Marc Gerken, PE
Interim President & CEO
Hometown Connections, Inc.
The Hometown Connections, Inc. (HCI) Board of Directors announced the appointment of Marc Gerken as interim president and chief executive officer. Gerken will fill the seat vacated by Tim Blodgett who, after 23 years with HCI, announced he would be leaving at the end of the year.
Gerken joined the HCI team as an executive advisor in July 2020 after a distinguished 20-year career serving as president and chief executive officer of American Municipal Power, Inc. (AMP), the nation’s largest joint action agency and one of the six joint action agencies that are co-owners of HCI.
“I have long been a true believer in the benefits that HCI services deliver to public power, and I look forward to helping the entire HCI organization with this leadership transition,” Marc Gerken said. “Since 1998, HCI has provided great value to community-owned utilities, and we are now moving to add managed services to our portfolio.”
Gerken began his career as a civil engineer working extensively in the public sector on infrastructure projects and joined AMP in 1998 as vice president of business and operations. He served on the National Hydropower Association (NHA) Board of Directors (having served as president from 2013-2015). He previously served on the boards of Hometown Connections, Inc., the American Public Power Association (chair), The Energy Authority (chair), and the Prairie State Generation Company (chair). While CEO of AMP, Gerken grew the organization from 82 to 135 utility members in 9 states and financed over $6 billion in infrastructure projects.
In his current role with HCI, Gerken serves as an advisor to the HCI Board and advises community-owned utilities and joint action agencies on board leadership, strategic planning, succession planning, financing infrastructure, construction development, and executive management support.
“We’re pleased to have a seasoned public power executive in Marc Gerken at the helm as we search for the next leader of our organization,” said HCI Board Chair and NCPA General Manager Randy S. Howard. “Marc’s insightful approach, as an existing member of HCI’s executive team, will help facilitate a seamless transition. We’re confident in his ability to lead the HCI team in continuing to deliver high value services for public power utilities across the nation.”
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Gerken began serving as interim president and chief executive officer on November 1.
About Hometown Connections, Inc.
Hometown Connections, Inc. is a national, non-profit utility services organization serving community-owned utilities. A single source for many utility products and services, HCI’s team of consultants and vendor partners provide affordable and high-quality solutions to help community utilities transform business operations, planning, employee engagement, the customer experience, and much more. Supporting operational and service excellence, each of HCI’s services and deliverables are scalable based on the size and objectives of the utility. @HTConnections, Facebook, LinkedIn.
In 1998, the American Public Power Association created Hometown Connections to negotiate group purchasing programs with leading vendors while providing management consulting to prepare community-owned utilities for the challenges ahead. During more than 20 years of service, Hometown has provided products and services to more than 900 organizations and saved the public power utilities market more than $18 million collectively through group discount programs.
HCI has evolved with the industry and places a high priority on adapting to the changing needs of the municipal utility sector. Today, Hometown Connections, Inc. is owned by the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, American Municipal Power, Inc., Great Lakes Utilities of Wisconsin, Missouri Public Utility Alliance, Northern California Power Agency, and Vermont Public Power Supply Authority.