Respect.
This is the Sanskrit meaning of namasté in Namasté Solar’s name.
And just like the word – a traditional greeting of respect that recognizes the interdependence of all living things – Namasté Solar’s goal is to show the earth, the community, their customers and employees respect not only through increasing use of solar power, but in how the business is run.
Blake Jones, Ray Tuomey and Wes Kennedy founded Namasté Solar in 2005 after Colorado voters approved Amendment 37 requiring energy companies to glean a certain amount of electricity from solar by 2015, says Dan Yechout, sales director.
Xcel Energy’s Solar* Rewards program launch in 2006 ignited Namasté Solar’s business.
Today, it is the most experienced Colorado-based solar company, having installed more solar projects in the state than any other company. Its primary market is the greater Denver/Boulder area, though it has done business as far north as Fort Collins, as far south as Colorado Springs and, occasionally, on the Western Slope. In addition to its main office in Boulder, Namasté Solar has been working from its LEED-certified office in Denver for the last 1½ years, as that’s where most of its customers are.
But Namasté Solar’s founders didn’t want to just run a business – they wanted to set a higher standard of respect not only for the earth, but for their customers and their employees.
So they recently established Namasté Solar as an employee-owned cooperative, which now has 40 co-owners and 22 cooperative candidates/employees. In the cooperative structure, all candidates are given the opportunity to purchase a share in the business and invest in Namasté Solar’s future.
All co-owners have a voice in what happens at Namasté Solar, from the company rebranding to the bi-annual company retreat agenda. They also vote on who will serve on the company’s internal board of directors, which occasionally makes decisions not well-suited to a companywide vote, Yechout says.
Salary ranges are tight, everyone has access to the company’s financials and, instead of paying commission, all the co-owners enjoy profit-sharing, he says.
“We think it’s good for us, but it’s really great for the customers,” Yechout says. “Whether it’s selling or installing, all of us co-owners have a vested interest in making sure you’re happy with our product and service.
“Having happy customers in the end is always the goal,” he adds. “We’re always going to go the extra mile for the customer in the end, and this has really paid off for us.”
Namasté Solar also shows respect to the community by being the first solar installer in the nation to offer a solar grant program, he says. It dedicates 1 percent of its annual revenues (regardless of profit) toward its corporate social responsibility plan, which includes solar grants, sponsorships and in-kind donations to local nonprofit organizations. The solar grant program gives long-term energy self-sufficiency to these organizations and enables them to reallocate their annual electricity savings, instead, to support direct program costs, Yechout says.
Namasté Solar also seeks to “walk the talk” through its own facilities and operations: its Boulder building was certified as LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council when it was remodeled 2008; its fleet of vehicles includes mostly hybrids or those that run on biodiesel; and the company has a zero waste program and partners with Eco-Cycle on zero-waste initiatives.
To ensure that home and commercial building owners can afford solar service, Namasté Solar not only provides a wide price range of solar panels from which to choose, but it is now offers a residential lease program so that homeowners do not have to come up with a large upfront payment to install a solar array.
But with the Colorado Legislature increasing the percentage of power generated by solar in 2007 and 2010, Namasté Solar’s co-owners have a certain amount of job security.
To learn more about Namasté Solar, visit http://www.namastesolar.com/; call (303) 447-0300; or e-mail info@namastesolar.com.
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