Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Alta LeCompte
Squinting in the late afternoon sun, friends of Positive Energy Solar watched a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, Oct. 26, making official the company’s new solar-powered Las Cruces headquarters at 510 S. Main.
“Not only can we eat Downtown, many of us can walk to work. And we can sneak over to the farmers market and get some veggies on Wednesdays,” said CEO Regina Wheeler. She said the company added seven employees in Las Cruces last year, doubling its workforce. There are current opportunities for experienced solar installers, designers and sales specialists. “In the next few years, we expect to hire 18 more,” she said.
The local company is part of Positive Energy Inc., which has offices in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Taos.
“Theresa Westbrock just gave me the quote of the day when she said, ‘In 2008, this business was in my bedroom,’” said Carrie LaTour, director of the Las Cruces Downtown Partnership, in her remarks welcoming the solar installation company to Downtown.
Officials praised the company for choosing to locate in and help build Downtown and in the Tax Increment Development District (TIDD). They also said the company “lives its values,” providing health insurance and other benefits for employees.
Participating in the ribbon cutting were three generations of Positive Energy’s leadership – founder and Chief Technical Officer Allan Sindelar and Walt and Theresa Westbrock, who grew the business in their home until it was ready to move to its first real office and warehouse at 2050 W. Hadley Ave.
Since this was a triple chamber ribbon cutting, Carrie Hamblen of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Lane and Janet Honek of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce de Las Cruces and Troy Tudor of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce represented their respective organizations.
A favorite topic at the ceremony was the transformation of the former bank building where Zumba classes once were taught into a sleek office space bathed in sunlight, heated and cooled by efficient new zone units, powered by 12 kilowatts of solar.
Leading tours of the office and warehouse after the ceremony, Wheeler pointed to interior stone walls left as homage to the building’s history. “Walt has his own office now,” she said gesturing toward a door along the corridor leading from the reception area. At the end of the corridor is a break room, a welcome amenity for staff which had been cooped in a tiny space in their former quarters.
The entry hall is decorated with photos of customers posing with their new solar systems. Inside the reception area are displays that inform and decorate the space, as well as a conference table where customers and staff can explore solar options. Wheeler said the company is occupying 7,000 square feet of the building and there is an additional 2,000 square feet available for sublet. Sales and marketing associate Karen Paramanandam, also giving a tour, pointed out the lights activated by motion detectors and the furniture made of recycled materials.
Davin Lopez, president and CEO of Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance, who worked with Positive Energy Solar to accomplish the transition to larger quarters, presided at the ribbon cutting. Speakers included Mayor Ken Miyagishima, and City Councilors Greg Smith, Nathan Small, Olga Pedroza and Gill Sorg.
Sorg said in 2006 Las Cruces had eight homes with solar and now there are more than 600, while the city itself has done three solar projects. “Southern New Mexico is the best place in the U.S. to produce solar energy,” Sorg said.
Small noted Mark Westbrock’s role in working with the city on solar projects, his regard for life that reflects his training as a biologist and his leading role shaping energy policy at the state level. “Renewable energy is totally nonpartisan,” Small said. “As a business investment, renewable energy is something we can all rally around. “This is an exciting and big day for Las Cruces.”
