Connie Stacey is the Owner of Growing Greener Innovations, talks about the future of energy storage – Edmonton – Canada’s Podcast

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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: Today's podcast is sponsored by The Cooperators.
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[00:30] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's podcast, the number one podcast for entrepreneurs,
[00:35] SPEAKER_01: by entrepreneurs.
[00:40] SPEAKER_02: Hello and welcome to Edmonton's podcast with Mario Toneguzi on Canada's podcast
[00:46] SPEAKER_02: network. Joining me today is Connie Stacey, who is owner of Growing Greener
[00:51] SPEAKER_02: Innovations. Thanks for joining us today Connie.
[00:54] SPEAKER_02: Well thanks for having me. Well tell me first of all what
[00:58] SPEAKER_02: Growing Greener Innovations is and what you do.
[01:01] SPEAKER_00: Some days I'm not sure but we're a battery energy storage manufacturer that
[01:08] SPEAKER_00: works and builds our stuff right here in Ementon.
[01:11] SPEAKER_00: And mostly what we do is we really focus on new technology that helps
[01:16] SPEAKER_00: advance that industry and helps advance clean energy resources and
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: reducing greenhouse gas that could have good stuff.
[01:25] SPEAKER_02: So how did you start this and when?
[01:27] SPEAKER_00: So the original concept for our system was born about September 2013 when my
[01:36] SPEAKER_00: twin boys were about three months old and it was actually kind of a fun story because
[01:41] SPEAKER_00: I have three kids now but at the time it was the twin boys and if you have
[01:46] SPEAKER_00: multiples let me tell you everything is about sleep and I was walking them
[01:51] SPEAKER_00: in the scroller and they were sound asleep and I passed by a house being built
[01:54] SPEAKER_00: and they were running a diesel generator.
[01:57] SPEAKER_00: You wake up these babies.
[01:59] SPEAKER_00: I'm going postal.
[02:02] SPEAKER_00: So that kind of got me thinking well could we not find a better solution than
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: diesel generators? They're loud, they're terrible on the environment, they're
[02:11] SPEAKER_00: quite expensive to operate.
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: So I start to look into the market and I started to question could we find a
[02:18] SPEAKER_00: way to use a battery or clean energy option instead?
[02:23] SPEAKER_00: And that really is what kind of got the ball rolling.
[02:25] SPEAKER_00: I actually incorporated in 2014 and it was late 2015 or fall of 2015 that we really started
[02:33] SPEAKER_00: to kind of move. That was the point at which I hired my first staff and all that kind of stuff.
[02:38] SPEAKER_00: So it kind of picked up from there.
[02:40] SPEAKER_02: Okay. What do you exactly have been Edmonton as a presence?
[02:45] SPEAKER_00: Well right now we're in the process of switching.
[02:48] SPEAKER_00: So the first couple of units we built which wasn't our patented technology.
[02:52] SPEAKER_00: We were convinced to go overseas for the manufacturing.
[02:56] SPEAKER_00: And then about which wasn't really my preference.
[03:00] SPEAKER_00: But we had a lot of advisors kind of pushing us that direction.
[03:03] SPEAKER_00: About two years ago we started the process of moving everything here to Edmonton.
[03:08] SPEAKER_00: So we're not fully producing here in Edmonton yet but we expect to be within the
[03:13] SPEAKER_00: next 12 times. Hopefully before the end of 2021.
[03:17] SPEAKER_00: And in Edmonton itself we have 11 full-time staff and a few part-time and some contractors
[03:24] SPEAKER_00: and that we expect to increase quite a bit over the next year.
[03:27] SPEAKER_02: So I'm just curious. Like what's your background? Anything related to this in any way?
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: Yes. So I actually came from IT. So very much in tech but not engineering and the real kind of
[03:40] SPEAKER_00: premise for the system came from basically a server room UPS. Every computer server room in
[03:46] SPEAKER_00: the world has an uninterrupted power supply. And that really kind of was the spark of what got me
[03:52] SPEAKER_00: on the idea of batteries as a solution. So I mean I didn't really know much about chemistry
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: and things like that. It was definitely a big leap and definitely ended up bringing on some
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: pretty amazing electrical engineers and electronics technicians and stuff like that. But it really
[04:09] SPEAKER_02: kind of came from that original IT background. So tell me just a little bit more about
[04:16] SPEAKER_00: where your solutions are used. Sure. So I mean one of the things with batteries that's kind of
[04:23] SPEAKER_00: amazing is you really could be servicing anybody because who doesn't use electricity? I mean really
[04:30] SPEAKER_00: it comes down to that. So right now we mostly have small units that are used in writing different
[04:37] SPEAKER_00: projects like we provided the equipment for a small UN development program, a project in
[04:44] SPEAKER_00: South Sudan. We have lots of units are out there for camping and things like that and at battery
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: distributors. But our bigger markets really come in basically multiple groups. So we have a
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: contract right now with the Canadian Department of Defense. And we're really yeah it's super exciting.
