TEN Employee Interview Series
Joe Richards • 07.25.24
As part of TEN’s employee interview series, Joe Richards, director, business operations, shares his thoughts on working in the energy industry.
Joe Richards was recently promoted from principal project manager to director, business operations for The Efficiency Network (TEN) . TEN’s purpose is to help customers modernize their buildings and save money in the process. In his new role, Joe oversees multiple energy efficiency projects and project managers throughout the project lifecycle. Joe has been with TEN for eight years.
Joe’s approach is to connect with customers on a personal level, establish common ground to build a relationship with each customer, and treat internal and external customers respectfully. Admittedly, Joe says developing long-lasting relationships takes a lot of time and patience, and this is what sets TEN apart from our competition. We take the time to establish personal customer relationships, gaining customer trust that we have their best interests in mind when we design, engineer, and construct energy efficiency projects. Once trust is established, customers typically return to TEN for repeat work.
Joe takes the same level of customer service and extends it to internal customers. He is excited about the potential in his new role to lead TEN’s business operations as a resource and a partner to other TEN departments. His goal is to help ensure that the TEN team is working towards the same goals without losing focus on our external customers.
The best part of Joe’s job is “the variety of work daily. I work with new and different types of customers in varying industries, and I find it very rewarding to learn about their businesses. Getting to know customers on a personal level is my goal.” Joe feels that we need to constantly challenge each other to be better and TEN leadership provides a flexible and professional atmosphere where this can happen.
About The Efficiency Network
TEN is a turnkey provider of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and services. TEN delivers cost savings, resilience, decarbonization, and other strategies to achieve sustainability goals, in many cases, without any upfront capital required. TEN is owned by Duquesne Light Holdings, an energy investment firm with $5 billion in assets and investment grade credit.
