WARREN, Ohio – Since his appointment as president and CEO of Brite Energy Innovators, Jade Davis has been working to expand the services and engagement the organization provides to startups.
Before assuming his position at Brite, Davis spent nearly 20 years in energy and public policy including lobbying and advocacy, mostly centered on energy, regulatory and legislative issues regarding utilities and electricity generation.
“And so, I’m not necessarily new to the energy space and innovations that have happened there,” Davis says. “I am new to the energy tech innovation side with both hardware and software.”
He’s eager to tackle that at Brite.
The Warren, Ohio-based nonprofit energy incubator’s board named Davis to the position in early November. He fills the seat formerly occupied by Rick Stockburger, who earlier in 2025 was named the first CEO of The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, based in Washington, D.C.
Davis, a Cleveland native, is the co-owner of Thornton Buckeye Group, a firm specializing in public affairs and government relations, and has served in executive roles at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and the Port of Cleveland.
Standing Out
For Brite’s board of directors, Davis’s background and experience set him apart from other applicants for the position.
“It was a combination of his experience within the energy sector, with regulatory and policy,” says Michael Stacey, Brite’s board chairman. “He has a lobbying background with the Energy Commission in Ohio. So that experience and the relationships and connections is really the thing that stands out.”
Davis’ Ohio connections also appealed to those who selected him.
“He really understands kind of the local scene,” Stacey explains. “I think we’re thinking about Ohio first in terms of Brite and he has been successful at bringing millions of dollars in his role at the Port of Cleveland. I think that experience, those networks, that track record – that’s what stood out for us.”
And the board wants Davis to build on and expand the work of his predecessor and take Brite to the next level.
“I think really the ability to bring in built-in networks, to help us think about fundraising and the longevity of the organization” is something on which the board wants Davis to focus, Stacey says.
Building on Foundation
Davis aims to accomplish that. He says Stockburger as well as Jing Lyon, who served as interim CEO while the board searched for Stockburger’s replacement, built a strong structure for the organization, weathering economic booms and busts, the pandemic and other challenges. Davis wants to build on that base.
Brite is considering a renovation to provide more space for current and future businesses, he explains. Brite’s strong foundation means the organization doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel. “I think we have to start to grow the things we already have.”
Davis says that throughout his work in various roles, he met people in the early, middle and late stages of launching and running startups. The position at Brite appealed to him as a way to use his skills to help those people in another way.
“What stuck out to me was the opportunity to come on this side of the table and really help those startups move forward and grow, but also the Ohio focus of it being born and raised here,” the president/CEO says.
Through his work, which also included a stint working on the East Coast, Davis witnessed the juxtaposition of how the energy transition is going to affect factories and infrastructure and economic development and opportunity.
“And for me to be able to help usher in that opportunity and economic development here in Ohio – especially with an organization that’s based here in northeast Ohio – was really near and dear to my heart,” Davis says.
Expanding Profile
While he’s learning the job, he says his overarching goal is to move Brite and its impact forward and to increase the ways people can interact with the organization.
“Starting with some of the smaller things, you’ll notice now our social media is going to be a lot more active,” Davis adds.
He wants people searching for information about Brite to have as many options as possible to interact with the energy incubator. He also wants to participate in events throughout the state and increase opportunities for staff.
Brite startup programs work with companies throughout the state, helping with marketing, financing and legal services that enable startups to develop their prototypes and secure their first customers.
“So the key is going to be, how do we grow what we already have and grow the impact,” Davis adds.
He means growth in terms of both the number of startups served and the services provided.
“First and foremost – growth in the number of startups that we serve,” Davis says.
Serving Startups
Some startups come to Brite already having proven that their business model and technology work on a small scale. They’re looking for lab space to advance their work. Others, such as someone with an engineering or physics background, need assistance with the business aspects of their startup. For them, Brite offers Brite University, where they can hone those skills.
“We want to grow those folks that are just coming in the door,” the CEO says. “Because not every company is going to go and become Meta. But there will be other Metas, and we want to make sure that we’re bringing as many opportunities here to our state, to our region, as possible.”
Increasing the services Brite provides to startups is another goal. Ohio isn’t Silicon Valley where company founders regularly connect with private equity investors who want to finance their endeavors, Davis points out.
“But what we want to do is be the ‘Brite’ light…,” he says. “We want to be the bright light that brings those kind of folks that are here together and also be able to shine a light big enough on our region, our state and the Midwest in general, that those folks are going to hop on the plane and come here to see the bright folks that are doing these kind of innovative things.”
For example, Brite will work to prepare early and midstage startups to conduct conversations with potential funders.
“We’re also looking at our startups that are funded. How do we increase their efficiencies? How do we increase their business acumen? And those things, for me, are the critical aspects of what we do,” Davis adds.
Brite’s CXO program is an integral piece of that. The fractional program embeds people who have successfully founded companies with startups that may not be able to hire C-level officers such chief financial or marketing officers.
“We’re bringing those kinds of services, and that’s what we want to focus on, growing all those aspects of our business here at Brite to help create business,” he says.
Progress for the organization is a main aim.
“But the overall goal is to move forward in that and then finally, we’re looking at bringing more services to the market to help startups – everything from helping them with consulting and helping them with attracting more capital, getting closer to capital, meeting capital in various forms.”
Brite will work to be more proactive in matching startups with those opportunities.
“And so that is going to be the focus,” Davis says. “It’s going to be growing our services. It’s going to be growing our reach and it’s going to be growing our connectivity to markets via marketing and our own media internally here at Brite.”
Pictured at top: Brite Energy Innovators named Jade Davis its president and CEO last November.
