More than 20 business executives and government leaders attended the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC) roundtable in Chattanooga on Friday, July 10.

The event featured Dr. David Danielson, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary, who discussed DOE’s new priorities and initiatives and how the private sector can take advantage of these resources. He engaged in a dialogue with attendees about what they are working on and how his office can engage with their businesses.

City of Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke also spoke at the event about the importance of advanced energy on the local economy and his administration.

Assistant Secretary Dave Danielson stated that clean energy manufacturing has made tremendous progress over the past decade, and that it’s a revolution now, not in the distant future. The Southeast, especially Tennessee, is poised to capture a slice of the $1.3 trillion, global advanced energy market.

Assistant Secretary Danielson urged TAEBC members to visit his department in Washington, D.C. (click here to apply for our TAEBC member September trip to D.C.) and to visit with the staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He was complimentary of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council’s approach to fostering the growth of advanced energy technologies, companies and jobs.

He discussed the importance of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) in Knoxville and the new Small Business Vouchers Pilot program, a public-private partnership that will connect clean energy innovators across the country with the top-notch scientists, engineers and world-class facilities at our national laboratories (ORNL received the largest award at $5.6 million).

The need to connect companies, America’s national labs and Tennessee’s research assets was once again a common theme expressed in the roundtable.

Thank you to Signal Energy and its CEO, Ben Fischer for hosting the roundtable.

Click here to visit TAEBC’s Flickr album to view photos from the event.