The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council is continuing its series of feature stories highlighting the mentors behind the Energy Mentor Network program offering industry specific expertise.

The Energy Mentor Network‘s goal is to foster the growth of Tennessee advanced energy technologies and startups by connecting entrepreneurs with mentors. This gives Tennessee yet another advantage in grabbing its more than fair share of the $1.3 trillion global advanced energy market.

The Energy Mentor Network is run by the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council in partnership with Launch Tennessee.

In broad strokes, the Energy Mentor Network pairs mentors with promising new companies and entrepreneurs through a structured program involving panel presentations and mentoring sessions.

The purpose of the program is to develop quality startups. After completing the program, startups will have an investable pitch deck, a rock solid business model and a plan to establish more traction. These tools will position Tennessee’s entrepreneurs to raise capital, request other funds like SBIR grants, and scale their company.

TAEBC is highlighting mentor Coleman Adams this week. Mr. Adams serves as a manager at Hitachi and has experience at the crossroads of cutting edge energy solutions, project finance, and business incubation, having spent his career developing solutions and strategies that align with market demand and drive top line growth.

He has been on several small incubation teams that have created, delivered, and scaled solutions and services offerings. Most recently, developing and growing Hitachi’s Microgrid, Distributed Energy and IoT solutions in North America. In his dynamic role at Hitachi, he has thrived in a complex and matrixed corporate environment by energetically adding to high performing teams and taking an analytical and balanced problem-solving approach.

He has worked in, on and between engineering, marketing, business development, strategy and finance teams and found success by taking a “swiss army knife” mentality that requires adaptability and prioritizes the goals of the group.

TAEBC is continuing to accept mentors for the Energy Mentor Program. If you are interested in this opportunity, please visit the “For Mentors” section of the Energy Mentor Network portion of TAEBC’s website.