In 2004, Maytag shuttered its Galesburg, Illinois refrigerator factory after more than half a century as the economic cornerstone of the factory town. Residents were devastated—more than 1,500 people lost their jobs, including Tammy Caves.

Now Tammy works for Intellihot, leading the test team for the company that’s bringing smarter water heaters to the nation…and manufacturing jobs back to Galesburg. Started in 2009 after founder Sridhar Deivasigamani returned home to a broken water heater and a flooded basement, Intellihot builds on-demand, tank-less water heaters that save commercial and residential customers energy and money. Tammy’s team is responsible for ensuring those water heaters are finely tuned and ready for use.

When asked about working in the clean energy industry, Tammy shrugs off the label. “Clean, green, sustainable… a lot of people don’t even know what these terms mean. The important thing is that we’re being smart about how we use our resources. People need to do their part.”