Yesterday (Oct 5th) saw attendees make the most of networking opportunities with a lively Newcomers Reception, followed by the President’s Welcome Reception, both located in the heart of the San Diego marina and accompanied by live music.
Mental health took centre stage this morning with Clinical Psychologist Michaela Bucchianeri focusing on how to leverage mental health to create a thriving workplace, in a world where one in five US citizens suffers with mental health issues.
Jillian Evanko, President and CEO of Chart Industries, was next to take the stage. Also focused on the theme of bridging the gap, Evanko told delegates, “Whenever there is change, there is a gap to be addressed.”
Although based in Ohio, specialising in cryogenic equipment to serve a number of end-user markets, Evanko highlighted that 50% of Chart’s workforce is based outside of North America.
End market drivers and tailwinds was a big focus for Evanko during her presentation. She highlighted hydrogen, LNG, food and beverage and water treatment as just some growth drivers for the business.
“We’re seeing more and more discussions around hydrogen,” she told attendees. “Hydrogen is a macrotrend. Never before have we seen a molecule talked before in such a wide range of industries than we’re seeing with hydrogen right now.”
When asked how hydrogen may impact Chart’s business model, however, Evanko did tell attendees that both US and international markets will help to drive this trend, but the company retains a wider focus.
Evanko told attendees, “The market is growing dramatically. There is no piece of our portfolio that we are betting bigger on. Right now, the most backlog is on LNG, then industrial gases and then hydrogen.”
“May 2020 was the start of the craze of hydrogen, and we then saw new players and companies reaching out to us. Our view is that it’s going to be both a gaseous and liquid market. Expansion of the market isn’t just in the US only, it’s worldwide, a lot of international markets are driving number.”
Of course, with the Inflation Reduction Act recently being signed into law in the US, the clean energies market is getting hyped up at what could be to come. However, for Chart, hydrogen isn’t the only market area that has seen growth as a result of this.
“A lot of people are talking about carbon capture right now,” Evanko enthused. “In the first 24 hours after the Inflation Reductions Act was announced we had more inbound calls about our carbon capture offering than we have ever had before. So there’s definitely momentum there.”
“Again though, these are nascent things, so we have to see how they develop.”
Source: gasworld
Of course, as a leading female CEO, there is a need to have key focuses and help build a bridge for future leaders, the theme of the GAWDA Annual Conference. Looking at this, Evanko highlighted key themes to help drive the future generation.
These highlighted themes were as follows:
- Take calculated risks
- Know when to stop
- Recognising the +/- of what you have
- Go big! Be aggressive
- Take on FOAKs (first of a kind)
- Form partnerships
- Cross penetrate your ideas
- Challenge each other
- Give back
With these in mind, Evanko said that these themes are all about thinking how you can help make each other, the industry and the companies within the industry better.
GAWDA Annual 2022 attendees will now spend the rest of the afternoon networking ahead of the contact booth programme and networking 360° event tomorrow.