Tag Archives: Chris Bowles

Bridgestone Americas hosts TAEBC Annual Meeting featuring Nissan, new board members

The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council wrapped up another successful Annual Meeting in Nashville thanks to Bridgestone Americas.

Bridgestone Americas recently moved into a brand new building in downtown Nashville deemed the Bridgestone Tower. The 30-story high-rise building provided a remarkable venue and demonstrated Tennessee’s surge in its advanced energy economy.

Attendees heard from featured guest Scott Becker, Senior Vice President of Administration and Finance for Nissan North America. His presentation focused on Nissan’s contribution to Tennessee’s advanced energy economy providing good-paying jobs for Tennesseans and the growth the company has experienced since its original decision to locate to Tennessee.

He also discussed Nissan’s corporate vision striving for Zero Emissions through its electric vehicles and Zero Fatalities through its autonomous drive technologies, all leading back to the Nissan LEAF.

Scott Becker presenting during TAEBC Annual Meeting.

Members also had the opportunity to hear from TAEBC’s newest board members in a panel moderated by Vice President Cortney Piper. Trish Starkey with Schneider Electric, Marc Gibson with UT, and Chris Bowles with Bradley were all formally appointed to serve on TAEBC’s board.

The newest board members were asked a variety of questions including what their thoughts were on Tennessee’s current advanced energy economy, outlooks for the future, and what areas within the state’s advanced energy ecosystem they felt could use improvement.

More: TAEBC welcomes newest board members Trish Starkey, Marc Gibson and Chris Bowles

TAEBC welcomes newest board members Trish Starkey, Marc Gibson and Chris Bowles

The Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council is welcoming three new board members amongst its leadership.

First, TAEBC invites Schneider Electric North America’s Trish Starkey to the board.

Trish serves as Business Development Manager for New Energy Landscape Strategic Alliances at Schneider Electric North America. In this position, she develops and supports commercial engagements across the Electric Utility and MicroGrid team.

She also serves as the ambassador to Schneider Electric’s most strategic partners including Dynamic Energy Networks and The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager with $174 billion in assets.

She leads strategic marketing and sales enablement initiatives that foster clear thought leadership and a strong position within the market.

A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Trish has a Bachelors in Business Administration and Marketing.

Second, TAEBC welcomes University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Marc Gibson.

Marc Gibson serves as the Executive Director of Industry & Economic Relations at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In this position, he oversees industrial partnerships at the university, and he manages a business center that collaborates across multiple units on campus including the office of research, office of development, system level partnerships office, career services and others.

Some of his many duties involve executing fundraising efforts and reaching research partnership goals, and he identifies connection points for corporate entities to access university assets. He also works extensively with Oak Ridge National Laboratory Partnerships Directorate to connect multidisciplinary opportunities, while coordinating economic development efforts for the university.

Marc holds a Masters in Sport Administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Bachelors of Science in Marketing and Sports Management.

Third, TAEBC accepts Bradley’s Chris Bowles to the board.

Chris is a partner with the Bradley law firm in Nashville. His practice focuses on energy development and financing, including the real estate, tax incentives and regulatory aspects of project development.

His work on utility and commercial scale solar energy projects includes some of the largest solar developments in the eastern United States.

He is also active in energy policy, serving as the policy committee chair for the Tennessee Solar Energy Industries Association.

Prior to joining Bradley, Chris worked for Mayor Karl Dean as the first-ever Director of the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability.