Where to Start

Where do we start?

What would you do if you wanted to help build a better future for America?  That is what we asked ourselves at Mission City.

After 30 years in Silicon Valley technology I spent 10 years in HealthCare. Joe Deely our CFO became a Clean Energy maven.

My healthcare work was rewarding, I helped build two hospitals and a Telehealth network that supported San Francisco when COVID hit.

Our Mission City team has a strong background in data analytics, business analysis, industrial engineering and project management.  This skillset can be applied to a broad number of industries, so: Where do we start?

We wanted to do something that could make an impact where we live, which is currently in Monterey California.  A coastal community with a strong military presence, vibrant fishing, and  tourist industries, a world class race track, and golf courses all surrounded by a huge agriculture presence that provides a good balance of challenges.

With Congress passing the new Build Back Better, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS and Science Acts there are abundant opportunities for funding and partnerships.

First we looked at re-shoring - bringing jobs back to America, e.g. Jobs To Move America.  In our wheelhouse but after researching it, not a good fit for our area.

We sorted through dozens and dozens of options:

• What about setting up a fund to invest in Clean Energy or Ag tech? Those would both have an impact in our region.

• Or hosting a Tech Hub/Incubator? We have quite a few entrepreneur programs plus DART in our area.

• Partner with a government program to dispense and manage small business loans. Not really our area of expertise

• Get involved with California companies like CHERP Solar Works, a non-profit building solar panel assembly micro-factories? Wait! What? Manufacturing AND solar? Right up our alley.

  
  

As we narrowed down the list we saw a pattern, many of our candidates had tie-ins with Clean Energy. Joe Deely our CFO already had a head start in this area where he is a respected advocate.

So I needed to catch up.  I started voraciously reading all I could find on Clean Energy.  As one might expect it is a broad and multi-faceted field full of seemingly infinite detail, science, engineering, economics and politics. It reminded me very much of my first impressions of healthcare.  Where we also faced the question of: Where do we start?

In healthcare I was lucky, I reached out to Peter J. Fabri, MD, PhD (Can Healthcare Engineering fix Healthcare?) who advised me to walk into any hospital, blindfold myself, spin around 3 times and throw a dart.  Start with whatever the dart hits.  In other words: It doesn’t matter where we start, just start somewhere.

It’s the same with Clean Energy.

Mission City Research (MCR) will be publishing content highlighting and commenting on trends, hot topics, technology, market opportunities and breaking news in the clean energy domain. This includes microgrids, EVs, battery storage, coal replacement, agrivoltaics, the US power grid, and the future of energy and energy technology.   We’re looking forward to sharing with you what we learn.