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Podcast 21 - Chris Kelly, Clearion - Vegetation management programs are a backbone of grid resilience.

By Melissa Mayo and Remi Myers

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Chris Kelly, co-founder and CEO at Clearion Software, has been working to improve the field of vegetation management for nearly two decades. He has been a strong advocate for the use of GIS technology to manage field crews and inspection programs for utilities. He is always happy to promote his team and loves engaging with customers to address the latest challenges.  Due to federal regulations specific to reliability, the field of vegetation management has become critically important for utilities; Clearion Software has been very nimble in adjusting to the needs of this business sector by providing effective software solutions that help their customers conquer challenges.

During our conversation, Chris discusses how satellite-based vegetation data analytics has seen a huge growth in the market. While utility companies tend to be slower adopting to change, the vegetation management space is an area that has not held to those typical cadences. A continually increasing need for improving reliability on the systems lends toward a high demand for solutions that help utility customers manage the vegetation-related impact to the system. This is where Clearion comes in with their suite of products tailored to the specific challenges in this space. Additionally, Chris talks about how the degree to which vegetation management work is outsourced is not changing; utilities still need to employ contractors to keep up with the amount of work needed across their systems. These contractors need access to analytics and real time tools; technology is being pushed down to the field worker level and Chris’s team has seen an overall successful adoption by those workers who are utilizing their products outside of the typical office setting.

Another area Chris is passionate about discussing is how Clearion has been utilizing their software to connect nonspatial data in spatial ways, such as financial data. They are allowing customers to track pieces of information, such as payments to contractors for work completed, which may not historically have been directly tracked with the spatial data components.  This can improve the customers’ overall process allowing for improved efficiency and better payroll tracking mechanics. Chris feels as though Clearion provides a unique capability to their clients and and continues to push the envelope to provide better and more improved business capabilities.

Throughout this podcast, it is easy to see why Chris takes such pride in his team and the problems they solve.   His positive spirit shines across all discussions from technology to leadership, and the positive culture he has developed is certainly a huge part of why his team works so well together.  It was a lot of fun to learn more about Clearion Software, what motivates Chris, and to understand the impact they are having on the vegetation management market.

 

 

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