The Art of Closing Billions in Wind and Solar Deals [Special Content From CohnReznick]

<p>This week, we present a special episode produced in collaboration with <a href="https://www.cohnreznickcapital.com/" target="_blank">CohnReznick Capital.</a></p><p>How do you broker billions of dollars worth of renewable energy deals — and do it again and again?</p><p>It takes grit, sure. But it also requires empathy.</p><p>And that, says Conor McKenna, is the&nbsp;<em>real</em>&nbsp;art of the deal.</p><p>McKenna is a senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital Markets. He’s helped close 8 gigawatts of wind, solar and biomass projects over his career.</p><p>We all know “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump’s 1987 book that offers hard-nosed business advice. The book includes lessons like fight back, play the game hard, and deliver the goods.&nbsp;</p><p>This advice has shaped our perception of real estate and Wall Street culture. But McKenna says one important lesson is missing: how to form good relationships so that everyone benefits from a deal.</p><p>“Every time we’ve seen someone focus on getting that last dollar out of an individual transaction, we’ve found that they’ve had a much harder time in repeating business and growing and scaling at the same rate as this industry.”</p><p>This isn’t a soft tactic. When you’re trying to pull together hundreds or thousands of megawatts of projects — and repeat the process over many times — you have to actually care about the people on the other side of the table.</p><p>“Those that have left money on the table and and allowed for their partners to feel successful as well, have had a lot more repeat business.”</p><p>In this episode, we look at how empathy can translate into billions of dollars in cash and push renewables further into the mainstream. Find out more about <a href="https://www.cohnreznickcapital.com/" target="_blank">CohnReznick Capital's portfolio</a>.</p>