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: Effectively the the military is really looking at how can they reduce their carbon footprint but
[05:07] SPEAKER_00: also reduce their costs. And all of their camps right now run on massive diesel generators.
[05:14] SPEAKER_00: And so we're working with them right now on kind of lightning the load of what individual
[05:19] SPEAKER_00: soldiers carry as well as reducing the emissions accounts by going with a clean power solution.
[05:26] SPEAKER_00: The other couple of big areas that we're working with is we actually have really exciting project
[05:31] SPEAKER_00: pending in India. So keep your fingers crossed for us because it's a contract with the government
[05:37] SPEAKER_00: of India where we would be electrifying 25,000 homes in Northeast India. So yeah really exciting one
[05:46] SPEAKER_00: because these are folks who literally have only candlelight. And then the other end of things
[05:51] SPEAKER_00: and this is much more for demonstration in the long run we think partners would take on this role.
[05:56] SPEAKER_00: But we're doing some work in industrial energy efficiency. And effectively that's your smart city stuff.
[06:03] SPEAKER_00: So managing loads so that you're reducing costs, reducing burden on the electrical grid and
[06:09] SPEAKER_02: it's stuff like that. So when you mentioned some of these clients and customers that you have and
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: potentially have, is it blow your way thinking going back to when you first had the seed of an idea
[06:26] SPEAKER_00: to where you are now? Oh absolutely you know it's funny I've had this big roller coaster
[06:31] SPEAKER_00: because at the start you know I saw this opportunity construction in oil and gas. I mean I grew
[06:36] SPEAKER_00: up in Alberta. I grew up in former Murray actually. I think it makes the perfect combo because I've
[06:42] SPEAKER_00: got that chatty chatty paired with some good business skills behind me. But as I started to explore I
[06:50] SPEAKER_00: thought wow this market is actually gigantic and I mean this is quite a few years ago when a lot of
[06:55] SPEAKER_00: people really weren't talking about batteries yet. So I thought wow this is going to be enormous.
[07:01] SPEAKER_00: And then I realized that in a lot of ways it was ahead of the curve and I would talk to people and
[07:05] SPEAKER_00: they're like I don't get it. And they're like I don't see a market for your product. And I thought oh
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: oh maybe this isn't going to be as big as I thought. So there was definitely some roller coaster
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: moments but deep down I think I always knew that we could make this something rather extraordinary.
[07:23] SPEAKER_02: Excellent. Now recently you won the $50,000 first prize for the pitch for the first finale
[07:33] SPEAKER_02: through the forum. Can tell me a little bit about that. First of all what is the forum and
[07:39] SPEAKER_02: and what was this pitching event of all of that? Sure so the forum was actually formerly the
[07:47] SPEAKER_00: forum for women's entrepreneurs. So it's specifically a pitch competition for women owned
[07:52] SPEAKER_00: businesses. And you know as you're well aware there's certainly lots of pitch competitions out
[07:58] SPEAKER_00: there. And this one actually came to my attention because our advisor over in Alberta innovates
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: sent me the link and said you know I think you should apply for this you're on your good at
[08:07] SPEAKER_00: pitching you've got great company jump on in there. Okay sure why not. And at first honestly I
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: don't think I took it serious enough. I don't think I realized how much work he was going to be.
[08:19] SPEAKER_00: So you know I got in there and luckily I made it to the semi-finals and you know I didn't really
[08:24] SPEAKER_00: do my best job in the semi-finals. So it was surprised when I got through the finals. And then
[08:29] SPEAKER_00: I thought oh wow this is a lot stiffer competition than I was realizing and there really were some
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: tremendously great businesses in there. So then I took it a lot more seriously when I got to the
[08:39] SPEAKER_00: finals. And it was definitely a lot of work but it was very effective. One of the things that it
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: did for me was they assigned us each a mentor for the finals. The gentleman I was working with
[08:52] SPEAKER_00: very experienced businessman by the name of Christian Chiya who owns a whole pile of car dealerships
[08:59] SPEAKER_00: actually. And he and I were chatting about how to try and bring across the technology without
[09:06] SPEAKER_00: getting too deep into the technology because that's one of the challenges with being in deep tech.
