Everyone loves a comeback story. Take the movie Rocky II. It made almost as much money as the original movie, plus (spoiler alert!) Rocky wins.
CMC has its own Rocky story. Meet the New Jersey Small Business Direct Install (SBDI) program. From its humble beginning in 2016 when it struggled to find its cadence, the program is now an “Award-Winner.”
That’s right, CMC recently won two awards from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program (CEP) for Best Communications and Direct Install Comeback of the Year.
“This is a recognition of the entire direct install team,” said Ben Altomari, senior program manager. “It starts with Anthony Tortomasi, who embodies CMC’s values perfectly. He’s always thinking about how to make the SBDI program an absolute success.
“Tony served as the project manager for the program and Justin Casler was the main energy advisor,” Altomari added. “The team bought into CMC’s Values of Humbly Serving and Doing it Right in pursuit of excellence. This program served customers that were typically underserved—and the SBDI team provided excellent service to every business they helped.”
Since 2016, the New Jersey SBDI program has completed upgrades to nearly 300 small businesses worth more than $10 million. They have provided service for almost every type of small business from pizza parlors to liquor stores to restaurants to schools and even a VFW post.
As part of the program, CMC completes a free energy assessment of the business to identify efficiency improvements that are eligible for cash incentives of up to 80 percent of the retrofit costs. CMC then manages the installation process to ensure customers receive a quality experience that delivers significant energy savings.
Despite CMC’s slow start, the team was honored, as the award states “for their dedication to improvement, starting with no (direct install) experience and finishing as an invaluable program contributor.”
The award is even more special because NJ CEP has shifted responsibility for the small business program to the state’s utilities starting July 1. CMC was awarded a contract extension until June 30, 2022, to complete any projects that are in the pipeline.
“We had a tough start,” Altomari conceded. “It took time and dedication to develop our cadence, but we never gave up. We learned quickly and began providing superior service to our customers. As a result, the team earned countless referrals and the reputation for Doing it Right.”