Meet Our New Directors of Business Development and Technology 

Secure Solar Futures has just promoted two veteran staffers to positions of responsibility overseeing key areas of our company’s activity in a time of change for the solar industry. 

Matthew McFadden takes over as Director of Business Development. Matthew started at the company in 2020 and previously oversaw employee and vendor training at Crutchfield Corporation. He has over 15 years in project and training management, over 20 years of sales experience, and is well versed in all forms of solar, storage, and energy.

He enjoys making history with the first solar projects in Southwest Virginia’s coal country, meeting new people, saving clients money, and developing new career opportunities in regions where they may have not existed before.  

“I am blessed to live where I grew up, in Southwest Virginia, an area known for its natural beauty, strong families, and resilient communities,” Matthew explains. “Our area helped produce energy to run the American economy for more than a century but is now facing serious economic challenges. I think the potential for our region to again power America and enjoy renewed prosperity is strong if we tap into 21^st century energy through solar power and energy storage, as Secure Solar Futures has started to do through our work in coalfield communities.” 

Matthew was profiled in an article published in Grist in 2023, “How to Sell Solar in Coal Country.” 

Nick Blanton is our new Director of Technology and Finance. Nick joined the company in 2023 and brings 15 years’ experience in small business formation and management to Secure Solar Futures.

He earned a bachelor’s in economics at the University of Virginia and holds a master’s degree in Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems from Penn State University, where he focused his studies on critical minerals management and grid transformation in support of widespread solar and wind integration. 

“AI data centers and electrification of more technologies across the economy are causing the biggest increase in demand for electricity in two decades,” Nick says. “The country is going to need a lot more power and we’re going to need it soon. The fastest and cheapest way to add power to the grid is through solar. Big solar farms must certainly play a role. But equally important is the type of distributed generation that Secure Solar Futures installs at schools, hospitals, and businesses. These systems improve grid resilience and reliability while reducing congestion and avoiding transmission upgrades, significantly accelerating our transition to sustainable energy.”