Our Team

Ron Smith

Co-Founder and CEO 

Ron, a Northwest native, brings extensive experience in finance, operations, and strategy with companies that have ranged from startup to stabilized and in multiple industries. He began his career in 1974, as real estate developer of multi-family, office and retail projects and over a period of 20+ years was responsible for projects with a combined value in excess of $150 million. He then ventured into various businesses including wastewater treatment, organic fertilizer manufacturing and the high-tech recovery of waste tires before becoming one of the founders or E8 Energy Group SW. Ron is now fully dedicated to projects that are engaged in passing a safe and productive environment on to future generations to come.

Gary Bailey

Co-Founder & President 

Gary Bailey has been a leader in sustainability and innovation since 1977, as an owner and founder of Innovative Design, and an Entrepreneur in Solargenix and CEO in Grow Green Power.  As a leader in building technology, Innovative Design is a leader in the architectural sustainability field with immense green technologies, programs, and product enhancements.  Their innovative guidelines and full systems designs have been tested and have excellent performance records.  Innovative Designs has incorporated into their 4,750 projects over 5.2 trillion BTU's of savings, which is equal to a 51 MW power plant.

E8 Energy Group, founded in 2015 is an EPC company started in order to construct and develop all types of renewable energy projects around the world with in excess of 500 MW of Distributed Energy and Utility grade projects. 

Chad Botner

Co-Founder & Director of EPC

Chad is the Chief Executive Officer of North Carolina based E8 Energy Group and is responsible for leading the development and execution of the company's strategy, of being one of the leading renewable energy contracting companies in the US.  Chad's greatest strengths are his creativity, drive, attention to quality, and his leadership skills.  

Chad has been in the commercial and industrial electrical industry for 30 years.  As the son of an electrical contractor he earned an electrical technologies associate degree from North Dakota State College of Science, completed Project Management courses at Purdue University and joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers where he worked on projects for Microsoft, Boeing and Micron Technology.

Chad started his own electrical contracting company in 2000 where he employed over 120 + electricians.  His client list consisted of Lowes Home Improvements, CVS pharmacies, Clark County Police Stations, Clark County Schools, Las Vegas Hotels & Casinos, Homewood Suites Hotel. In 2015 Chad was a co-founder of E8 Energy Group for which he elected to spend full time and consequently sold his electrical contracting business.

Edgar Agosto

Director of Design & Engineering

Edgar is a resourceful engineer who is experienced in engineering design from the initial conceptual stage, through feasibility study through detail design. Edgar has been the designer and builder of several civil and structural projects, including photovoltaic systems in the Caribbean, Central America and the Middle East. Edgar has a bachelor degree in science in civil engineering from the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico, a master of science in structural engineering from University of Central Florida and is currently in a doctoral program in engineering at the North Carolina State University. He is a retired commissioned officer and a veteran of the US Navy.

Tim Arick

Director of Financing & Incentives

Tim Arick has over 30 years’ experience in project, commercial real estate and economic development finance.  During this span Tim has structured more than $2 billion in financing for renewable energy projects, commercial real estate and community facilities.  As a commercial mortgage banker Tim has represented major financial institutions including Prudential, Metropolitan Life, Nationwide Life, Lincoln Financial, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.  In 2002, Tim entered into a partnership with The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU) and its’ affiliate New Markets Community Capital, LLC (NMCC) to structure economic development financing combining New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC’s), allocated by the US Treasury Department, with various forms of conventional financing, grants and other government sponsored incentives including Investment Tax Credits (ITC’s), HUD Section 108 Loan Guarantees, Tax Exempt Bonds, HRSA Grants, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and EB-5.  Through this partnership, Tim and NMCC have worked with institutional investors including JP Morgan Chase, US Bank, Citibank and Capital One to fund more than $200 million for important community facilities, and to spur the formation of startups within the “Clean-tech” industry. 

Tom Reichert

Director of Sales – San Diego County & Surrounds

Tom, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology and with over 30+ years in the mechanical/HVAC industry, brings a depth of knowledge in the design of and installation of complex mechanical systems. He is also knowledgeable in load shifting in the operation of mechanical systems. Over the tenure of his business life Tom has worked for Trane, Carrier Corp and McQuay International and he is the founder of two solid businesses: Engineered Mechanical Services and E&A Engineering Services. His professional memberships include:

USGBC (US Green Building Council)

ASHRAE member and certified commissioning provider

Craig Porter

Director of Sales for E8 Energy Group SW for Washington and Oregon

Craig has dedicated his internal energy into a focused effort to bring renewable energy to Oregon and Washington since 2006.  He is a native Oregonian and was educated at Portland Community College and Portland State University.  He has gone on to starting up several successful real estate finance and ownership companies. Most recently he was the owner operator of a renewable energy liquid fuels company.  Collaborating with his career long business associate and friend, Ron Smith, they have worked on worldwide solutions for renewable energy and Craig is now ready to focus on making E8 Energy Group SW a leader in the solar energy field in Oregon and Washington. He firmly believes renewable energy is essential to the sustainability of our planet. He has realized the future of the world’s sustainable energy partially relies on solar energy and as a responsible individual this energy needs to be harvested to reduce fossil fuels.  Except for the initial investment this is free energy. 

Gordon Harris

Director of Marketing & Sales – Coachella Valley Desert Region

Gordon has a long-term, highly successful history of building sales teams and making major product sales to major companies. As the President of Proview USA Gordon was responsible for leading the company from $0 Sales to annual sales of $600,000,000 between1993 -2009. In the past few years Gordon has become a real believer in the need for renewable energy and as a resident of Coachella Valley he wants to now focus his time and energy to help E8 Energy Group SW to become a leader in the field of Distributed Solar PV in the Coachella Valley.