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New Pfizer Fuel Cell Plants Go Online – The Day

Betsy Schaefer

November 3, 2016

Groton — Pfizer Inc.’s new efficient 5.6 megawatt, multimillion-dollar fuel-cell power plants were unveiled Thursday as officials hailed their reliability and low impact on the environment.

“We’re working together to make sure the future of this site is strong,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said after cutting the ribbon marking the power plant’s official opening.

John Burkhardt, the new site director for Pfizer’s Connecticut laboratories, said the two side-by-side fuel-cell plants came out of talks that his predecessor, Rod MacKenzie, had with the New York-based corporation’s chief financial officer, Frank D’Amelio. Asked about any concerns he had, MacKenzie told D’Amelio about occasional power interruptions the Groton campus had experienced that put some of its experiments at risk, Burkhardt said.

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Betsy Schaefer

Betsy Schaefer joined FuelCell Energy in June 2021 and is Chief Marketing and Sustainability Officer. Previously, she led marketing for IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence product portfolio, helping commercialize Watson from a research project to a major platform with more than 40,000 customers globally. She built a progressive career in the IT industry, with extensive experience in corporate communications, speechwriting, brand management, thought leadership and marketing. Betsy holds a Master’s in Strategic Communications from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University.

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