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Carlos Class

CEO and co-founder of Goldi America (Solarix), a veteran-led American solar module manufacturer based in Forest, Virginia.

Oct 29, 2026

8:42
I'm curious, what's the hardest part of taking that empty building and turning it into a production facility with bankable solar modules and that outsiders really can't appreciate?
8:52
You know, to be honest with you, I thought it was going to be the investment side of the house.
8:56
We're not affiliated to any single large entity that you can mention, right? Or Inc.
9:02
500 company as well.
9:03
To be honest with you, the most difficult portion that myself and my core management team, we faced was the continuous letdown and pushback from our community elected politicians.
9:20
I'm speaking, obviously, in central Virginia, all the way from the federal level representation to the local delegates, where we went to a place that had no jobs, no investments, more than half a million dollars in the last 10 years, and 800 families that lost their jobs.
9:42
These include physicists, PhDs, you name it, right? And to be able to come back, and obviously the building itself was an overbuilt building.

12 MINS LATER

21:53
What do we need folks in the industry to do differently? Besides improve our messaging, is there anything else that you as a manufacturer require? Is it longer term procurement, commitments, different model for procurement generally? Is there an ask that you have of the community to help sustain this domestic market? I think this is the best

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