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Building Energy, Building Trust: Steffanie Dohn on McCarthy’s Human Approach to Progress
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Episode Summary
In this episode of Green Giants: Titans of Renewable Energy, Steffanie Dohn, Vice President of Government Affairs at McCarthy Building Companies, shares how one of America’s most trusted EPCs is redefining what progress looks like. From reframing the national energy conversation to transforming rural economies through workforce development and authentic community engagement, this conversation explores what it truly means to build trust through energy.
Full Show Notes
When most people talk about the energy transition, they talk about technology. Steffanie Dohn talks about people.
As Vice President of Government Affairs at McCarthy Building Companies, Steffanie has built her career at the intersection of policy, community, and progress. She helped shape landmark legislation like South Carolina’s Energy Freedom Act and now leads government affairs for one of the most respected engineering, procurement, and construction firms in the United States.
In this conversation, Steffanie and host Wes Ashworth explore how building trust has become McCarthy’s competitive advantage, and why the next frontier of renewable energy success depends less on megawatts and more on mindset.
Together, they unpack the essential building blocks of lasting energy progress:
- Reframing the national dialogue: why it is time to stop talking as much about “renewables” and start talking more about energy as a whole
- Community engagement that lasts: how early, authentic outreach can transform skepticism into local pride and long-term partnership
- The workforce revolution: how McCarthy’s apprenticeship programs and local hiring commitments are creating careers, not just jobs, in rural America
- Depoliticizing energy: how business leaders can step into advocacy to bridge divides and strengthen America’s energy reliability
- A “yes, and” mindset: why embracing multiple energy solutions, not competing over one, is the key to abundance and resilience
Through each story, Steffanie reveals a human-centered vision of the energy transition that honors the past, builds the future, and keeps communities at the heart of progress.
Whether you are an EPC leader, policymaker, developer, or someone who wants to understand what is really happening on the front lines of energy transformation, this episode delivers insight, inspiration, and practical lessons from one of the industry’s most trusted voices.
Links:
Wes Ashworth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weslgs/
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