REV2025: Beyond Project Finance: Finding Working Capital to Support the Mission of Your Business
Wednesday, October 15th, 2025 – 1:15 to 2:15 p.m.
Sponsored by Dinse
Diamond ii
Renewable Energy companies need a variety of capital across a longer continuum to start, grow, and be sustainable over the long term. This session details working capital needs as companies grow, and how to find lenders and investors that align with your company’s mission and growth trajectory. The conversation will walk through a case study of creative financing provided by impact investor, the Flexible Capital Fund, to Encore Renewable Energy.
Moderator: Janice St. Onge, Flexible Capital Fund
Janice St. Onge is President of the Flexible Capital Fund, L3C (“Flex Fund”). Named among the 25 Transformative Funds of 2021, the Flex Fund is a mission-based investment fund providing flexible risk capital to Vermont’s food system, forestry, and clean technology businesses. Janice brings economic and business development as well as financial expertise to the organization, having served in the technology, financial services, higher education, and state government sectors during her 25+ year career. She is a 2018-19 Fellow of the Justice Economy Institute and co-founder of the Vermont and Northern New England Women’s Investors Network. She also serves on the Governance Council for the Collective Action for Just Finance, the Vermont Small Business Development Center Advisory Board, and Burlington Telecom Innovation Fund Advisory Committee.
Speakers
Chad Farrell, Encore Renewable Energy
Chad is the Founder and co-CEO of Encore Renewable Energy, a leader in community-scale renewable energy project development services. He has over 25 years of professional experience in the fields of brownfields redevelopment and renewable energy project finance, development, and construction. At Encore, Chad leads the team’s innovative and collaborative efforts to design, permit, finance, and construct over 80 different commercial-scale solar PV projects throughout the State of Vermont and beyond, representing more than $100M in total investment value. Many of these projects involve reclaiming undervalued real estate for clean energy generation and storage, helping to revitalize communities and create a cleaner, brighter future for all. Chad served on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Natural Resources Council and Renewable Energy Vermont. Following appointment by the Vermont Senate to represent the clean energy sector, he is currently serving on the Vermont Climate Council.
Jay Bellows, Kore Power
Jay Bellows is the CEO of Kore Power. He is an executive with over 20 years of experience with a full spectrum of technology knowledge and leadership expertise in areas of power, systems integration, telecom, data centers, software, networking, and project management. Before joining Northern Reliability as its CEO, he served as the VP of Sales and Director of Northern Facilities at Sovernet Communications, overseeing the business development, projects, offerings, and revenue growth over the company’s entire footprint.