Alter NRG Corp. announces appointment of new Director Elect, appointment of
Chief Operating Officer for CleanEnergy, largest single geoexchange contract
and other key hires
TSX - NRG OTCQX - ANRGF
CALGARY, March 30 /CNW/ - (TSX: NRG; OTCQX: ANRGF) Alter NRG Corp. ("Alter NRG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the identification of a nominee Director for election at the upcoming annual general meeting, appointment of key individuals to CleanEnergy Development Corp.'s ("CleanEnergy") sales and operations groups, as well as closing the single largest contract to date in the commercial market segment.
Alter NRG is pleased to announce that Joe Schwager will be nominated to join the Board of Directors at the next annual general meeting, and will be serving in an official observer capacity until that time. Joe is the founder and managing director of Juniper, a consultancy that established itself as the leading independent analyst of novel waste processing technologies, assessing their capabilities and limitations and their impact upon market dynamics internationally. Through this advisory work he developed a unique perspective on the competitive landscape and the direction of government policy, not least in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe; but also in emerging markets, such as Australia. After some 20 years' involvement in the sector, Joe is stepping back from day-to-day consulting and so is now in a position to take on Non-Executive Directorships with a select group of industry leaders.
Michael Heier, Chairman of Alter NRG comments that "I am very pleased to be adding Mr. Schwager to the board of directors. We worked with Mr. Schwager previously as a well respected industry consultant and our board can now benefit from his wealth of knowledge, industry contacts and experienced perspectives on how to successfully compete in the waste-to-energy market."
Prior to founding Juniper, Mr. Schwager was European director of strategic development for Corning, a Fortune-250 diversified US conglomerate, where he provided board-level input on strategy; identified and negotiated joint-ventures and acquisition opportunities; managed a multi-million dollar growth portfolio within the environmental and other sectors; and oversaw an international multi-disciplinary team working to strict budgetary and growth targets. He has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of York (UK), followed by postgraduate training at INSEAD, France, in Strategic Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Management & Planning and Flexible Manufacturing Systems.
CleanEnergy has appointed Bruce Buchholz as Chief Operating Officer at CleanEnergy. Mr. Buchholz is an experienced senior executive in the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) market, in which geoexchange operates. From 1976 until 2000, Mr. Buchholz worked at Carrier Corporation, the largest global HVAC manufacturer, in a variety of executive roles including R&D, global manufacturing, and as a Vice President and General Manager responsible for turning around three major business units. Among these units was the Global room air conditioner business, which he grew from $254 million to over $650 million, with concurrent responsibility for 13 international factories and 5 global design centers. He also ran two distribution/sales/service operations, with up to $400 million in revenue, covering all market segments, including residential, commercial, and industrial and applied products. Since then, Mr. Buchholz has been President of Alltrista Thermoformed Products, the largest independent custom plastics thermoformer in North America, and a senior executive in three other HVAC related companies, including Advanced Test Products (a division of SPX), Mammoth-Webco (a subsidiary of Nortek Holdings, Inc.), and most recently as the President and CEO of Green Comfort Systems, Inc. Mr. Buchholz has a history of turning around and growing companies, including product development, expanding distribution networks, dealer development, and strategic mergers and acquisitions activity. The turnarounds have resulted in significant increases in sales and bottom line improvement in all cases.
Mark Montemurro, President and CEO of Alter NRG comments that "I am excited to bring Bruce on as a key member of the CleanEnergy senior management team. Bruce provides experience and operational knowledge of how to grow quickly in the broader HVAC market which geoexchange operates and we expect Bruce to make an immediate positive impact within CleanEnergy and to drive our aggressive growth targets."
CleanEnergy has been positioning itself to focus on larger scale commercial jobs and has now closed the largest geoexchange installation contract to date. The contract is for the installation of geoexchange at a pool complex in Cambridge, Ontario - located approximately 100 km west of Toronto - for approximately $550,000 worth of geoexchange field installation services. This project is the first of what the City hopes will lead to other projects in the future. The City of Cambridge is known for its environmental consciousness including being home to the greenest City Hall in Canada.
