Bayoumi, who serves as Bloom Energy's vice president of global product management, says the company's premise of doubling down on clean, renewable energy sources has been unwavering since KR Srindhar, founder, chairman, and CEO, established the company 20 years ago.

"Bloom really is a mission-driven, purpose-driven organization," Bayoumi says. "We're looking to transform the way business and community take charge of their energy by providing resilient, predictable zero-carbon solutions."

The publicly traded company's new 164,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Fremont, California, is a means of carrying out that mission, Bayoumi says. The plant, which opened in July, will be used to manufacture the company's energy servers and cutting-edge fuel cells that convert natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen into clean, resilient electricity.

"We're really moving the industry and the community from fossil fuels and carbonization to more sustainable and clean generation of electricity," Bayoumi says. "A key part of our platform is the unique approach we had to have the lowest footprint possible and the highest efficiency and the highest output possible."

The new Fremont plant augments a decade-old 210,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Newark, Delaware, as well as overseas operations in India and South Korea. Combined, Bayoumi says the operations are providing Bloom Energy with the scale needed to move efficiently in carrying out the company's objectives.

All told, Bloom Energy's expanded footprint now totals 524,000 square feet across the different facilities and provides the company with such opportunities as a dedicated research and development center.

Through these investments, the company says it plans to add 400 new clean energy jobs by the end of 2022, bringing Bloom Energy's total workforce to about 2,000 people.

"We're expanding in our home in California with the R&D and the brainpower," Bayoumi says. "In the bigger picture, Bloom also is a community that is driven with a purpose and data to deliver goods."

Challenges: Echoing a refrain heard across most of manufacturing, Bayoumi says supply chain bottlenecks have impacted the business, though he emphasized the company has been able to weather the storm.

"We have a fantastic supply chain and operations team that has been able to plan, diversify, and work around this," Bayoumi says. "Most of the challenges we've already been able to work through pretty well."

Opportunities: Along the short- and long-term road ahead, Bayoumi says there is untapped potential in forging new relationships in California and beyond.

"As the need for power resiliency grows, we see Bloom Energy continuing to work with businesses and communities," Bayoumi says. "I think the future for Bloom really is massive, in terms of working on power generation and, at the same time, enabling the hydrogen economy."

Bayoumi says Bloom Energy has been, and will continue to be, a leader in the energy sector through an unrelenting commitment to investment and carrying out the company's mission statement.

"We’re not looking for someone to give us the requirement," Bayoumi says. "We're driving the industry, building the partnerships."

Needs: Talent acquisition was cited as Bloom Energy's greatest and most prominent priority at the moment as the company continues scaling upward.

"We're continuously looking to hire and retain talent," Bayoumi says. "I think we continuously will need more of it. We have some fantastic talent as we continue growing. Talent will be the key. Everything else comes right after the talent."