Alan Hope

Alan Hope, a native of Little Rock, is the president and owner of Powers of Arkansas, which started in 1985. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. A LEED Accredited Professional, Class A HVACR license holder, and Certified Energy Manager with more than 29 years of experience meeting the building HVAC, Controls and Service needs of higher education, healthcare, K-12 schools, commercial and industrial customers. Alan’s extensive experience with energy management systems, operations and maintenance, building automation and control systems, energy strategies, business, design, contracting, service and construction of varied facilities afford expertise for each Customer. In 2010, he was a finalist in the Arkansas Business “Business Executive of the Year” and Powers of Arkansas received the “Arkansas Business of the Year” (Cat III 76-300 employees). Powers was the “Siemens Field Office of the Year” for both 2010 and 2011. With over 100 employees, Powers is the Arkansas Company for Building HVAC, Controls, and Service.

Tami Hornbeck

As a Community Facilitator for Communities Unlimited, Tami engages community leaders and entrepreneurs for the purpose of building of community capacity to pursue entrepreneurial growth opportunities and to develop, implement and sustain strategies that move the community toward prosperity. Trained as a WealthWorks value chain coordinator and coach, she has worked with the Arkansas Green Energy Network to implement a community based bioenergy value chain strategy and assisted partners in forming a multi-stakeholder cooperative, Delta Bioenergy. She also serves as a USDA FoodLINC coordinator to focus on local, healthy food systems that address the key challenges of food deserts, inclusion of small scale farmers including minority-owned farms and the creation of new opportunities to fill gaps along the value chain in rural counties of the Delta region. Through a life-time of involvement with family-owned farms and businesses, Tami has experience with agricultural production and renewable energy and has an on-the-ground perspective of rural development.

Douglas Hutchings

Douglas Hutchings is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Silicon Solar Solutions, an Arkansas based advanced materials company in Fayetteville, AR. He has received the nationally competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and has now led his company to compete in 16 international business competitions, placing in the top three of each and winning seven outright. Hutchings was named one of the five “Nation’s Top New Inventors” by Inventors Digest for his work on three patent applications. He also serves on several panels and committees concerning clean tech and entrepreneurship in Arkansas.

Gary McChesney

Gary McChesney is Chief Technology Officer at FutureFuel Chemical Company, Batesville, AR. He is primarily responsible for defining and implementing the company’s technology strategy. A licensed professional engineer in the State of Arkansas, McChesney began his professional career in 1980 as a staff engineer in the Utilities Department at Eastman Kodak, Eastman Chemical Division, Arkansas Operations. He was named Superintendent of NOBS Manufacturing Department in 1994 and Superintendent of the Technology Department in 2004. McChesney was appointed Director of Technology in November, 2006, when Eastman was acquired by FutureFuel Chemical Company. He was appointed to his current position in 2007. McChesney was recently elected Chairman of the Board for the Arkansas Advanced Energy Association.

Jim Metzger

As a consulting economist, Jim Metzger has worked for 40 years in the public finance and labor market research areas, 36 of them in Arkansas. As a principal of HISTECON Associates, Inc., he has conducted energy, tax policy, labor, and human resource studies for private firms and public agencies, and for 35 years he has appeared in federal court and labor-arbitration hearings concerning issues of employment discrimination, worker compensation, and job advancement and termination. Recent clients include: Arkansas Advanced Energy Association, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, and Winrock International. His work on energy and resource taxation has been cited in decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. He holds a M.A. in Social Science (Economics Concentration) from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. Metzger formerly held positions as a research economist for Argonne National Laboratory and as an economist for the U.S. Department of Labor – Region V. He has taught economics and statistics at Arizona State University, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the International MBA program at Sichuan, China, and for the MBA program at the Little Rock campus of Webster University.

Peter Nierengarten, PE

Peter is originally from southern Arkansas, having grown up in Arkadelphia. After graduating from Arkadelphia High School in 1995, he enrolled in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Peter earned a bachelor and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the U of A 2001 & 2002. He then worked for a short time for a civil consulting firm in NW Arkansas before moving to Portland, OR in 2003. For almost nine years he worked for the Portland Water Bureau as an engineer, project manager, energy manager, green building consultant and sustainability advocate.

In the summer of 2012, Peter and his family relocated back to Fayetteville from the west coast and he began working as the Sustainability Director for the City of Fayetteville. In that role, he has been a passionate supporter of sustainable lifestyle choices and has led multiple sustainability related policy development projects for the City of Fayetteville, including: community energy planning, municipal energy policy, PACE program development, urban agriculture, downtown parking, recycling and composting, and bicycle/pedestrian programs and infrastructure investment. In addition, he has managed several sustainability projects and accomplishments for the City, including: adoption of Fayetteville’s first Energy Action Plan, adoption of 100% Clean Energy Goals, Launching Arkansas’ first PACE Program, Fayetteville becoming Arkansas’ only 3-STAR Sustainability Certified Community, achieving the state’s first Silver designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community, and becoming the first city to invest in Ozarks Electric’s 1-megawatt Solar Array.

Peter is very interested in promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy, recycling, sustainability and livability for the City of Fayetteville and advancing the six goals of City Plan 2030. Peter is extremely proud to serve Fayetteville in a role that will provide vital direction for his community’s continued sustainable growth.

Flint Richter

Flint Richter is a NABCEP certified PV installer with over 20 years of experience in the design and implementation of residential, commercial, and industrial solar systems and energy storage systems. As Business Development Executive, Flint is responsible for assisting in the growth and development of Entegrity’s Solar Division.

Previously, Flint was the founder and principal of Richter Solar Energy, a Northwest Arkansas solar energy firm. In addition to his work at Entegrity, he is also an instructor for Solar Energy International, a non-profit educational organization that provides training and expertise in renewable energy worldwide.