Casey Joyce: Project Manager at SunPeak
Keeping good jobs close to home
Casey Joyce is passionate about his home state and the people that live and work there. Working in Wisconsin’s solar industry has allowed him to not only find a good job close to home, but also help maintain good jobs for others.
Casey works as a Project Manager for SunPeak, a Madison-based solar energy company that has helped dozens of companies across Wisconsin and the entire Midwest save energy and money by going solar.
“The most satisfying thing about my job is touring one of our sites and seeing people at work on the factory line, creating products, or providing services — just doing what they do — and knowing that we are helping businesses maintain those jobs by reducing their operational costs,” he said.
Prior to joining SunPeak, Casey worked in the construction and renewables industry for various out of state companies. When he learned of the opportunity to work at SunPeak, he jumped at the chance to get back to his home state.
“My family is from Wisconsin and I really wanted to get back. This was my opportunity,” he said. “We are a young company and are super busy. We are hiring more people and providing others that opportunity to stay home and be with their families and support the state economy.”
Casey’s entire career has been in the construction industry, eventually becoming a Project Manager. His desire to parlay his experience in a more environmentally sustainable career led him to take coursework in renewable energy and eventually made the leap from civil construction to renewables full time. Opportunities to work on utility scale wind, solar and hydro soon followed.
“I’ve been able to be places and see things and build projects I would not have been able to do otherwise. It’s been extremely rewarding.”
He loves seeing his clients get excited about the energy cost savings from going solar.
“We help make them a more viable company and do smart things with their capital,” he said. Once the projects are done, he said the companies they work with are anxious to promote what they are doing for the environment and local community.
“We hope that these companies’ excitement is contagious and we get more and more people interested in going green and saving money,” he said.
For Casey, it’s always been about keeping jobs and money in the state where it belongs — especially when it comes to the money Wisconsin residents and businesses spend on energy.
“One of the benefits of going solar is that it relaxes pressure on the power grid and we can burn less coal,” he said. “Instead of paying for out of state coal and sending our money to Wyoming, we could have a few less coal trains and have more money to invest in our own infrastructure and schools here in Wisconsin.”
