Today, US Wind, Inc. (“US Wind”), Maryland’s leader in offshore wind development, announced that Maynard Smith, Renee Cooper, and Michael Hill have joined the company to lead outreach to and development of minority, women-owned, and small businesses in the state. This highly experienced and accomplished team of MBE participation and compliance experts will drive the company’s business development program, promoting opportunities in the offshore wind industry to help Maryland minority-owned and small businesses thrive in the growing offshore wind industry.
Maynard Smith joins US Wind as Maryland Business Engagement Manager. Smith, who was integral in ensuring that the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino not only met but exceeded Maryland’s MBE requirements, has also worked on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project and the 2020 Black Farmers Cooperative. Smith has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Fayetteville State University and a Master of Business Administration in Management from Golden Gate University. He volunteers on several community boards, including the Family Justice Center and Progressive Life Center of Prince George’s County Maryland and Visit Baltimore, the city’s tourism and convention organization.
Renee Cooper joins US Wind as the company’s MBE Program Compliance Manager. The former Director of Operations & Process Improvement for the Maryland Department of Transportation, Office of Minority Business Enterprise, Cooper is an expert in developing and executing corporate supplier diversity strategy and compliance, including supply chain diversity and inclusion. Cooper has a Master of Library and Information Sciences degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Mike Hill brings more than 40 years of professional engineering experience to his role as Small Business Development Manager for US Wind. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Hill worked with the Maryland Energy Administration to provide offshore wind training for minority small businesses and also worked alongside Smith on the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino and Woodrow Wilson Bridge projects.
“US Wind understands that a successful offshore wind project must not only result in the development of a new renewable energy resource for the region but must also provide the basis for meaningful expansion of economic activity, especially in underserved communities,” said Jeff Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “The strength and depth of this team’s knowledge, experience, and relationships will be instrumental in ensuring that Maryland’s minority-owned businesses are afforded the greatest opportunity to participate in the development of our projects.”
Smith, Cooper, and Hill have collectively developed and already begun executing a multi-pronged MBE outreach and development plan for US Wind that includes ongoing community engagement and education, establishing mentor-protégé relationships, and training for project teams. Recently, US Wind conducted virtual briefings for the Maryland-Washington Minority Companies Association and the Governor’s Office of Small Business, Minority, Women Business Affairs to provide an overview of the company, project updates, and opportunities for small, minority, and women-owned businesses to participate in US Wind’s offshore wind projects, MarWin, Momentum Wind, and Sparrows Point Steel. An upcoming briefing for the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council is currently in the works.
US Wind is the only offshore wind company in America exclusively focused on developing clean energy and jobs for Maryland. In 2014 the company acquired an 80,000-acre federal lease area off the coast of Maryland. In 2017, the company was awarded Offshore Renewable Energy Credits (ORECs) from the state of Maryland for its MarWin project. The passage of the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Act in 2019 increased the state’s offshore wind energy requirements, calling for an additional 1,200 MW to be procured from developers with projects near the state’s coast. In 2021, US Wind submitted its vision to fully satisfy Maryland’s offshore wind goals with the full buildout of Momentum Wind. Momentum Wind will also bring steel back to Baltimore via Sparrows Point Steel, a new steel fabrication facility to be built in conjuction with Momentum Wind at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, Maryland.
About US Wind
US Wind was founded in 2011 and has established its position as a premier offshore wind energy development company in the United States. In 2014, US Wind obtained a federal lease for site control to develop approximately 1.5 GW of offshore wind power generation off the coast of Maryland. US Wind is majority-owned by Renexia SpA, a leader in renewable energy development in Italy and a subsidiary of Toto Holding SpA. Toto Holding SpA has more than 40 years of experience specializing in large construction and infrastructure projects, primarily in the energy, transportation, and aviation sectors.
