California Mobility Center Announces Top Mobility Sector Leaders as Members of the Board in Advance of Official Commercial Launch

CMC to launch global commercial operations from Sacramento Headquarters March 11

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twelve renowned industry professionals have signed on to lead the California Mobility Center (CMC) through its launch phase and to govern the non-profit’s full commercial operations. The CMC publicly revealed its official board roster for the first time today, which spans an impressive list of top leaders and independent industry experts representing the future mobility and energy technology sectors.

“We are extremely pleased with the extraordinary slate of top industry leaders and experts who now serve on CMC’s Board of Directors,” said Arlen Orchard, CMC’s Chairman of the Board and former CEO of SMUD. “Each brings immense industry knowledge, strong leadership experience, and high caliber expertise that will ensure the CMC can fully execute our very ambitious goals.”

CMC is a Sacramento-based, non-profit public-private business innovation hub that provides qualifying, early-stage mobility companies from around the world with a faster path to commercializing their products, services and technologies in the California market and across the globe.

“CMC will open its HQ operation at Depot Park in Sacramento, California later this month, but we are already proving our capacity for global partnerships, reach, and impact.” said Dan Grossman, CMC board member and former Zipcar Vice President and Global Vice President of Microtransit for Ford. “The facility will be jointly run with PEM Motion, one of CMC’s strategic partners from Aachen, Germany and a highly-respected company in the future mobility industry worldwide. It is fantastic to see that PEM Motion opened up their U.S. Headquarters here in Sacramento to support the efforts of the CMC.”

As a global leader and provider of technology and business consulting, PEM Motion is joined with other experts within the CMC ecosystem who support early-stage mobility companies with business, technology, and engineering consulting to meet their commercialization objectives.

“The CMC is a unique resource, created to propel future mobility innovations through the difficult final stages of bringing new products to market, and I am excited to be a part of it,” said Kelly Kay, CMC Board Member and Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer of the Toyota Research Institute. “Answering the call to bridge the gap left by traditional mobility accelerators and incubators, the CMC can provide critical access to funding, workforce development and training, and project oversight to enhance cooperation and increase the pace of commercialization.”

The Depot Park facility provides CMC clients and partners with the space to conduct prototyping, testing and manufacturing. The facility will also serve to assist early-stage future mobility companies and established companies to prototype and commercialize new future mobility products.

“The CMC is a public-private consortium focused on accelerating innovation and commercialization of new mobility solutions, technologies and business models,” said Orchard. “Each director is an expert in their field, fully embraces the ethos of the CMC, and is committed to making the CMC a world-wide model of success.”

California Mobility Center

2021 Board of Directors

1. Arlen Orchard, former CEO and General Manager of SMUD – Chair of the Board
2. John Absmeier, Chief Technology Officer of Lear Corporation
3. Barry Broome, President and CEO of The Greater Sacramento Economic Council
4. Henry Bzeih, Chief Strategy & Technology Officer Automotive at Microsoft
5. Dan Grossman, former Zipcar Vice President and Global Vice President of Microtransit for Ford
6. Wally Hunter, Managing Director of EnerTech Capital
7. Kelly Kay, Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer of the Toyota Research Institute
8. Paul Lau, CEO and General Manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
9. Prasant Mohapatra, Vice Chancellor for Research, Department of Computer Science, University of California Davis
10. Robert Nelsen, President of California State University, Sacramento
11. Sherwin Prior, Director of US Corporate Venture Capital for Orbia Ventures
12. Mike Terzo, Founder and CEO of Terzo Power Systems

To view full bios of the CMC Board Members, visit https://californiamobilitycenter.org/board-of-directors

About CMC: The California Mobility Center (CMC) is a public-private partnership led by global thought leaders in clean technology innovation including the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). The CMC aspires to be the leading global innovation and commercialization center for future mobility, strategically located in Sacramento. Its location puts the CMC in close proximity to world-class educational institutions, leaders in clean mobile technology, award winning utilities and to California government that leads the United States and the world in producing policies around green mobility and technology.