Thank You, Solar Industry, For Making Me Feel At Home

During a 17-year career, I’ve been fortunate enough to have told some good stories and made some lifelong friends, across four different industries.

But something different happened when I joined the solar industry. I feel what the prodigal son must have felt as he crested that final hill on the way back to his father’s house. Joy. Giddiness. A strong impulse to rush headlong into his father’s open, inviting arms.

In other words, I feel like I’ve finally come home.

I’m humbled and grateful to all who have welcomed and educated me in the past year, so I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to:

• My wife of 17 years (and soulmate of 24 years) Beth, my son Ryan and my daughter Maggie. I literally couldn’t do this without them. Their support for my solar adventures has been steadfast and true, and I couldn’t love them any more if I tried;
• My sister Claire, her husband Jake and their children, Hank and Lily;
• My extended family on Beth’s side: in-laws Bill and Rosmarie; Greg and Sally, and their children Chris and Sarah (and sister Sue Accorti); and Bill III and his three sons, Alex, Nic and Eric;
• Scott McCafferty, CEO of WTWH Media, for taking a chance in hiring me last year to run this magazine;
• Paul Heney, who lit my way home. I’m eternally grateful you thought of me when this job opened;
• The hardest working editorial team in the solar industry: Kathie Zipp, Steven Bushong, Mark Rook, Jessica East and Matt Claney. With the number of projects we work on (with more on the way), the work they do is amazing. I can’t thank them enough;
• The hardest working sales team in the industry: McCafferty, Mike Emich, Todd Tidmore, Suren Sagadevan, Tom Lazar, Courtney Seel, Jim Powers and Neel Gleason;
• Our incomparable support team, who don’t often get the recognition they deserve: Marshall Matheson, Dave Miyares, Pat Curran, Stacy Combest, Bruce Sprague, Mary Heidelhoff, Lance Brown and Heather Centorbi;
• Tor Valenza;
• Carter Lavin;
• Yann Brandt;
• Tom Cheyney;
• Raina Brett Russo;
• Robert Sternthal;
• Steve Levy and Jessi Lord;
• Rhone Resch, Monique Hanus and Jamie Nolan;
• Gary Mull and Christopher Earl;
• Andrew Johnson, Francis Hodsoll and Neal Lurie;
• Laura Sutphen;
• Ron Jones;
• Justin Barnes;
• Tricia Davis;
• Sunny Rai, Paul Robusto and Nicole Monaco;
• Scott Wiater, Tony Clifford, Leah Wilkinson and Keira Shein;
• Randy Zechman; and
• Shira Weizen, Carol O’Connell and Olga Estrina.

I’m bullish on where the direction the solar industry is heading. So I wish all of you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukah, happy Kwanzaa, Islamic New Year and Ashura Day. May 2013 bring you everything you desire — and I look forward to taking that journey with you.

Solar Power World