Bob Paul, Director of Facilities Management and Development of the City of Cambridge comments "We believe geoexchange provides our community significant economic and environmental advantages and are looking to apply this elsewhere throughout the community. CleanEnergy is one of the leading providers and that gives us comfort regarding quality and reliability on this project."
CleanEnergy sells to the residential market primarily through its dealer network and sales representatives but is now also expanding its efforts in the commercial market to take advantage of the larger installation sizes this segment represents. Currently, CleanEnergy is working with several developers on the engineering and design of subdivisions and larger commercial installations which range from $500,000 to over $3 million in revenues per project. To date, the geoexchange market response to the CleanEnergy acquisition by Alter NRG has been positive and developers are actively moving forward with the CleanEnergy turnkey product offering across the country.
Meeting CleanEnergy's growth targets requires expanded organizational efforts. To further build execution capabilities and depth within CleanEnergy several key operational and sales roles have recently been filled. Mark Metzner has been hired as Operations Manager and brings approximately 10 years of commercial geoexchange installations and operations experience. Previously Mr. Metzner was with Corix Utilities as the Operations Manager for sustainable energy, installing commercial geoexchange projects focused primarily in British Colombia. Additional new hires include two experienced sales professionals, Robert van Duynhoven and Tony Daly, managing solution sales for Western and Eastern Canada respectively. Both Robert and Tony have strong sales backgrounds and a proven track record of increasing sales through an effective and structured sales methodology.
ABOUT ALTER NRG
Alter NRG is pursuing alternative energy solutions to meet the growing demand for environmentally responsible energy in world markets. The Company's vision is to commercialize growth technologies through environmentally sustainable and economically viable alternative energy projects. The Company's objectives are twofold; First, is to further commercialize the Westinghouse Plasma Gasification Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary, to provide renewable and CleanEnergy solutions from a wide variety of feedstocks, and providing a wide variety of energy outputs - including liquid fuels like ethanol and diesel, electrical power, and syngas; Second, to capitalize on the rapidly growing geoexchange residential and commercial heating and cooling market through a wholly owned subsidiary CleanEnergy that enables consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce the cost and volatility of energy bills using the energy from the earth.
The Toronto Stock Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Advisory Respecting Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking information and statements" within the meaning of specific securities laws. In particular, this new release contains forward looking statements pertaining to capital expenditures, schedules and commencement of operations of existing projects and projects under development; availability of project financing; timing of sales; industry trends; factors influencing capital investments and development activities; the Corporation's reputation and market position within the industries in which it operates and the Corporation's strategy and competitive advantages.
Forward-looking statements require management to make estimates and assumptions with respect to the outcome of future events. These estimates and assumptions could, in the future, turn out to be inaccurate and materially affect the final outcome. The significant estimates and assumptions within the Corporation's forward looking statements include: availability and cost of key materials and labour and availability of funds with respect to the amount of capital expenditures and scheduled commencement of operations; timing of regulatory approval including various permits from federal, provincial, and local authorities; the assessment of capital markets including the availability of debt and equity in current market conditions; commodity prices for electricity, natural gas, coal and other resources that impact the Corporation's operations directly and indirectly; extent of investment by government authorities in infrastructure projects; the financial and operational health of key partners in various projects; the continued development of the Corporation's technology and its use in various applications, and consumer demand for geoexchange solutions.
Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "propose", "target", "intend", "believe", "should", "anticipate", "estimate" or other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the expectations of management of the Corporation regarding, among other things, the Corporation's future plans and intentions, results of operations, levels of activity, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities.
Forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and assumptions, based on information currently available to management. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond the control of the Corporation. Among the material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are: that the information is of a preliminary nature and may be subject to further adjustment; the completion of strategic partner's projects; arrangements with key suppliers; potential product liability and other claims; other business risks outlined in this news release, including risks associated with the proprietary technology; the possible unavailability of financing at competitive rates and the related effect on development activities; the effect of energy price fluctuations; changes in government regulation, including changes to environmental regulations; the effects of competition; the dependence on senior management and key personnel, and fluctuations in currency exchange rates and interest rates.
The Company cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable securities laws.
For further information: Mark Montemurro, President and Chief Executive Officer, (403) 806-3877, [email protected]; Daniel Hay, Chief Financial Officer, (403) 244-0111 Ext 235, [email protected]
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