Executive Suite: Ted Bier, Glen Cove

Ted Bier formerly worked for a retailer, where his job was to reduce the energy usage of its stores.

As the United States was dealing with an oil embargo, high oil prices and gas lines, he saw a business opportunity in seeking to conserve energy in buildings.

"I realized that the key to significantly and permanently reducing energy consumption in buildings is a combination of good engineering, computer skills and management skills," he says. He launched his company in his house in 1977.

T.M. Bier & Associates is now located in a former coat factory in Glen Cove. The building features solar power and energy-efficient lighting.

An avid boater, Bier, 70, is married and has three children and six grandchildren. His wife, daughter and one of his sons also work for the company.

What challenges did you face in starting the business?

"It was a totally new industry, so nobody knew this could be done. There was a lot of disbelief that you really could significantly lower energy consumption in a building. There were people doing it in less than honest ways at the time, cheating on meters - the industry had to gain credibility. It was also difficult at that point to get reliable equipment, because it was a brand new industry."

How did you learn how to manage people?

"You don't learn how to manage in engineering school. My first management training really came in the U.S. Army. I was a reserve officer, and I ended up having 280 civilian and military engineers and technical people to supervise at a very young age with a very important mission, which was defending the U.S. against missile attack. You have a high sense of mission and people with very varying degrees of motivation - all the way from draftees who don't care to high-paid civilian employees who are very interested."

How did you get them all on board?

"I think it's the same as in a business: You have to have people believing in their mission. We really believed that we were defending the nation. We were the closest installations to what was then the Soviet Union. If you can get people believing that they can really make a difference, they can make a huge difference."

What qualities do you look for in hiring?

"We look for people who care about what they're doing. If you're in an organization where people really breathe and live what they're doing and you don't, you're not very happy."

What are your plans for growth?

Citing the green movement and "the escalating energy crisis," he says, "there's an increasing level of awareness that people really want to do something about this. We're trying to capitalize on that by bringing in some more people, by getting more application engineers. We think we can grow the company significantly. We have openings right now - we're looking to hire technicians, engineers and designers."