Pictured Left to Right (top to bottom): Charles Murray, Andrew Lee,,Alex Kosyakov,Krysten Walls
Additional speakers for the ReTool’26 Conference have been announced.
The one-day conference on June 9 at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel is organized by the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities. It is part of the BPU’s Retool WNY initiative, focused on providing opportunities for regional manufacturers to explore new supply chain opportunities in the clean energy sector and innovative solutions for energy efficiency and process improvements.
Switched Source CEO Charles Murray, Innovia GEO CEO and co-founder Andrew Lee, and Natrion co-founder and CEO Alex Kosyakov will talk about how their entrepreneurial ventures have helped advance clean energy innovation in the state, across the nation, and in both Canada and South America. The panel discussion will be moderated by Krysten Walls, a senior project manager for the commercialization team at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Murray’s company, Switched Source, is working to improve the electricity distribution system through the placement of automation equipment that can help re-balance loads between phases and distribution circuits. Their installations have helped increase reliability and efficiency for electric system operations.
Natrion is scaling up a production facility in Buffalo where their scientific and engineering teams are developing innovative new materials to supply the next generation of batteries used in automotive, consumer electronics, defense/aerospace, and energy storage systems. Natrion’s active separator is designed to eliminate the risk of thermal runaway fires and is expected to deliver superior energy output in li-metal and li-sulfur batteries.
Innovia GEO is a company that is emerging as a leader in shallow geothermal heating and cooling. Their ultra-shallow GEO systems are designed to be used in low and midrise buildings. The company has projects in Ontario and Buffalo. Their shallow geothermal systems can be used in new buildings or as a retrofit solution in existing buildings. GEO systems can provide savings on utility bills and are expected to deliver stable, predictable savings on long-term energy costs.
Co-presenting partners for this year’s event include non-profit NextCorps and the Scale for ClimateTech program, which is administered by NextCorps and SecondMuse. These two organizations are helping to scale up manufacturing in New York State, with a focus on commercializing clean technologies and solutions.
Switched Source benefited from participation in a recent Scale for ClimateTech cohort. That program supports climate tech innovators in refining their prototypes and scaling up their manufacturing.
Both Natrion and Innovia GEO are current participants in a ClimateTech cohort, and Innovia GEO also has been in the Venture for ClimateTech program, which is a global accelerator program for sourcing the most promising climate tech innovators.
Tickets for Retool’26 are available at: Retool26.eventbrite.com with discounted pricing for purchase of two or more tickets by one organization.
Sponsorship and vendor opportunities are still available. For more information, contact Ellen Ditonto at 716-661-1686 or by email at businessdev@jamestownbpu.com.
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