Beam Global (NASDAQ:BEEM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Craig Irwin: Excellent. And as a follow-up, you haven’t really mentioned or focused on sponsored deployments in quite a while, at least in your public communications. Are there any developments there that you might be able to share with us? Or is this something that we still should consider maybe on the back burner while you really focus on serving demand that’s already pretty intense right now?

Desmond Wheatley: Thank you for recognizing the demand. It’s very intensive. There’s no doubt about that. People are , but I’ll tell you what, there’s a brilliant energy here. There’s a fantastic buzz both here and in Chicago. Everybody feels like they’re on a winning team because they are. Look, the fact is I’ve been talking about the sponsorship network for some time. I am still confident that we will get it done. I’ve made a lot of commitments over the years since I’ve been running this company. And with the help of the fantastic people that I have around me, I’ve kept all of them, all of them, except for this damn sponsorship thing. It’s the one thing, the one nut that we haven’t been able to crack yet. I do not want to describe it as being on the back burner, because it certainly isn’t for me nor is it for the superlative group who we have working to help us sell that.

And again, remember, they are working for nothing but performance-based pay. We’re not paying them a retainer or anything. These guys are like the preeminent experts in the United States in selling partnership deals. If they think it’s worth going to work in for presumably, they’ve got a good feeling for this thing. I can also tell you that I continue to talk to parties who could become sponsorship and have indeed shown an interest in doing so. It’s just not closed yet. And I’m conscious of the fact that people are sick of hearing me saying that we’ll get it done, and I’m not getting it done. Although, as I say, it’s the only damn thing that I’ve committed to in the last 12 years that we have not done with the — again, with the help of the tremendous people around me.

So, I will tell you, if you’re asking me, “Desmond Wheatley, what I think about this?” I think we do sponsorship. I think we get the recurring revenue. I think that all of these things will happen. The old Wall Street adage give a number or a date don’t give both. I suppose I should invoke that right now. I’m still firmly believe we’ll get it done. I just wish I could tell you exactly when, but I can’t. We’re going to keep on it because it’s such a beautiful motto.

Craig Irwin: I’m not surprised you’re tenacious there, so good luck. We look forward to the progress. I’ll hop back in the queue.

Desmond Wheatley: Thank you, Craig.

Operator: The next question comes from Noel Parks with Tuohy Brothers Investment Research. Please go ahead.

Desmond Wheatley: Hi, Noel.

Noel Parks: Hi, good afternoon. I just had a couple of things. I was wondering, I think in the last three months, six months in particular, there have been a number of companies offering alternative battery technologies often on the material side. And I was just wondering if any of these emerging technologies, some requiring lower or alternative to lithium. Have you seen any out there that you would consider worthy of investment in either minority or acquisition? I’m just thinking about your sort of longer-term storage portfolio.

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