[09:11] SPEAKER_00: You know if you start talking too far along about things like charging and discharging schemas
[09:17] SPEAKER_00: people kind of gloss over. So it was definitely a good learning experience for me and then you know
[09:23] SPEAKER_02: obviously winning was fantastic. Today's podcast is brought to you by the cooperators. You can count
[09:31] SPEAKER_02: on them to support you and your business with a full range of insurance coverage options. Their
[09:37] SPEAKER_02: products provide the flexibility you want with the protection you expect. To find a cooperator's
[09:44] SPEAKER_02: advisor near you visit cooperators.ca. It's interesting you mentioned that because as a journalist
[09:53] SPEAKER_02: and also as a communications person that's what I always tell people you know dumb it down so to speak
[09:59] SPEAKER_02: right. Make it an understandable term especially when we get into certain industries like
[10:07] SPEAKER_02: technologies of perfect example where you've got to make it understandable people to know what
[10:17] SPEAKER_02: you're saying or else you're right it just goes all the way over there ahead and you lose a purpose
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: of communicating with them right. Absolutely and I think one of the things for us and this is
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: something I think we finally got refined to a good point with this process was at first I think
[10:36] SPEAKER_00: a two simple and then people went I don't see how your stuff is different right and so then we
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: ought to how much we talked about the technology and of course then people were like I'm so lost
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: and so I think we finally found a nice sweet spot. So what is the uh uh $50,000 prize ticket
[10:55] SPEAKER_00: towards for you? Well I'd probably you know $500,000 worth of cost and honestly it's mostly we're
[11:04] SPEAKER_00: going to be putting it towards the certification of our next unit. So certifications of fairly
[11:09] SPEAKER_00: hefty cost for for battery so it's about $130,000 to certify one unit so that obviously takes a nice
[11:17] SPEAKER_00: big chunk off of that bill and it kind of helps us forward in our commercialization process.
[11:23] SPEAKER_00: Okay what do you like about being an entrepreneur? 99% of everything.
[11:32] SPEAKER_00: Sorry I would say that honestly that you know I love feeling heard and and that's not to say that
[11:40] SPEAKER_00: I forced my ideas on on the team I think we're really quite collaborative um but one of the things
[11:46] SPEAKER_00: that I didn't love in previous jobs was often like I'd have ideas and I want to share and
[11:51] SPEAKER_00: help the company succeed um but as a middle manager often you know your voice kind of gets lost
[11:58] SPEAKER_00: and so for me I think one of the biggest things I've really enjoyed is being able to put ideas out
[12:02] SPEAKER_00: there for conversation and get that feedback and determine what is the best things we can do.
[12:08] SPEAKER_00: So yeah I'd say that's probably the number one thing I enjoy the most. Not cool. What don't you
[12:14] SPEAKER_00: enjoy? Cash flow, cash flow, cash flow. The big killer of start up honestly I think um when I
[12:23] SPEAKER_00: started the piece that I think I underestimated was I worked for startups before and I've worked for
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: giant international firms but what I did not realize was when you first start out um you're the
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: the what's the expression the candlestick maker the all of them at once right um so learning
[12:42] SPEAKER_00: things like payroll well I didn't know how to do payroll um I was a very accomplished business person
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: but I certainly never done payroll before so learning some of that stuff was tough and for me that
[12:53] SPEAKER_02: that cash flow piece was the toughest of all. Yeah what about running and owning a business in Edmonton?
