PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Solar Energy Initiatives, Inc. (OTC BB: SNRY) executing on its corporate mission to Renew The Nation, creating economic development through the sale and installation of Solar Thermal, Photovoltaic (PV) and other Solar technologies, today announced that Mr. Michael Gorton has joined the team as Chief Executive Officer of Solar Park Initiatives, the previously announced spin off of SNRY.
As a reminder, Solar Energy Initiatives shareholders of record, as of October 15, 2009, will receive one common share of Solar Park Initiatives, Inc. for every two common shares of SNRY owned. SNRY’s shareholders as of the record date will not be required to pay for the shares that are distributed to them. Solar Park Initiatives expects to begin trading as a public company by early 2010.
Mr. Gorton has extensive experience as a CEO, leading several companies from early stage development to successful and profitable businesses. Prior to joining Solar Park Initiatives, he was the Founder and CEO of several Internet, Healthcare and Energy companies. At TelaDoc, Inc., Gorton architected a company that changed the efficiency paradigm in healthcare by delivering physicians to patients in under an hour for less than $35 per encounter. Gorton also found founded and built Internet Global Services, Inc a business that produced the world’s first DSL network and one of the first VOIP networks and a private liquidity event of $122 Million in 2001.
At Solar Park Initiatives he will execute a strategic plan, utilizing his extensive knowledge of designing and growing businesses, energy infrastructure and expertise within project based finance, to build a profitable solar park business. Mr. Gorton has been instrumental in the development work for alternative and other energy systems in the Texas marketplace since the early 1980s when he built both solar and wind generation systems. He began his career as a design engineer at Texas Utilities, Inc. During his tenure at Texas Utilities he worked in many capacities, which included projects in metering electricity, integration of alternative energy into the grid, power plants and generation including gas fired, coal and nuclear, rate analysis and dealing with the Public Utility Commission.
“As the CEO of Solar Park Initiatives, I will focus the team’s efforts on developing large utility-scale solar parks that range between 10 to 500 megawatts,” stated Mr. Gorton. “Based on government mandates there are significant opportunities in the rapidly growing solar market for us to deploy solar on a grand scale. Solar Park Initiatives has industry knowledge, expertise and the necessary resources to become a leader in the solar park market. Our entire team is excited to begin work on the 300 megawatt West Texas solar park project immediately. We believe solar energy is capable of reaching grid parity in the next five years, and we would like to be contributors in that effort.”
Solar Park Initiatives will work on the permitting, approval process, development and maintenance of large utility-scale solar parks located in North America. Solar Park Initiatives first project will be to manage the previously announced West Texas solar park project (estimated to be over 300 megawatts). Additionally, Mr. Gorton and his team will be pursuing other solar park projects currently under evaluation by SNRY. Solar Park Initiatives will target solar projects in geographies favorable for development. SNRY will procure the solar system technologies for Solar Park Initiatives’ projects, thus enabling both companies to enjoy a symbiotic relationship while focusing on their core businesses.
Mr. David Fann, Chief Executive Officer of Solar Energy Initiatives, stated, “We are pleased to announce the appointment of an executive with Mr. Gorton’s expertise and knowledge of the alternative energy arena to lead Solar Park Initiatives. Hiring someone with his qualifications will allow the SNRY management team to focus on growing our commercial/municipal pipeline, allowing SNRY to complete a greater number of projects in 2010. Based on our commitment to successfully grow our market share in the commercial/municipal sector it made sense to spin out Solar Park Initiatives and to bring in a top-notch management team to execute on our growing solar park opportunities. This one time dividend of free stock is a great way for SNRY to reward our loyal shareholders. SNRY’s ability to really focus our resources solely on the commercial/municipal market should allow us to increase our productivity and profitability in the near term thus creating additional value for our stakeholders.”
