing the benefits of any decision with the risk and investment. They are focused on both doing good and the bottom line. Said Woods, “Being employee owned, looking at decisions as trade-offs is naturally engrained in the culture. All are thinking of cost benefit when assessing implementations. We are always looking at the nuances of what it takes to show a return on any investment of time, money, or activity. Everyone is trained to have courageous conversations – always evaluating if the action is a tangible manifest of the group effort. Should they do this work? Why? How does it show value? To the employees? To the customer? To the community? To society?”

Social and environmental benefit

B Corp certification has allowed ReVision Energy leadership more flexibility in how they approach investments and enabled them to make business decisions that are not always profit-driven and not beholden to a Board’s demands for profit. With this structure they are changing the world - moving closer to their vision of a clean environment, rid of dependency on fossil fuels - on their terms, aligned with their vision and mission.

Said Woods in closing, “In the case of ReVision Energy, we are able to focus our goals around our mission of sustainability, humanity, and our community. We are the top 5% of all B Corps and one of a few in Maine and we are incredibly proud of this.”

Interview

Barry Woods, Senior Director of Mobility Solutions and Employee-Owner