1. REPRINTED FROM: OCTOBER 2012, VOLUME 18, NO. 16
One Traverse City company now
shares a pedigree with Intuit, Zap-
pos, Patagonia, Oracle, and
Microsoft.
In its annual “500 Fastest Grow-
ing Private Companies” profile, Inc.
Magazine recently awarded Keen
Technical Solutions 60th place.
The company, which
helps other compa-
nies cut their energy
usage and costs,
reported 4,101 per-
cent growth over
three years and rev-
enue of $4.2 million.
CEO and co-founder
Steve Morse says his
goal is to make the list
again in 2013.
“Our first year, in
2008, we had two cus-
tomers to keep happy,” he said.
“Now, we’re pushing 1,200.”
So what’s behind the success?
According to Morse, it’s more than
just selling products and services.
Keen’s energy advisors consults
with businesses on how to save
money by doing things like
installing energy-efficient lighting,
using green technologies, and per-
forming energy audits.
The team will also administer
available rebates and incentives,
provide an energy guarantee, and
fund the projects based on savings
if capital is a concern.
As of press time, its recommen-
dations had saved clients more
than $20 million, with more busi-
nesses coming on board.
“In 2012, our business was up 50
percent over last year,” company
president and co-founder Tim Pul-
liam said. “In 2013, we’re planning
for four times over 2012.”
Although the company’s pres-
ence is primarily Midwestern, Keen
has fielded projects in Louisiana,
North Carolina, Connecticut, and
Florida.
One new area of expansion this
year will be into Michigan’s tribal
communities. Derek Bailey, former
tribal chairman of the Grand Tra-
verse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians, was hired in September to
head up that effort.
“In every community there’s a
need for energy sustain-
ability, and with tribal
communities it’s no dif-
ferent,” Bailey said. “At
Keen, our intention is to
build first a relation-
ship, and then offer
exciting cost-saving
measures.”
Keen’s initial focus
would be on the Mid-
west tribal nations and
then reaching out to
Native Americans in
other regions, including Canada,
Bailey said.
“The energy savings can be put to
use in other areas, such as elders
and youth programing,” he said.
“This is a true win-win situation.”
Morse and Pulliam said they are
working on another division that
will “put Keen on the national map.”
They hope to have an announce-
ment in the coming months.
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THE HOT LIST-2013Every town has its buzzworthy topics and Traverse City is no exception. Whether
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something big under wraps, the business community is taking notice... and talking.
Keen Technical Solutions