Debi Smith, NHA's conference organizer, kicked off the grand opening. She was really complimentary about CaFCPCalifornia Fuel Cell Partnership's help with ride & drive, workshops, media support and ... of course...social networking. She also thanked the sponsors.

NHA's president Jeff Serfass gave an overview of the industry, stating that fuel cell and hydrogen company remain surprisingly strong in a tough industry. Even as people recognize that FCs and H2 play an important role in energy and environment goals, but we need government policies that reflect just that.

Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster welcomed the crowd and talked about how important what we're doing is. He drives an battery EV and knows that electric is the future--fuel cell and battery.

Mike McGowen from Linde is the Chair of NHA. He finished the welcoming comments by highlighting technical progress--huge decrease in cost of fuel cells, meeting the cost per kg goal for hydrogen, range of FCVs, He told the audience, "We can put our children to bed at night knowing that we're making the world cleaner and safer." A really lovely thought!