Mr. Hamilton has 20 years of experience developing and implementing energy efficiency strategies and programs in the commercial and industrial markets.  Working his way through college as an electrician, Mr. Hamilton earned a B.S. in Physics and a B.A. in Liberal Arts.   Mr. Hamilton is also a Certified Energy Manager (CEM).

Mr. Hamilton is a consultant specializing in strategic planning, product and service development, and program design in the energy services industry.  Mr. Hamilton has experience in the start up of five energy service companies and several commercial/industrial utility programs. 

Most recently, Mr. Hamilton has been responsible for leading a team to help the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance develop and implement their industrial strategy.  The primary emphasis of this project is to help the food processing and pulp and paper industries adopt Continuous Energy Improvement as a strategic business effort.  A few other examples of Mr. Hamilton’s other project experience includes:

• Responsibility for industrial market development and alliance management for Chevron Energy Solutions.
• Initial creation and development of the “80 Plus” (www.80plus.org) program to get desk top computer power supply manufacturers to develop and sell a more efficient product which electric utilities would fund through a national energy efficiency program.
• Managing a process to help the Design Lights Consortium (www.designlights.org) develop a strategic marketing plan.

Steven Scott has twenty-five years of experience in the implementation, evaluation, and planning of energy efficiency programs and projects.  He has performed work in a variety of industries and technologies including food processing, wood products, semiconductor manufacturing, compressed air, electric motor management, variable speed drives, and industrial refrigeration. His concept and management were instrumental in developing the Industrial Refrigeration Best Practices Guide for the Industrial Efficiency Alliance.

Mr. Scott’s education includes an MS in economics from Portland State University and a BS in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in Oregon and Washington and a Certified Energy Manager. Mr. Scott has worked for a number of northwest electric utilities, for three utility-owned energy services companies, and for several independent consulting firms, including MetaResource Group and now as a founding principal of Strategic Energy Group. His clients have included the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the Energy Trust of Oregon, Pacific Power, and US AID.

Mr. Scott has performed impact evaluations of numerous commercial and industrial demand side management programs using econometric and engineering methods to determine savings, including development of evaluation plans, review of performance-based measurement plans, and statistical sampling methods.  His experience with PacifiCorp industrial programs includes site visits and impact evaluation analysis of Energy FinAnswer for the program years 1994 and 1998. He has also performed impact evaluation analysis and site visits for PacifiCorp customers through the Energy Trust of Oregon Transition Program (2002-2003) and through the ETO Production Efficiency Program (2003-2005).

In addition to impact evaluations, Mr. Scott has been involved in evaluation of five industrial market transformation initiatives - compressed air management, electric motor management, refrigerated warehouses, pneumatic conveying systems, and the microelectronics industry. 

Mr. Tumidaj has twenty-five years of experience in the areas of energy efficiency program planning and development, market assessment, and energy policy analysis.  He has worked throughout the country with commercial and industrial customers, industry associations, electric and gas utilities and consortia, state utility regulatory bodies and associations, public interest groups, collaborative initiatives, federal power agencies and state/local governments in the development and implementation of comprehensive energy efficiency programs for businesses.

Les’s recent work has involved applying his strategic planning and program development skills to the development and implementation of strategic energy and resource management programs for businesses.  For example, he is currently a senior member of a consulting team supporting continuous energy improvement business practices in the Pacific Northwest’s industrial market.  These efforts focus on incorporating energy management into a company’s day-to-day activities and embedding a continuous energy improvement culture.  In addition, he is applying these management concepts to energy efficiency and load management programs for commercial and industrial customers in the West Coast and New England markets.

Other related experience includes his lead role in the design and development of New Jersey's Clean Energy Programs for the commercial and industrial sectors, as C&I senior consultant for the Connecticut Energy Conservation Management Board, and expert support for collaborative processes in New England and the Mid-Atlantic areas.

Finally, Les has conducted numerous strategic energy management planning sessions and related training activities, has considerable facilitation experience for utility resource planning processes, and is also a certified facilitator for the EnVinta One-2-Five and Energy Achiever assessment tools.

Jim has more than eighteen years of experience in developing and implementing regional resource conservation projects.  Over the last several years he has worked with public and private entities and agencies supporting development and implementation of market transformation initiatives and resource acquisition programs. Jim’s recent work has involved merging his technical skills with business development and strategic planning in support of development and implementation of comprehensive resource conservation plans for business.  By combining a business’ goals and objectives with a technical plan, he works to reduce resource operating costs through lower commodity costs, capital projects, and operational changes.

A graduate of Oregon State University, Jim holds has a BS in mechanical engineering, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Washington.  He has completed more than 400 resource conservation projects throughout the nation in commercial, institutional, manufacturing and industrial facilities. Jim’s varied experience includes developing and delivering industrial manufacturing performance contract projects through Pacific Gas & Electric Energy Services and Chevron Energy Solutions, commercial building retro-commissioning and operations services, and managing the privatized delivery and development of the commercial, industrial, and residential energy conservation programs for the Pierce County Utility Consortium (Lakeview Light & Power, Town of Steilacoom, and Peninsula Light Company.) 

His project background includes: project management; program management; technical oversight; strategic planning; development of guidelines and procedures; inspection services; and completing and implementing whole facility resource conservation plans. 

