Finance & Commerce | April 2010
Since 2006, Steve Scott has helped five farmers from Northwest Minnesota grow their wind farm development from a subcontractor-dependent project with no employees or revenue into the fastest-growing renewable energy company based in Minnesota. The company, which develops and services wind farms, expects 175 employees and $20 million in revenue by the end of 2010.
In helping launch Outland, the South Dakota native brought the practical, hands-on wind turbine maintenance experience he’d acquired as partner and executive with Energy Maintenance Services. With that expertise, Scott established Outland Renewable Energy Field Services, which now provides more than 95 percent of Outland’s revenue and supports the “founding” farmers’ original goal of developing wind farms.
The company is currently building farms in four states. Once commissioned, their combined installed capacity could top 1,000 megawatts. Scott has also helped secure more than $14 million in private equity placement to support project development.
Scott calls Outland an “innovator” on the cutting edge of evolving technology in the industry. Outland has recently implemented mobile oil exchange technology to drain, flush, clean and refill gearboxes, and their exclusive training center is unparalleled in the industry. “We’re always looking for bigger, better, faster, more efficient,” he said. “When you’re a company that grows at the rate that we grow, the one constant is that tomorrow’s going to be different than today.”
Scott has worked to keep quality on par with quantity, and that attention to quality management paid off this April, when Outland became the first and only North American wind-energy company to receive ISO 9001:2008 certification.
“That goes back to the type of people that we hire,” said Scott. “I hire good people, I take care of them, but I expect a lot. … I don’t have any option, based on our growth. I gotta keep moving, and so does everyone else in the company.”
Scott says the company is poised to expand its U.S. coverage area to Canada, Mexico and even China. Meanwhile, Outland is moving into another renewable energy market: solar. The company has been developing a solar facility in Minnesota for a couple of years, and Scott sees that market — like wind — as a high-growth area in both development and services.
- JEREMY STRATTON
