By SaLisa Berrien, Founder and CEO of COI Energy
News Flash!!! We can do better for both the environment and our wallets by following three practical approaches.
Amid inflation, mass layoffs, rising energy and egg prices, poverty, and energy waste, let’s go back to basics and drown out the noise. We can do this!
This blog aims to help individuals, businesses, and governments confront their obstacles and hindrances to ensure a climate-friendly economy for future generations. So what does making $1 out of $0.15 have to do with the current state of affairs nationally and globally? EVERYTHING! And, I will start this inaugural blog with my story.
Hi, I’m SaLisa Lynn Berrien, born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but spent my last two years in high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. “I come from a family of seven with humble beginnings. My father was born in Tampa, Florida, to sharecroppers, and my mother was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to a mill worker that housed sharecroppers who migrated from the South to the North on the “Season.” My grandparents and parents had the earliest version of an Airbnb to help make ends meet. Their need drove them to find solutions to their cash flow issues.
Growing up in the ’70s and 80’s shares similarities with today’s world. It was a period marked by women’s rights activism, gay rights, environmental movements, the energy crisis, the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and many other pressing issues that captured the world’s attention. Families and businesses sought ways to stay afloat as inflation loomed, energy costs rose, and energy supply became limited, leading to rationing to ensure everyone had access. I recall my family struggling to afford the electric bill and food at times due to financial constraints.
The shortage of electricity and food was the most evident, as it directly affected me. At that time, I didn’t realize energy and food poverty existed, but I saw the consequence of not having enough. This led my family to become very creative when supplies ran out. During those times, candles, kerosene heaters, potatoes, and sugar became mainstays in my childhood. My parents owned their home and my dad worked at Bethlehem Steel, yet we still found ourselves lacking access to basic resources to live a dignified life. It was not comprehensible why this was the case. This reality forced me into early entrepreneurship. I created a Girls Club for girls in similar circumstances, who couldn’t afford to join Girl Scouts. As part of being a member of my Girls Club, members had to sell squeeze cups, chips, and penny candy at the store I established in the front of my house at 511 Dakotah. The profits were used to give us access to recreational activities—like swimming and the movies—we wouldn’t have access to otherwise. This was the start of my journey of making something out of nothing: making $1 out of $0.15. Reinvest your earnings to ensure your growth and ultimate goals are achieved.
After obtaining my Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, I elected to pursue a career in energy efficiency at my local utility company, Pennsylvania Power & Light. At Pennsylvania Power & Light, I was responsible for providing businesses with electric technology solutions to lower their energy costs and enhance the efficiency of their operations. Additionally, I provided proposals to businesses that enabled the implementation of cost-effective and eco-friendly solutions with minimal upfront expenses.
Today, I continue to help businesses become more energy efficient, using a new approach to motivate and inspire businesses to do the right thing. My intention was to create a culture of sustainability in the business world, where companies see being environmentally responsible not just as a necessary cost but as a profitable opportunity, and I founded COI Energy in 2016. COI is a digital energy management company that pays businesses for being energy efficient. Incentives come in the form of reductions to the electric bill, physical checks, and tax credits. This is not an “or” situation. Businesses can take advantage of all the various incentives offered. It is up to them.
In COI Energy’s early days, businesses believed that our offering was too good to be true so they disregarded the service. Now with inflation, the climate crisis, mass layoffs, and the increase in energy and egg prices, businesses are seeking us out to help increase their earnings while reducing costs. The current economic and environmental climate is opening the eyes of businesses to the value of Making $1 out of $0.15. It is a good practice regardless of the economic market (one of abundance or scarcity). This is a subtle message for investors with a dry powder to invest in. Founders and companies that typically have staying power are those with lived experiences that inspired them to start a company in the first place.
Make sure the value you’re delivering is made plain and not too good to be true.
Learn more about how COI Energy is making an impact on businesses, the electric grid, the environment, and marginalized communities through their $1 out of $0.15 mantra. Contact our specialist for a free consultation on your business’s excess energy (E2) health at hello@coienergy.com or 855.983.4667. We will help you make $1 out of $0.15!
