Ken Bethea

Ken Bethea

CEO
Power Energy Group

Ken Bethea is a corporate executive with many years of senior-level experience in both the energy and semiconductor industries. He currently serves as CEO and President of Power Energy Group and ZolarCell LLC. He recently accepted a consultancy position with TEDCO as a Site Miner for the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) – Technology Transfer expert working with senior management staff, technical staff, and university professors.

Previously, Bethea served on the Board of Directors of Southeast Fuels Inc. as the President and CEO, Executive Vice President of Operations/Sales and Vice President of Operations. He was the founder and CEO of Northeast Energy Fuels, an energy marketing company in New England, as well as the joint partner and CEO of KayVee Industries LLC, an investment holding company. He sat on the board of directors for Integrated Circuit Design Inc., a semiconductor design company in Maryland, and was an instrumental part of the team that assisted in Texas Instruments’ acquisition of that company.

In addition to his current role in the solar and energy fuel supply business, Bethea has many years of experience in the semiconductor technology industry with companies such as Westinghouse Electric Corporation/Northrop Grumman, AlliedSignal Corporation/Honeywell, and Analog Devices Corporation. He held positions ranging from Research and Development Engineer to Senior Level Management roles, with responsibilities for operations, manufacturing, testing and production of semiconductor devices, more specifically in wafer fabrication, assembly, testing, planning, scheduling, and procurement of all products built in the United States and abroad. He directed and managed all aspects of the supply chain for the manufacturing of integrated circuit products domestically and internationally. That responsibility included global operations outside the U.S., in Ireland and the Philippines.  He received corporate awards and recognition in the area of Manufacturing, Operations, and the development and installation of high- performance and self-directed teams that achieved world-class performance results. In addition, he has published articles and papers in the field of team development and engineering.

Bethea was recently elected Vice President of Morgan State University Howard County Alumni Association. He is a past member of the Greensboro Historical Museum Board of Directors, where he held the offices of President and Treasurer. He also served on the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) Board Advisors, American Cancer Advisory Team to Board of Directors, Greensboro College Board of Visitors, and the North Carolina A&T University Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board. He was an active board member of the Greensboro Partnership (responsible for bringing economic development to Greensboro, N.C.) and is a graduate of Leadership Howard County in Maryland.