By: Sam Cole

Hello! Sam Cole here, reporting in as the new Sales & Marketing Support Specialist at New Energy Works west coast operations. I’ve worked in “industrial marketing” for many years, starting with a forklift attachment manufacturer and most recently a provider of grid-scale energy storage systems. It’s been a fun niche to find myself in -- I really enjoy working with companies that A) make something, especially when I can walk out into an actual fabrication facility and watch the magic happen; and B) work closely with clients to address their specific needs. I’m excited to dive into the world of heavy timber and learn about a whole new industry. 

Why New Energy Works? Having gotten to know the company and its people a little bit, I find that New Energy Works combines several things I’m passionate about: craft, community, and sustainability. 

While I may be mostly a writer & digital media kind of person, I’m also a huge fan of physical crafts and maintaining connections to traditional methods of making & building. (By the way, I have recently signed up for blacksmithing classes.) I’m massively impressed by the projects in New Energy Works portfolio, and it’s awesome to be able to watch our timber framers at work. Plus, woodworking smells good!

In collaboration with several partners including Barry Price Architecture, William Wallace Construction, Sash & Frame LLC, 475 Supply, Hopkins Architect+, the New Energy Works enclosure team invited folks to a live construction site in Woodstock, NY for an insider’s view of a recently enclosed home, and two more in progress. 

Providing exclusive opportunities to speak with the architect, builder, material suppliers, and New Energy Works crew, the Muddy Boots Tour at Zena Road welcomed 40 guest to see our high-performance enclosure team and the DfMA team (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) in action. 

“The Zena project is unique in that it’s not a development but a subdivision being subdivided by a group of friends,” shares architect on the project, Barry Price AIA. 

“I thought the Muddy Boots Tour at Zena was really special with time to speak with people while moving between the buildings,” New Energy Works Building Systems Specialist Steve Hessler says. “We can give folks a tour of our off-site panel assembly shop but it’s hard to understand the site benefits and the skill of our installation team without seeing it in person. So, for these people to be able to see panels flying, was a treat. It was really well received.”

New Energy Works Construction Division is Rochester Business Journal’s 2025 Leaders in Construction & Real Estate award winner for home building. Our timber frame project, Inclusion in Motion, is a 2025 Top Projects award honoree. 

“We are excited to join a distinguished collection of other Rochester area developers, architects, contractors, and partners who practice innovation, forward thinking building methods with our home building leader award,” says Eric Fraser President of East Coast New Energy Works. “But the real honor is having Inclusion in Motion win a top project. This radically inclusive playground and pavilion was a passion project for our internal team with its impact on the community. We’re glad to see it honored.”