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: What are the I guess advantages of that? Well you know I actually think um in this interesting
[13:11] SPEAKER_00: topic most people have disagreed with me I will eventually win them over because I'm pretty
[13:18] SPEAKER_00: the things that I think a lot of people don't recognize is that with kind of the changing of how we
[13:23] SPEAKER_00: do manufacturing it's no longer the same advantage to go to overseas markets I mean if you look
[13:29] SPEAKER_00: historically we went to countries like China and India and so forth because of low cost of labor
[13:35] SPEAKER_00: but with automation and industry 4.0 there's less and less hands that touch off and there's good
[13:41] SPEAKER_00: and our engineering was always here so all of a sudden you're looking at advantages of who where can
[13:47] SPEAKER_00: you get very inexpensive electricity and a really really stable grid well honestly you'd be
[13:52] SPEAKER_00: hard pressed to find a better place than the prairies in Canada we have very very few outages
[13:57] SPEAKER_00: and we have basically the cheapest electricity in the world and chem does um I think currently tied
[14:03] SPEAKER_00: for the lowest national average at 10 cents a kilowatt hour and in Alberta currently the residential
[14:09] SPEAKER_00: rate is 8.5 cents so we really really are very competitive when it comes to the cost of electricity
[14:16] SPEAKER_00: and honestly I think the last time I had an outreach in my home was maybe three years ago
[14:22] SPEAKER_00: you know and you compare that to places like India where the power grid is down like weekly you know
[14:29] SPEAKER_00: you'll see two three-hour outages in any given building and that's that's something that we don't
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: have to worry about so now you get business continuity so you know when you add that to the fact that
[14:40] SPEAKER_00: Canada actually has more free trade than any other g7 country and is in fact the only g7
[14:46] SPEAKER_00: country that has free trade with all the other g7 countries suddenly your land and cost when
[14:51] SPEAKER_02: your exporting is is very competitive yeah yeah it's interesting you mentioned that because
[14:57] SPEAKER_02: we in Calgary here we have an audit recently and it was uh 17 minutes I think long
[15:04] SPEAKER_02: like but still like like you go oh what happened right right kids are running all around going what's
[15:11] SPEAKER_00: going on and I mean you think most of the like most of the major cities you know outside of the
[15:17] SPEAKER_00: prairies are all on the coast well now they get much more weather events uh they're more likely to
[15:22] SPEAKER_00: see various types of storms that will bring down the grid we don't have that I mean cold is cold let's
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: face it but it usually doesn't bring down the grid um which means we kept keep plugging away
[15:33] SPEAKER_02: yeah exactly so you're obviously very busy as a uh as in the in the world of business and
[15:41] SPEAKER_02: and you mentioned three kids so what do you do uh you know to uh I guess maintain any sort of work
[15:48] SPEAKER_00: light balance um you know what I'll have to admit something that is a little sad to say but I
[15:55] SPEAKER_00: really um I don't keep up on things outside of I have two things I have my family and I have my
[16:02] SPEAKER_00: work and outside of that somebody give me the close notes because I'm not paying attention um I
[16:08] SPEAKER_00: rarely watch TV I like to read that's usually my kind of calm down thing in the evening
[16:14] SPEAKER_00: but otherwise I spend my time at work I spend my time with my kids um and everything else for now
[16:19] SPEAKER_00: is very much secondary to that so you know I don't I don't really feel the need to waste time on
[16:25] SPEAKER_00: television shows and stuff like that what's the one file I think that's about it
[16:31] SPEAKER_00: what um you mentioned you from Fort McMurray yes born and raised or uh it was born and come by chance
[16:39] SPEAKER_00: yes like most new feed uh performing Murrayites um but I grew up in from Murray we moved out there when
[16:45] SPEAKER_00: I was two so actually interestingly my dad was the very first process operator sinkroot hired
[16:51] SPEAKER_00: back in 1910 yeah so been there a long time and then moved to Edmonton for University in
[16:56] SPEAKER_02: state so you've obviously uh you know a scene first hand the ups and downs it this province has
[17:04] SPEAKER_02: uh especially Fort McMurray you know what's uh what's uh you know uh being so reliant on the oil patch
[17:10] SPEAKER_02: I guess you're part of the um uh the the new wave or the next wave right because the the
[17:16] SPEAKER_02: provinces always talked about the the need and the importance to diversify its economy can you talk
[17:23] SPEAKER_00: a little bit about the importance of that you know what I think it's utterly crucial but I think
[17:28] SPEAKER_00: sometimes too we've we've historically kind of hit it um new technology and new uh emerging
[17:35] SPEAKER_00: industries against oil patch yeah and I think that's the wrong attitude I mean we're a long ways
[17:40] SPEAKER_00: from being done with oil and gas um you know that is something that is likely coming you know in a
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: kind of bigger picture but I don't see it as a fight back and forth I see it as creating new technology
[17:52] SPEAKER_00: that helps that industry of oil and gas be more efficient uh and cleaner so that everybody benefits
[17:59] SPEAKER_00: um and you know I think that diversifying just makes sense across the board because no matter
[18:04] SPEAKER_00: what the the the gold is of the particular time so oil and gas eventually things change
[18:12] SPEAKER_00: and having a little bit more to rely on in terms of economic growth it just makes sense
[18:17] SPEAKER_02: okay super well thanks very much for joining us today Connie my pleasure okay that was Connie
[18:25] SPEAKER_02: Stacy who is owner of growing greener innovations in Edmonton this has been Edmonton's podcast
[18:31] SPEAKER_02: with Mario Toniguchi on Canada's podcast network thanks for joining us today
[18:37] SPEAKER_02: today's podcast was brought to you by the cooperators business insurance they're here to help
[18:44] SPEAKER_02: make sure you and your business are protected today and into the future visit cooperators.ca
[18:52] SPEAKER_02: to find a local advisor today