Drew Zarallo, Director of Operations
Drew Zarallo is the Director of Operations and co-principal of Cogent Renewables. The driving force behind Cogent’s “empowering people” corporate slogan, Drew is a goal-oriented leader who strives to make the personnel around him better every day.
Utilizing 15 years of utility-scale solar experience on three continents, Drew develops creative solutions to complex problems by garnering teamwork approaches and challenging traditional thought processes. Drew is an active stakeholder acutely drawn to the details of the design, procurement, and execution of renewable projects. The ability to envision the execution while still in the planning stages enhances the strategic viewpoint and allows active participation from the entire project team.
Mark Zarallo, Director of Pre-Construction
Mark Zarallo leads project front-end implementation and engineering coordination, and comprehensive specification compliance efforts. He is detail-oriented and has experience-driven insight to implement measures leading to increased project success.
Mark brings a wealth of experience, having served as a Vice President, Senior Director of Construction, and Project Manager for large-scale renewable energy companies.
Mark has over 1 GW of experience in utility-scale solar; this experience working with owners, independent engineers, and detailed design firms makes Mark an excellent single point of contact for Cogent partners.
Kelly Howard, Corporate Safety Manager
Kelly Howard is an active HSE&S professional with a 10+ year record of achievement, leading employees, peers, and management in the safe execution of daily tasks, building client/vendor/craft trust through careful negotiation and relationship management. He is an intuitive leader with acute business acumen and expertise in safety, security in volatile environments, and team management.
As Safety Manager for Cogent Renewables, Kelly implements safety mitigation procedures, trains and mentors company personnel, creates and implements Standard Operating Procedures for tasks, and ensures all safety planning is completed for work packages prior to task execution. He conducts in-process safety assessments and training based on field conditions.
Kelly works with Cogent’s Director of Operations to create and implement a company culture of people first as it relates to quality attitude, execution planning, operational outlook, and safety preparation. He instructs and mentors all personnel in the corporate culture to coincide with safety awareness. Kelly is an excellent communicator, leader, and confidant.
Walt Kittrell, Director of Business Development
Walt is a highly driven, tenacious, Business Development Professional who continually provides superior customer service and demonstrates his many years of experience in delivering value propositions to clients. Walt has the experience and industry knowledge to formulate approaches to compete in all renewable energy business sectors through relationship management from Project Managers to C-level executives, delivering impeccable service to customers.
Walt is a highly driven, tenacious, Business Development Professional who continually provides superior customer service and demonstrates his many years of experience in delivering value propositions to clients. Walt has the experience and industry knowledge to formulate approaches to compete in all renewable energy business sectors through relationship management from Project Managers to C-level executives, delivering impeccable service to customers.