Our Team
Joe Bono - Founder
| Joe is responsible for developing the franchisor model, marketing, web technology platform and customer coordination. Prior to Solar Universe, Joe was a broker associate at Diablo Funding where he was responsible for originating over $25 million per year in sales. Joe was a multi-store operator for franchise chain Quiznos, where he was responsible for site selection, store build out, and operations. Joe has an extensive background in technology and has held management positions at ViaFone (acquired by Extended Systems), ICSG Consulting and at KPMG Consulting. Joe has an economics degree from UCLA and is involved in many charitable organizations including Rotary International. You can follow Joe's twitter account to the right or: |
Joanne Ziegler - Sales
Joanne is responsible for recruiting, training and supporting the SUN Force program - SUN Advisors who work with our franchise partners in educating customers on the benefits of going solar. Joanne Ziegler comes to Solar Universe with over 20 years in sales and sales management, development. Her career has been in high tech, predominantly computer networking . She has successfully built teams of channel/partner sales for several companies. During her career in partner sales she has also spent much of time developing marketing programs and has experience in training and training development. Joanne looks forward to working with the SunForce group and developing more training and tools to help make the team successful. She plans on working hard and using her skills to provide each partner and team member with world class capabilities. She looks forward to speaking with each of you and getting your feedback.
Michael Hynes - Training
Michael is responsible for the development, promotion and management of the Solar University offerings and curriculums. Michael brings to the Solar University team a strong background in franchise training, development and management. As the Sr. Vice President of Training and Franchise Development for PAX Inc., Michael implemented relevant and effective training agendas instrumental in propelling the company from 23 Franchise Partners to 53 in less than two years. Michael worked for nine years in the environmental management field providing assessment services on a number of high profile projects, including the Fort Ord military base closure in Monterey, CA. Following his tenure in the environmental industry, Michael worked as a Senior Loan Agent for Diablo Funding Group, the largest mortgage brokerage in Northern California. Michael earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
Michael Flood - Operations
Michael's mission @ solaruniverse is to ensure our franchise partners have access to technical support, assistance with design/ordering, and that they have access to best practice techniques for installtion. Michael is a journeyman electrician and has been installing solar for the past 6 years. He's completed a variety of small and large projects varying from ground mounts, roof mounts, pole mounts and commercial flat roof projects.
Steve Padberg - Franchise Advocate
Steve is responsible for ensuring transparent communication, open support, and general assistance with our franchise partners. Steve Padberg has been an integral part of successful growth for industry leading entrepreneurial companies. Steve has scaled service delivery models in the construction, business services, and hospitality industries. He is considered an expert at driving sales and operations over widespread geographies. By implementing his extensive experience, results-oriented approach, and strategic marketing savvy, Steve has helped Clean Power Finance, Interior Specialists Inc. and Kinkos Inc. through periods of tremendous growth.
Steve not only brings industry experience to Solar Universe, with his tenure at Clean Power Finance, but brings a construction background with Interior Specialists with Interior Specialists, where Steve established the capability to deliver over 2,000 installations per year in Washington and Oregon. Steve also spent a large portion of his career with Kinkos Inc., where he helped develop business to business and commercial fulfillment strategies, as well as scale the Kinkos business model in Northern California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii.
Advisor / Investor Team:
Claudia Wentworth
Claudia Wentworth is the President of Quick Mount PV, a PV, solar thermal, HVAC, and satellite code compliant roof mount manufacturer. Quick Mount PV manufactures a standard mounting product line sold through distribution and is able to custom manufacture mounts for commercial, industrial and residential applications.
Claudia Wentworth is also the President of the Northern California Solar Energy Association. An Non-Profit focusing on the Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal market bringing education to the consumer for market penetration. Claudia has been granted one utility patent and currently have a few more pending in the mounting field. Claudia is an Adjunct Professor at Diablo Valley College and is certified with the North American Board of Certified Energy Practioners (NABCEP) entry level of knowledge. Claudia Wentworth has been active in the solar industry for over nine years and the green building and construction industry for more than twenty.
