A fast-growing technology services firm in the western suburbs is branching out into energy management.
Comm-Works, headquartered in Plymouth, manages technology and infrastructure for companies such as retail or restaurant chains that have dozens or hundreds of different locations. Its services include everything from setting up cable and phones to integrating software for cash registers.
And now, add to that list help turning off lights and lowering thermostats.
The company
said in January that it was adding energy management to its mix of services. Last week it
announced a partnership with
Advanced Telemetry, a San Diego company that makes an energy management software package.
Amy Baker, director of communications for Comm-Works, said the service will help larger enterprises unify their sustainability goals across all locations. She said they had heard from clients who were making progress with energy conservation goals at corporate headquarters but were struggling to make the goals stick at satellite offices and other remote locations.
The Advanced Telemetry software lets corporate managers monitor energy consumption at individual locations, as well as remotely set high and low limits on thermostat settings.
"We feel good about this energy market," said Amy Baker, Comm-Works' director of communications. "We're very excited about where the growth potential is, or we wouldn't have made such an investment in a significant change in the types of technology we have traditionally been providing."
Comm-Works was founded in 1995 and has about 250 employees. Its 2008 revenue of $130 million helped land it on The Business Journal's 2009
"Fast 50" list of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Twin Cities.
Source: Amy Baker, Comm-Works
Writer:
Dan Haugen