Ed Birch is a senior operations executive with 20 years of “in the trenches” process manufacturing experience and 10 years experience as a Chief Operating Officer. Currently, he is dedicated to helping the food processing industry become more energy efficient.  His career in the food, chemical, and pharmaceutical processing industries includes dozens of success stories in manufacturing, engineering, quality assurance, accounting, IS, product development, and human resources.

Ed’s work with Strategic Energy Group capitalizes on his manufacturing and operations background to help food processing plants become more energy efficient through the implementation of Continuous Energy Improvement.  As part of the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, Ed promotes Continuous Energy Improvement to help plants develop management systems and technical strategies that drive down energy costs and increase overall productivity. 

In every assignment Ed tackles, he discovers hidden opportunities to reduce direct costs, improve product quality, increase energy efficiency, optimize product development processes, and reduce inventory carrying costs. His recent accomplishments include:

• Reduced operating costs and improved product quality as a result of focusing on energy efficiency activities.
• Developed strategic energy management plans which resulted in savings ranging from 5% to 15% in energy usage.
• Reduced manufacturing costs by 45%, leading to income improvement of $1.4M while supporting double-digit sales growth and increased cash flow.
• Played a major role in supporting sales teams by increasing manufacturing capacity and shrinking order turnaround time.
• Elevated product quality through improved machine repeatability and lower reject rates.
• Expedited new product development and optimized manufacturing technology.
• Developed engineering strategies that teach vital project management skills while focusing on manufacturing efficiencies, equipment, and product design.
• Evaluated marketing plans to identify hidden revenue opportunities.
• Refined the quote process and managed new customer relationships to achieve a 20% increase in revenue.

Dresden Skees-Gregory is a Senior Associate and comes to the Strategic Energy Group with twelve years of experience, most in high tech manufacturing and construction.  Her main professional focus is to help the industrial sector become more energy efficient and sustainable through the integration of continuous energy improvement into standard business practices.  Dresden brings to SEG a diverse background in management systems implementation, project management, environmental compliance, and facility construction and operations.

Dresden’s work with Strategic Energy Group capitalizes on her management systems development and operations background to help food processing plants become more energy efficient through the implementation of Continuous Energy Improvement.  As part of the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, Dresden promotes Continuous Energy Improvement to help plants develop management systems and technical strategies that drive down energy costs and increase overall productivity. 

A few examples of Dresden’s other project experience include:

• As Food Processing Program Coordinator for the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, works with plant energy management teams to develop Continuous Energy Improvement programs.  Activities include implementation of energy awareness campaigns, facilitation of capital energy efficiency improvements, and tracking of progress toward energy goals.
• Development of a solar panel research facility at Portland State University.
• Certification of two companies to the ISO 14001 environmental management system
• Certification of two institutional buildings to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building standard.

Dresden is currently a part-time PhD student in Environmental Sciences and Resources at Portland State University.  She has also earned an MS in Environmental Science and Engineering from the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology and a BS in Environmental Science from Texas Christian University.

Martin brings several years of engineering project management and market analysis experience to Strategic Energy Group. His combination of business and technical expertise is ideally suited for energy market analysis and program implementation. He has supervised the design and construction of industrial HVAC systems and managed numerous supporting subcontracts. He has also led a technology startup through intellectual property development, strategic planning, and fund raising. Most recently Martin drove marketing strategy for a high growth sustainable chemical management company.

Since joining Strategic Energy Group in early 2008, Martin has led a forward-thinking utility program through a market characterization and implementation study. This project included field studies, meta-analysis, and extensive reporting on economic and technical findings. Moreover, Martin has conducted technical assessments of emerging energy efficient technologies.

Martin holds a BS in mechanical engineering from Washington State University and an MBA from the University of Oregon. His education focused on energy technologies and the sustainable management of business. Most notably, Martin’s logistics modeling of Hewlett Packard’s supply chain led to considerable improvements to their energy and emissions performance.

Brian Crumrine is an Associate with Strategic Energy Group, where he performs energy efficiency program implementation and impact evaluation.   His main professional interest is to help the industrial sector become more energy efficient through a focus on strategic energy management.  Brian brings to SEG a diverse background in project management, corporate environmental management and research.

Since joining SEG in the fall of 2005, Brian has worked on projects for clients including the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and the Energy Trust of Oregon.  His recent accomplishments and activities include:

• As Food Processing Field Representative for the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, works with plant energy management teams to develop Continuous Energy Improvement programs.  Activities include implementation of energy awareness campaigns, facilitation of capital energy efficiency improvements, and tracking of progress toward energy goals.
• Managed the data design, development and analysis for an evaluation of the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Production Efficiency incentive program.  Completed evaluation site visits to industrial facilities to survey program participants and collect electrical metering data.
• Managed and coordinated a Quality Assurance project for the Energy Trust of Oregon’s Commercial Boiler incentive program.  Developed budget and scope, managed contracted resources and delivered written report detailing results of project.

Brian holds a Masters in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara.  During this experience he proposed and managed the development of an Environmental Packaging Guideline, which was sponsored by Hewlett Packard and is now in use by the electronics industry.  Brian also holds a BA from Willamette University in Business Economics and Spanish.