{"id":136303,"date":"2026-03-12T11:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136303\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T11:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:07:08","slug":"ucd-president-leaves-to-launch-employee-owned-energy-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136303\/","title":{"rendered":"UCD president leaves to launch employee-owned energy business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Power Moves<\/a>\u00a0is a recurring series where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got a new hire, gig or promotion? Email us at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A longtime workforce development leader is leaving his post to start a new wealth-building venture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matt Bergheiser, president of the University City District<\/a>, announced plans last month to leave the org and launch a new company. Bergheiser\u2019s startup will purchase smaller clean energy companies and give the employees an ownership stake in the portfolio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Companies from other parts of the country are also building a presence in the region. Data monetization startup Datavault AI relocated its headquarters to Philly and is doubling down on the local workforce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus, local institutions are working to build up the future tech workforce. Penn Engineering announced a new program to help local high school students interested in STEM fields stand out\u00a0<\/p>\n

Keep reading to get all the details and see more power moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

UCD president leaves to start worker-owner venture<\/p>\n

After leading West Philly business development org UCD for 16 years<\/a>, Matt Bergheiser now wants to approach wealth building in the Philly region from the perspective of a private company.<\/p>\n

His new startup Celsius<\/a> will facilitate an employee stock ownership plan, letting the original owner eventually hand the business over to employees instead of selling it to a third party, Bergheiser told Technical.ly.<\/p>\n

So far, he\u2019s already bought an HVAC contractor and an electrical contractor, with plans to add eight to 10 more companies, he said. Once the holding company makes its third or fourth purchase, shares will start to be given to employees.<\/p>\n

The main benefit of this model is that it lets employees share in the financial success of the business<\/a>, Bergheiser said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPhiladelphia can be this area where we build wealth for the local workforce by working on the kind of economy that is most needed in our society,\u201d Bergheiser said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his time at UCD, he was most interested in the group\u2019s economic and workforce development work, like job training programs and mission-driven business projects, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had this vision that I would do that work long term,\u201d Bergheiser said. \u201cSpin that out and do it through a for-profit venture.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Datavault AI plans to add 100+ local employees<\/p>\n

Datavault AI, a company that helps businesses make money from their data,<\/a> opened a new office in Center City after announcing plans to relocate its headquarters<\/a> from Oregon to Philadelphia last fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s already hired 40 new employees locally and plans to add another 80 this year, CEO Nathaniel Bradley told Technical.ly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bradley chose to move the headquarters for personal reasons, he said. However, the region was also attractive because of the talent pool from local universities and proximity to other tech hubs, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company also has a strong presence in Chicago and Atlanta, but the plan is to eventually have most of the company\u2019s workforce based in the Philly region, he said. Right now, Datavault has about 200 employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting a major emphasis on people coming to our headquarters and working every day,\u201d Bradley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Penn Engineering launches STEM Education program for Philly teens\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last month, Penn Engineering<\/a> launched the Glassman Penn Scholars program to support local high school seniors as they prepare for college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Participating students will take courses in math, physics, AI and computer science, and will also receive mentorship and support throughout the college application process.<\/p>\n

The goal is to offer an alternative program for students attending public schools that don\u2019t offer AP-level courses in those subjects, Chanda Jefferson, director of community engagement and outreach at Penn Engineering, told Technical.ly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome schools don\u2019t have access to some of the coursework or the classes that students might need to enter into highly competitive institutions,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving programs like these make their applications more favorable for highly competitive institutions that offer these STEM-focused careers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The program will run for five weeks over the summer and admit 15 to 25 students, Jefferson said. As of the end of February, the program already had over 40 applicants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Startup power moves:<\/p>\n

The University City Science Center<\/a> welcomed the 10th cohort of its Capital Readiness Program<\/a> to Philadelphia earlier this month. The latest cohort included six Philly-area startups, including AltruMed, HeyKiddo, Innovations Unlimited, Moberg Analytics, Diagnostics Your Way and Wide Therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

BleedIO Tech, which builds software that helps devices connect and share information, won Best in Show<\/a> at PACT\u2019s Demo Pit, an annual pitch competition at the org\u2019s Phorum conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

GoPuff<\/a> ranked No. 13 on Green Flag Digital\u2019s Tech 100 list<\/a>, which measures companies based on money raised, online traffic and how often it\u2019s being searched.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former White House advisor Stephen Billy joined ZE Government Solutions<\/a>, a subsidiary of weapon detection company ZeroEyes<\/a>, as director of federal strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Circular economy startup Circa Systems<\/a> launched its platform<\/a> CircaOS. The tool helps resale businesses manage operations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Interview prep startup Prepin released its coding interview product<\/a>. The tool helps job seekers practice technical interviews with an AI interviewer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Digital pathology company Proscia<\/a> won<\/a> the Global Best in KLAS for Digital Pathology Award in Europe from KLAS Research for its platform Concentrique.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leadership power moves:<\/p>\n

Healthcare data analytics company HealthVerity<\/a> made two recent leadership changes. Adam Greenfield was promoted<\/a> from vice president of infrastructure to CTO and Heather Altieri joined the company<\/a> as senior vice president of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life sciences firm Kymanox appointed<\/a> Evan Edwards as its new CEO and Nicholas Ciccarelli as COO. The company\u2019s design and testing lab is based in King of Prussia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bonnie Levitt is the new<\/a> senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Exton-based Citadel Credit Union.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local life science executive James Lovett re-joined the Wistar Institute\u2019s<\/a> Board of Trustees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Other power moves:<\/p>\n

Fernanda Sesto left her role<\/a> as an analyst for Unshackled Ventures<\/a>, a VC firm focused on supporting immigrant founders. Sesto is now a project lead at non-profit Transform Finance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aegis Software, a Horsham, Pennsylvania-based manufacturing software company, acquired<\/a> digital twin software company Simio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Gift of Life Institute, a training center for organ and tissue donation professionals, launched a digital reference guide called DonorPedia<\/a>. The tool centralizes learning materials into one place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Global financial services company SEI<\/a> announced a partnership with IBM<\/a> to evaluate how the company can integrate AI into its processes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two local higher education institutions recently announced cybersecurity degree programs. Penn Engineering launched<\/a> a master\u2019s program in software systems and cybersecurity. Arcadia University added<\/a> a bachelor\u2019s program in the subject.\u00a0<\/p>\n

AI education org Praxtera AI Institute won<\/a> the Platinum Pinnacle Award for Artificial Intelligence: Training and Infrastructure of the Year.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Power Moves\u00a0is a recurring series where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region. Got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[24621,69,71,70,175],"class_list":["post-136303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-leadership","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-workforce-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}