No Result
View All Result
Military Families
SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
 Military Families
SUBSCRIBE FREE
Military Families

Marine veteran sees the light with successful energy-audit company

By Don Harrison

AmeriForce Staff
by AmeriForce Staff
April 4, 2022
Marine veteran sees the light with successful energy-audit company

Chris Rawlings with wife, Jessica, and daughter Scarlett. Photo by KSmithson Photography.

Tweet

Chris Rawlings was a contractor working for Northrop Grumman when he, in his words, “got into energy.”

“Aircraft maintenance work had slowed down,” recalls the 37-year-old Marine combat veteran. “My bosses came to me and asked if I could find some things to save money and reduce costs. So, I started taking a look around the building, at the lighting fixtures, HVAC, leaking air hoses, and I thought, well, there’s a lot of money out the door right there.” 

Today, with a team that includes his wife, Jessica, and father Don, Rawlings serves as the president and CEO of the Richmond, Virginia-based Bowerbird Energy. With a five-person staff and various subcontractors, Bowerbird does large-scale energy audits, designing, building and managing energy projects that create healthier buildings, generate savings and reduce carbon emissions.

READ: A veteran with a purpose

Formerly known as VeteranLED, Bowerbird has consulted on a wide range of building projects —nursing homes, museums, schools, manufacturing centers — and worked with large national clients ranging from The Gap clothing chain to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, even NATO.

Rawlings says Bowerbird’s approach cuts across political and corporate divides.

“If you are speaking the language of saving money,” he said, “you are speaking bi-partisan language.”

Rawlings, twice deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, is a pied piper for LED lighting, and much of Bowerbird’s business comes from retrofitting buildings with cheaper, more environmentally friendly LED technology. 

“A lot of what we still do is education,” he said. “We talk about how changing from compact fluorescent or incandescent bulbs to LED can really add up to savings, for example.” 

Outdoor LED lighting project done by Bowerbird Energy for The River Lofts at Tobacco Row in Richmond, Virginia.

In seven years, Bowerbird has grown to become an ESCO-certified Energy Services Company, branching out into alt-power storage, electric vehicle maintenance and air quality control.   

“Chris has really put in the hard work to build the business,” said Jessica, who is Bowerbird’s principal consultant. The couple met just as Bowerbird was getting launched, when Rawlings was working as a bartender at night and, as he says, “selling light bulbs door to door.” 

“My wife has been very successful in her corporate role, working in HR, but on her off time, she guides and directs me and the company on certain things, like hiring and retaining folks,” Rawlings said.

In other words, Jessica does Bowerbird’s own energy audits. “Yes,” he laughed. “A different kind of energy.”

With a 2-year-old daughter, Scarlett, and another on the way, the Rawlings house is a busy one — “we like it that way,” said Jessica. She works full time for Cognizant, a major IT consulting firm that helps Fortune 500 companies like Capital One, Anthem and Merrill Lynch. 

“It’s so rewarding to see him really flourish and grow the business,” she said. “He gives me credit for pushing him to do this full time, but I think he would’ve done it anyway.”

Jessica says serving in the military helped her husband.

“It’s the work ethic,” she said. “Chris will tell you himself, he was not a good student growing up. He didn’t do well in school. He didn’t focus, and I think the military taught him how to do that. Now he pushes himself and excels in problem-solving.”

Since 2019, Rawlings has taken on another role — talk show host. He now oversees the Energy Sense podcast, which spotlights different aspects of the alternative energy trade. One interesting episode of the show, which is available on iTunes, Spotify and other podcast networks, takes a deep dive into why so many former military officers, like Rawlings, go into the energy field when they leave the service.

Rawlings thinks that since energy plays such a big role in our national defense, it’s another way for vets to serve.  

“With oil and fuel and transportation, energy is very closely related to politics and the wars we’ve been in,” he said, speaking to the potential benefits of alternative energy. “Being a Marine in Iraq, we’ve all heard the horror stories of IEDs, the largest killer of air soldiers and Marines. A lot of times we are transporting fuel sources to and from areas when we encounter those. But if we can potentially reduce the amount of convoys on the ground in combat zones by building microgrids and energy solutions, we can save lives.”

Visit www.BowerbirdEnergy.com to learn more about Bowerbird Energy.

 

Read comments
Tags: Bowerbird EnergyChris Rawlingsenergy-auditEntrepreneurMarine veteranTransitionveteran entrepreneurVeteranLED
Tweet30
AmeriForce Staff

AmeriForce Staff

Related Posts

Crayons Ready to Eat
Military Veterans

Veteran colors outside the lines with new venture

5 days ago
Pit bull
Military Veterans

Army veterans work to dispel pit bull misconceptions

4 weeks ago
Navy veteran continues to defy odds decade after ALS diagnosis
Military Health

Navy veteran continues to defy odds decade after ALS diagnosis

4 weeks ago
Marine vet Chad Robichaux details efforts to save thousands from Taliban
Military Veterans

Marine vet Chad Robichaux details efforts to save thousands from Taliban

1 month ago
Telemynd’s personalized approach to supporting military mental health ‘saves lives every day’
Military Health

Telemynd’s personalized approach to supporting military mental health ‘saves lives every day’

2 months ago
Operation Next
Military Education

LIFT expands Operation Next manufacturing certification program

2 months ago

Ads

Military News, delivered to your inbox

Get a free copy of MILITARY FAMILIES delivered to your inbox each month

Let's connect!

ABOUT US

  • OUR STORY
  • OUR TEAM
  • OUR WRITERS

MAGAZINE

  • GET PRINT
  • GET DIGITAL
  • GET THE NEWSLETTER

GET RESOURCES

  • VETERANS TOOLKIT

ADVERTISE

  • GET OUR MEDIA KIT
  • CFC/NONPROFITS
  • PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT

SUBMISSIONS

  • PITCH US
  • SUBMIT YOUR STORY

Never miss out on the latest stories.

© 2022 Military Families by AmeriForce. Privacy Policy | Terms | Site by Swiss Commerce

Thank you for your interest in Military Families Magazine!

Thank you for your interest in Military Families Magazine!

Thank you for your interest in Military Families Magazine!

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Military Life
    • Deployment
    • Relocation
    • Military Spouses
    • Military Kids
  • Education
  • Career
    • Transition
    • Entrepreneur
  • Veterans
  • Health
  • Money
    • Military Deals & Discounts
  • OFF DUTY
    • Travel
    • Beyond the Base
    • Food & Recipes
    • Book Reviews & Roundups
    • Entertainment
    • Sports
  • OPINION
  • About us
    • Submissions
    • Pitch us
    • Submit your story
    • Our story
    • Our team
    • Our writers
  • Magazine
    • Get Resources
    • Veterans toolkit
    • Get print
    • Get digital
    • Get the newsletter
  • Advertise
    • Get our media kit
    • CFC/Nonprofits
    • Publisher’s statement

© 2022 Military Families by AmeriForce. Site by SCBW.

Skip to toolbar
  • About WordPress
    • WordPress.org
    • Documentation
    • Support
    • Feedback