2024 Economic Impact Awards 11-20 Years in Business: Sun Solar LLC

Sun Solar LLC’s north star is the largest in the solar system and it guides business toward sustainable solutions that create a community impact. CEO and founder Caleb Arthur has led his company through immense change with shifting leadership, market growth, legislative advocacy and a recent restructuring that emphasized its founding mission.

“My true north is actively creating sustainable solutions that have an economic impact because that’s how our planet runs,” he says. “If I can try to build my business and support people in the natural rhythms the planet is on, that is going to help.”

Solar power is a polarizing, political business, Arthur says, and learning to navigate legislation is paramount. He supports bills to improve the industry and increase customer access while seeking better relations between businesses, legislators and constituents through facilitated dialogue. In addition to this legislative advocacy, Sun Solar improves energy infrastructure for local schools, charities and hospitals — including Eden Village, a low-income housing community. Arthur is a governor-appointed board member of the Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority and one of four commissioners responsible for voting on the allocation of $100 million given to Missouri for solar improvements under the Inflation Reduction Act. In all his work, Arthur seeks to bridge political divides through identifying common goals.

“Yes, it’s benefited my business, but it’s benefited every other solar company operating in the state or wanting to operate in the state,” Arthur says. “We are in the middle of this energy revolution and people are coming down very hard for or against it for different reasons. … I am trying to broker both sides together and say, ‘We can find a common ground and work on stuff together and we don’t have to agree on everything.’”

Arthur resumed his role as CEO after leadership shifts reoriented the company’s presence in Iowa, Nebraska and Texas — areas that were not meeting company expectations according to previous reporting. Arthur says at the time he is focusing on Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Arkansas, however, the company maintains minimal investment in the new markets.

“Sometimes people change too many variables of their business and it doesn’t work right. They don’t know what variable or change contributed to the issue,” he says. “It taught me that I need to stay with the true north star of sticking to customer experience and if that allows me to grow because of how I treat my customers, then it happens.”

It all comes down to being willing to innovate and create root-cause solutions for employees, clients and communities at large.  This approach is what Arthur says economic impact means to him.

“I think the true economic impact is just doing what we do,” he says, “coming up with out-of-the-box solutions that have economic impacts.”