Staff Spotlight: Tyson Borom, Refrigeration/HVAC Consultant
Coming from a family of tradesmen skilled in electrical and HVAC systems, the field was always on Tyson Borom’s radar.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Borom grew up in the Midwest after his family relocated when he was young. After graduating from high school in New London, Wisconsin, Borom attended Gateway Technical College in Kenosha with a focus on HVAC.
Prior to joining CEE, Borom held a variety of unique jobs. At Nevada Air and Controls in Las Vegas, Nevada, he worked with casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Later, Borom held a position as commercial sales manager at Batteries Plus in San Jose’s Bay Area. The job involved working with battery backup systems and lighting for commercial buildings, ranging from the City of San Jose and the City of Palo Alto to Apple, Google, IBM, Lockheed Martin, the SAP Center, Levi's Stadium, and many more.
Looking to return to the Midwest, Borom accepted a position as refrigeration/HVAC consultant on CEE’s One-Stop Efficiency Shop in 2018. "I love being part of organizations that really make a difference, and I got that immediately when I started working at CEE and saw the impact they had on the community," Borom said. “I really enjoy helping support small businesses on their paths to becoming more energy efficient.”
The One-Stop Efficiency Shop provides free lighting, HVAC, and refrigeration consulting and rebates to Minnesota businesses in Xcel Energy territory. Borom’s role focuses on conducting outreach for One-Stop's refrigeration program and guiding participants through the upgrade process, including performing on-site refrigeration assessments, recommending qualified contractors, providing technical expertise on equipment needs, and completing and submitting rebate paperwork on behalf of businesses.
Because refrigeration upgrades don’t always bring an aesthetic improvement to a space like new lighting might, Borom says it can be tricky to encourage people to invest in them.
“It’s also easy to get lost in technical jargon and feel like you just don't understand what's really going on with your refrigeration equipment,” Borom said. He focuses on helping business owners understand their equipment better by drawing comparisons in a way that they can easily visualize — for instance, highlighting that the motors in their commercial refrigerators are the same brushless motors in their cordless drills.
“To see things begin to click for them, and for them to feel excited and empowered to implement efficiency upgrades that will help make their businesses stronger — I really enjoy that part of it.”
This year, Borom achieved a professional high when he helped the team make its 2024 refrigeration savings goal of 2.5 gigawatt hours in August, four months ahead of schedule. Roughly 150 refrigeration projects will be completed and rebated with help from Borom by the end of 2024, resulting in approximately 3,750,000 kWh in energy savings and over $500,000 in rebates.
While he considers all projects rewarding, Borom finds it particularly meaningful to assist businesses facing financial hurdles. “When resources are limited, it can be really hard to get the help you need to bring more efficiency to your business,” Borom said. “Those cases where I can help step-by-step and make an overwhelming process easier to understand and navigate are fulfilling.”