One of the joys of creating a new venture is the luxury of selecting people that we want to collaborate with. SunCommon highly appreciates the many folks who help make these solar wheels turn. We sought to work with businesses who share our values and are enjoyable to work with. This page is a way for us to shout out to our friends who help make this whole adventure possible and encourage you to consider them in your work.
Solar Installer
Peck Electric 
To achieve the scale that Vermonters who want to go solar deserve, we sought the capacity to install many hundreds of systems and turned to one of our area’s most respected and largest electrical contractors. Peck Electric is a union shop that hires certified electricians who are members of IBEW Local 300, so we know that the men and women we send out to install the solar systems are the best trained and most expert available. And Vermont Works for Women recruits young people into this dynamic trade for lifelong skilled, green jobs.
Web Designer
Deep Dish Creative 
Websites are often either gorgeous or functional; Lara Dickson designed our site to be both. We believe it hits all our goals: it’s attractive, organizes the information well and encourages folks to sign up to learn more. Lara is super easy-going and hit all her deadlines and budget.
Graphic Designer
Gotham City Graphics
Amey Radcliffe is so talented and a delight to work with. We expressed what we hoped our look and feel would convey, and she ran with it to create our logo and landscape imagery that perfectly captures who we are. Always attuned to our budgets and timelines, Amey designs with professional grace.
Car Wrapper
Awesome Graphics
Since our folks who work in the field need transportation to and fro, we figured their rides could communicate who we are to the thousands of people who see them everyday. Thus our fleet of 9 vehicles are wrapped head-to-toe in our landscape image, executed gorgeously by Rutland-based Awesome Graphics whose owners Mike and Tami Napolitano provided both artistry and gracious service.
Builder and Landlord
Gristmill Builders
We occupy an entire floor of Vermont’s largest net-zero office building – The Energy Mill located on the Waterbury-Stowe line. Conceived and built by Brendan O’Reilly, the Energy Mill is the first on a campus of green buildings that Brenden plans to fill with like-minded sustainable businesses. It features geothermal heating and cooling, solar thermal hot water and solar electric panels, as well as locally milled lumber and reused building materials. He built us an organic, fair trade, free range building that reflects our values and is a great place to come to work — all the while attentive to keeping costs reasonable – in true Vermonter fashion.
Computer Software
Small Dog Electronics
After we made the decision to outfit our folks with Macs, it was an easy decision to source them from Vermont’s Apple dealer Small Dog Electronics whose founder Don Meyer pioneered many of the sustainable practices that companies like ours seek to emulate.
The desire to “buy local” also brought pricing the same as faceless online stores. In addition we received the benefit of great personal service as they came to our office to install and configure our most essential business equipment.
Banking
As the largest Credit Union in Vermont. New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) is in the business of empowering their members to make good financial decisions so they can improve their overall quality of life. As a member-owned institution that doesn’t answer to shareholders, it can offer low interest rates, great terms and superior service.
They offer solutions to meet the needs of their members, and supplement these solutions with free programs in financial education. NEFCU is also actively engaged in community events and programs that help to improve the overall quality of life for Vermonters.
SunCommon is proud to work with this wonderful local institution to offer our customers easy financing for their solar systems.
Venture Lawyer
Merritt, Merritt & Moulton
Maybe it’s common to trash lawyers, but we are grateful to Merritt, Merritt & Moulton for helping us navigate this new world of innovative legal structures so we could create and protect our values-led business. Ken Merritt helped bring the Benefit Corporation concept to Vermont, enabling entrepreneurs like us to incorporate our for-profit business in the public interest by focusing on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profits. And Ken Merritt and his team were invaluable at advising and expertly handling the mountain of paperwork for our raising the start-up capital that made all of this possible.
Higher Education
The Green Mountain State is blessed with great colleges and universities . As a local Vermont business, SunCommon is blessed to take advantage of our well-educated and vibrant workforce.
University of Vermont
A bunch of our gifted employees graduated from the University of Vermont with science degrees including Biology, Environmental Science and Electrical Engineering. We love interns too, and our VBSR Intern is wrapping up her UVM degree in Community Development and Applied Economics.
Champlain College
Champlain College has great innovative business programs. Our values-led venture benefits from Champlain graduates with degrees in Marketing Management and Emergent Media.
Vermont Technical College
VTC is a local pipeline of highly skilled technical talent. SunCommon technical employees earned degrees there in Electrical Engineering, Sustainable Design & Technology and Business Technology & Management.
Memberships
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility unites over 1500 companies in our small state who strive to operate sustainably, with respect for the people we do business with and the environment that sustains us.
Social Venture Network is national membership organization of social entrepreneurs who create enterprises whose purpose is positive social change.
Vermont Venture Network was created by our venture attorney Ken Merritt to bring together entrepreneurs and investors who seek to build innovative new businesses in our state.
Renewable Energy Vermont is our state’s trade association of businesses that are building our green energy economy.
Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
VSECU is a Vermont non-profit credit union whose mission is to serve the financial needs of its member-owners. That orientation leads to great customer service and low costs as well. SunCommon’s predecessor, VPIRG Energy, successfully partnered with VSECU to provide easy and affordable financing for solar system purchases. SunCommon’s choice for a banker was easy – so we happily have our checking, vehicle loans and credit line all at this community finance organization.
