For Immediate Release: June 14, 2010
Contact: John Boesel, (626) 744-5607 or
jboesel@calstart.org
Three Industry Leaders Join CALSTART Board of Directors
Anne E. Bélec, Navistar, Dipender Saluja, Capricorn Investment Group, Hal D. Snyder, SDG&E and SoCalGas
Pasadena, CA – Three leading industry executives, each working to promote a diversity of technologies and fuels, have joined the CALSTART Board of Directors, the only national organization focused on accelerating the growth of the broad-based clean transportation industry. The additions reflect CALSTART’s efforts to promote a diversity of approaches as it works to build a 21st century clean transportation technology industry.
The three new CALSTART board members are: Anne E. Bélec, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer from Navistar, Inc. a world-leading truck and engine manufacturer; Dipender Saluja, Managing Director of Capricorn Investment Group, LLC, which has invested in a diversity of clean transportation technology start-ups; and Hal Snyder, Vice President at Sempra’s San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Company, who oversees that company’s natural gas and plug-in vehicle programs.
Navistar produces electric and hybrid, natural gas, and clean diesel trucks. Capricorn Investment Group has invested in at least two electric vehicle firms as well as a firm developing intelligent transportation systems to improve the performance and management of alternative fuel vehicles. Sempra Utilities via Southern California Gas Company provides more natural gas for transportation than any other utility in the country and, through its ownership of San Diego Gas and Electric, will soon be home to the nation’s largest and earliest deployment of electric vehicles produced by Nissan.
“These three leading executives will bring tremendous knowledge and insights about what is needed to grow the entire clean transportation technology industry – which is CALSTART’s unique mission. Adding a leading clean tech investor and a major truck manufacturer to our board is also a statement about the increasing reality and economic potential of the clean transportation technology industry,” said John Boesel, President and CEO of CALSTART.
Additional information on the three new board members is listed below.
Hal D. Snyder, VP, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas)
Hal D. Snyder is Vice President of Customer Solutions for San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), Sempra Energy's regulated California utilities. Sempra Energy is a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services. Mr. Synder is responsible for the utilities' customer programs promoting energy efficiency, sustainability, low-income assistance and the development of new emerging technologies, including clean transportation, distributed energy, in-home services and biofuels.
Anne E. Bélec, VP and Chief Marketing Officer, Navistar, Inc.
Anne E. Bélec is Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer for Navistar, Inc.. Most recently, she had served as CEO of the Mosaic Group, LLC, a business and brand strategy consulting group. Prior to that, Ms. Bélec served as Director of Global Marketing for Ford Motor Company and as President and CEO of Volvo Cars North America (VCNA). Ms. Bélec previously served on the CALSTART Board 2007-2008 in her capacity as CEO of VCNA.
Dipender Saluja, Managing Director, Capricorn Investment Group
Dipender Saluja is Managing Director at Capricorn Investment Group, a private investment firm based in Palo Alto, California, where he oversees investments and helps incubate companies in energy technology, clean tech, and IT. Mr. Saluja is also President & CEO of Automatiks Inc, a Capricorn portfolio company developing platforms for automotive and smart grid applications, and serves on the boards of Sunpreme Inc. and Automatiks Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Saluja was Chief of Staff & Corporate Vice President at Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS).
In addition to adding these three new members, at its May meeting, Bill Zobel, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Trillium, USA, was named the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Earlier this year CALSTART announced the additions of three other new board members including Sanjay Rishi, Vice President, Global Strategy, IBM Corporation, Paul Smith, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at New Flyer Industries, and William Zobel, Vice President, Business Development for Trillium Corporation.
About CALSTART
CALSTART is a non-profit organization focused on the growth of the clean transportation technology industry. CALSTART is the only national organization that works with companies producing all of the different fuels, technologies, and vehicles. CALSTART provides services and consulting help to spur advanced transportation technologies, fuels, systems and the companies that make them. Among the 130+ CALSTART member companies are Volvo, Solazyme, BSST, Southern California Edison, and Daimler Trucks of North America. In addition to its headquarters in Pasadena, CALSTART has offices in Richmond, California and Denver, Colorado. For more information visit: www.calstart.org.
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