First Wind Honored as Employer of the Year at the NECEC’s 7th Annual Green Tie Gala

NECEC (the New England Clean Energy Council and the NECEC Institute) awarded Boston-based First Wind the 2014 Green Tie Gala Award for Employer of the Year. With 119 of the company’s over 200 employees based in New England, including 73 in its Boston headquarters, First Wind has been a leader in the successful development of utility-scale wind and solar projects in the region that are delivering competitively-priced clean energy to consumers.

NECEC’s Employer of the Year award is given to an organization that has grown its workforce by a substantial margin, developed a strong entrepreneurial and impact culture, provides great, high-paying jobs to its community and provides employees with a high quality work environment. Past winners of this award include Saint-Gobain (2013), EnerNOC (2012), Next Step Living (2011) and Ameresco, Inc. (2010).

“From workforce development and growth, to leaving a lasting positive impact in the communities where it develops renewable energy projects, First Wind has proven that it is committed to fostering quality work and living environments,” said NECEC President Peter Rothstein. “We are thrilled to provide them this award and congratulate all of tonight’s award winners, which exemplify innovative companies leading research, development, adoption and deployment of clean energy technologies in our region.”

Since early 2008, First Wind has more than doubled its head count in New England. In addition to its headquarters in Boston, First Wind has a large regional office in Portland, Maine and operates five wind projects in the state with construction underway on its sixth. First Wind also built and operates a wind project in Vermont and two solar projects in Massachusetts. First Wind enjoys a high level of employee satisfaction across its New England footprint. In an employee survey conducted in late 2013 in which 98 percent of the company employees responded, First Wind’s employee satisfaction was rated nearly “best in class,” according to Avatar Solutions.

“We are honored to be recognized with the 2014 Green Tie Gala Award for Employer of the Year by NECEC, which has been such an excellent voice for the clean energy industry here in New England,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of First Wind. “We started and have grown our business here in New England in large part due to the amazing talent that exists throughout the region. First Wind is a great place to work because of the excellent people we’ve been able to attract to our team. We are pleased to accept this award on behalf of our 200 people across the country and our employees here in New England.”

NECEC’s 7th Annual Green Tie Gala was held at the Fairmont Copley Hotel in Boston and attracted more than 400 leaders and stakeholders in the clean energy industry, including company CEOs, government officials, service providers, academics, venture investment firms, labor and large commercial end-users and area utilities. Other 2014 Green Tie Gala award recipients include Next Step Living, GreenerU, Ambri and Greentown Labs. In addition, NECEC honored Rob Day, partner at Black Coral Capital and Andrew Friendly, Director of Government Policy and Strategy at Autodesk, for their leadership in helping grow NECEC’s regional innovation network.

Sponsors of NECEC’s 7th Annual Green Tie Gala include Deloitte, Energizing Co., General Electric, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, National Grid, Northeast Utilities, Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications, Schneider Electric, Shell and William Gallagher Associates.

About First Wind
First Wind is an independent renewable energy company exclusively focused on the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of utility-scale renewable energy projects in the United States. Based in Boston, First Wind is operating or building renewable energy projects in the Northeast, the West and Hawaii, with combined capacity of nearly 1,300 megawatts (MW) – enough to power more than 375,000 homes each year. For more information on First Wind, please visit www.firstwind.com or follow us on Twitter @FirstWind.

About NECEC (The New England Clean Energy Council and the NECEC Institute)
NECEC is a regional non-profit organization representing clean energy companies and entrepreneurs throughout New England and the Northeast through programs and initiatives that help clean energy businesses at all stages of development to access the resources they need to grow. NECEC includes the New England Clean Energy Council, which is the lead voice for hundreds of clean energy companies across New England, influencing the energy policy agenda and growing the clean energy economy, and the NECEC Institute, which leads programs that support Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Cluster and Economic Development and Workforce Development. NECEC’s mission is to accelerate the region’s clean energy economy to global leadership by building an active community of stakeholders and a world-class cluster of clean energy companies.