Plug Power Celebrates State-of-the-Art Service Center in Dayton, Ohio With Ribbon Cutting
Eric Parker
Plug Power today celebrates its new Dayton, OH service center by hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony – bringing green jobs and innovation to the Dayton-metro area, and expanding service capabilities to Ohio customers, including Walmart, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and Honda.
The state-of-the-art monitoring system in Dayton specifically monitors hydrogen dispensing infrastructures across the globe. Plug Power utilizes Internet of Things (IoT) technology throughout its systems to maximize customer productivity and uptime of their industrial truck fleet. Dayton supports around-the-clock monitoring of more than 35 GenFuel hydrogen fueling stations and 137 hydrogen dispensers.
The Dayton service center is staffed with 10 employees, with 50% growth expectation, and is responsible for parts and maintenance for GenDrive fuel cell units in the mid-west region and GenFuel stations throughout the nation.
Today in Ohio, there are more than 850 electric fuel cell vehicles powered by Plug Power's GenDrive fuel cell solution. Customers have deployed four full GenFuel fueling stations, and customers perform more than 1,000 fuelings per day. The full Plug Power workforce across Ohio is in excess of 25 employees. These metrics continue to grow as customer concentration in the state increases.
The ceremony program includes remarks from local and national dignitaries focused on job creation and technology solutions brought to Ohio by Plug Power. Expected in attendance are West Carrollton Mayor, Jeff Sanner, Ohio House Representative, Niraj Antani (R-OH 42nd District), and representatives from the offices of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. Representative Mike Turner (R-OH 10th District).
"I'm excited to celebrate the opening of Plug Power's new service center in my district," Antani said. "If we are going to stay competitive, we need new technology like this and new technology jobs like Plug Power will be creating. It is private industry that will foster this new technology and job creation, and I hope we at the state level can continue to set a business friendly economic climate so that companies like Plug Power can thrive."
Congressman Turner commented, "I would like to congratulate Plug Power on being the first hydrogen fuel cell service center in the Midwest. Thank you for choosing Dayton as the home of your new service center and bringing jobs and innovation to the Miami Valley."
West Carrolton Mayor, Jeff Sanner comments, "West Carrollton is thrilled to welcome Plug Power into our city. We know this company is already providing clean and reliable energy, and we're excited to greet the 10 new employees here today, and the 50% more expected to join in the coming months."
Plug Power executives will also be joined at today's ribbon cutting ceremony by industry advocates, including Bud DeFlaviis, Director of Government Affairs for the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, Pat Valente, Executive Director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, and Stephanie Precht, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Public Policy and Economic Development.
"Businesses across the country are embracing fuel cell technologies for their reliability, durability, and efficient operations; and companies like Plug Power are leading the way in this endeavor," said Bud DeFlaviis. "Thankfully, local, state and federal policymakers, regardless of political affiliation, also see the tremendous opportunity that these technologies present as we look to use our resources more wisely and improve our daily lives."
"We're excited to be joined today by our Country and Ohio's industry leadership as we celebrate the opening of our first regional service center," said Joe Blanchard, Vice President of Service for Plug Power. "This state continues to foster innovation and adoption, and it's encouraging to see the active participation by industry advocates as we grow this business across the globe."
"We thank the State of Ohio, the City of Dayton and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, and our Congressional representative for welcoming our new service center to the area," said Tim Terrill, Plug Power's Director of Service and Manager of the Dayton Service Center. "We're excited to be able to bring new green tech jobs to the technical, service and veteran workforce in Ohio, in our continued commitment to innovative solutions that enable us to provide guaranteed 97% uptime at customer sites."
"We are excited to welcome Plug Power to the Dayton area. Our region has seen big growth in several technology fields, so we know the connections to be made, here through the chamber, will serve the company well into the future. We're proud that a business that's making large strides in the clean energy industry would choose to grow in the Dayton region," said Phil Parker, President and CEO, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Plug Power and the fuel cell industry recently celebrated National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day on October 8, and sees this ceremony as an extension of support activities. The United States Senate recently passed a resolution recognizing the importance of the technology to address key energy, environmental and economic issues in the United States.