Management

Marty Hess, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, brings a unique perspective to the marketing process through his deep understanding of the sales process. A strategic thinker with a strong aptitude for technology, he possesses the perfect combination of skills for developing and delivering relevant, on-point marketing and communications programs and projects. Since he began his career in the technology industry more than 19 years ago, he has successfully developed and implemented corporate strategies, defined and executed corporate positioning, defined and developed new markets and managed national and international sales teams. He combines his in-depth technological knowledge and strategic thinking with a discerning eye for sophisticated design. Marty has played a key role in the success of a number of well known communications equipment vendors including World Wide Packets (now Ciena), Cisco Systems, Ciena, Nortel, Allied Telesis, Kent Datacomm, Anixter and Cabletron.

Mark Bretl, Vice President of Products and Technology, leads Optimum Energy's software development, engineering and product delivery teams and is responsible for enhancing the company’s cloud-based HVAC analytics software solutions, as well as broadening the company’s product and services portfolio. Bretl has 30 years of experience in the software industry with a strong background in all phases of operations. Before joining Optimum Energy, he was vice president of Kinetic Books Company, with responsibility for engineering, sales and marketing at different points during his tenure with the company. Prior to Kinetic Books, he served as vice president of the Media Systems Division of RealNetworks, Inc., leading the Real Broadcast Network, Internet and consumer appliances business units, as well as heading up product development for the division. Bretl also served as chief operating officer and vice president of operations and finance at Vivo Software, Inc., a startup company acquired by RealNetworks, Inc.

Ben Erpelding P.E., C.E.M, Vice President of Engineering, has more than 13 years of experience in energy efficiency, distributed generation, renewable energy, and demand response. Erpelding has performed over 500 detailed energy assessments at public, commercial, and industrial facilities in Southern California. For six years, Erpelding measured and verified actual performance and cost savings for energy efficiency retrofits, photovoltaic installations, demand response audits, and combined heat and power projects. According to the County of San Diego's administration analyst, his efforts over those six years resulted in a 16% decrease in the County's energy consumption (roughly 16,000,000 kWh/yr cut from jails, courts, and office buildings). Erpelding received his Master of Science, with an emphasis in Combined Heat and Power, a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, Magna Cum Laude, from San Diego State University. Erpelding is a Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of California and a member of the HPAC Engineering magazine Editorial Advisory Board.

Bert Hogue, Chief Financial Officer, has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting and as Chief Financial Officer for technology companies ranging start-up to middle market in size and from private, venture-backed to public ownership. Following 14 years at KPMG LLP in its Seattle and New York offices, Hogue has held leadership positions at Wetpaint.com, Who’s Calling, Epoch Biosciences, Apex Learning, Verio, and NorthWestNet. In his CFO roles, Hogue has had a broad range of externally facing responsibilities including significant experience with mergers and acquisition and in the public and private debt and equity markets. Hogue received his bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Puget Sound.