Michael Gornet
Michael left Corporate America after spending 23 years in Human Resources for Health Care, Banking and Technology firms. He purchased his Mr. Handyman franchise in January 2002. After completing his California General Contractor license requirements he opened the doors in April 2002, aggressively starting his operation with 4 vans. Before the end of that year he grew the business to a 9 van operation. In 2003 he topped the $1M threshold. Michael was appointed to the Mr. Handyman Franchise Advisory Council upon inception and was elected as Chairman for the first 3 years, serving for a total of 6 years. Michael began operating a Regional Call Center in July 2004 supporting West Coast Mr. Handyman franchises. Also in 2004 he launched a licensing program to assist California Mr. Handyman owners in gaining the requisite experience to obtain their General Contractor license. In 2007 Michael obtained his Florida Certified General Contractor License and launched a second licensing program to assist Florida Mr. Handyman owners. In 2009 Michael obtained his Nevada General Contractor License and his California Solar Specialty License. Michael joined Solar Universe as an Advisory Board member and subsequently launched Solar Network, Inc., both in 2009. Michael has established a licensing program for Solar Universe and is actively involved in growing the Solar Universe Franchise system. Michael has a BA from the University of Kentucky in Business Management (Minor in Personnel & Industrial Relations) 1981.
Francorp
Francorp is acknowledged as the world's leader in franchising. Since 1976 Francorp has provided full development programs to help insure the franchise success of over 2,000 businesses. Francorp offers clients coordinated strategic planning, legal services, operations, marketing, training and support services.
Laurie Baggio – 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Laurie Baggio joined 1-800-GOT-JUNK? in December 2001 as Director of Franchise Development. He was promoted to VP, Franchise Development in September 2002. He currently owns multiple 1-800-GOT-JUNK? franchises in Portland, OR and northern New Jersey. Prior to accepting this position, Mr. Baggio was a self-employed Consultant advising technology startups in strategy, market development, and corporate development in Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA.. From December 1999 until June 2001, Mr. Baggio served as Vice President of Business Development for eTunnels, Inc. in Seattle, WA. His role encompassed market development, business development, and technology and channel partnerships. From March 1995 until November 1999, Mr. Baggio founded and was the President and CEO of Helikon Technologies Inc., a diversified technology development company based in Vancouver, BC. While there, he established, grew, and sold an Internet Service Provider division and developed multimedia products for Hasbro, Inc.
Stephen Cadet – President, CEO of Fidelity Roofing Company
Stephen has been in the roofing business for 35 years and Fidelity Roofing has been installing solar PV since 2002. During his business tenure, Stephen has worked with some of the top national and local people in both architectural and engineering segments to improve both roofing design of construction. He has also assisted numerous system manufacturers with their roofing products. Stephen has a BA from UC Berkeley.
Gary Kremen - Clean Power Finance
As an entrepreneur, inventor, executive and investor, Gary Kremen has over twenty-five years experience with emerging growth companies and developing information technology. He is a founder of several companies including Match.Com and his latest endeavor Clean Power Finance. Kremen is a well-known angel investor in companies and investment funds and sits on the board of numerous companies.
Paul James – Fulwiller/James Builders
Paul has been a licensed California contractor since 1976. In that capacity he created Fulwiler/James Inc. a construction firm focused on custom estate homes throughout northern California. Clients include Nolan Bushnell of Atari and Pong, Dr. Gordon Moore of Intel Corporation, Bob Swanson founder of Genentech, and Robert AM Stern Architects. Fulwiler/James homes have been published in trade publications such as Architectural Digest and Specialty Books.
Christopher Lochhead – Founder, CEO of Lochhead Enterprises Inc.
Christopher has been an executive in four start-ups and has been an officer of three publicly traded technology companies: Mercury, Scient and Vantive and Mercury Interactive Corporation (a $1B enterprise software company, acquired by Hewlett Packard). At Mercury, he helped grow the company from approximately $400m to over $1B in four years. In 1998 Lochhead helped start the Internet consulting firm Scient. They achieved $21M in first year sales, and $156M in its second year. Lochhead joined Vantive, a customer relationship management (CRM) software company, in 1996 and helped the company grow from $25M in sales to $117M in two years. Prior to Vantive, Christopher was president of CRM Company Always an Adventure International.