Planning the 2010 Combined CIF-NCAF Energy Conference

There were many positive outcomes from the Combined CIF-NCAF Energy Conference in St. Petersburg last week, some of which you can read about in my previous blog entries.

While many of the speakers touched on it, I’m still not sure that we fully captured all the synergies that exist between economic development and energy. I feel the CIF economic development part of the conference was successful and the energy portion of the conference was successful, yet they seemed to stand alone.

There is great promise for pairing community development and energy, and I look forward to exploring this synergy more deeply in the 2010 Combined CIF- NCAF Energy Conference.

This week I visited with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who spoke at our conference via video. He talked about a meeting he had just had with venture capitalists in Silicone Valley who were interested in energy efficiency and technology. He said, "These people are intersted in the things that you and I are interested in, David."

How do we reach out to people like this in the private sector and potentially open up whole new worlds of possibilities in weatherization and community development? I don't yet know the answer, but I am going to do my damnedest to figure it out. I think it will be fun trying along the way!

I welcome ideas via e-mail or in the comments section below.