Partnering with Empower America Vets positions your organization as a champion of veteran employment, aligning your brand with a mission-driven cause that resonates nationwide. It also grants access to a pipeline of highly trained, disciplined U.S. Veterans ready to bring value to your team.
Empower America plays a significant and multi-faceted role in connecting U.S. military veterans to the solar energy industry, primarily by recruiting, training, and employing them for careers after their transition to civilian life. Described as a veteran workforce development company, Empower America focuses specifically on the renewable energy and technology industries.
Here’s a breakdown of their role:
Core Mission and Approach: Empower America is a non-profit organization dedicated to recruiting, training, and employing military veterans. Their mission is to help the thousands of returning veterans connect to jobs in industries that are in need of a skilled workforce, recognizing that the solar industry is one of the nation’s fastest-growing sectors. They aim to provide veterans with solid, good paying jobs that allow them to support themselves and their families. Empower America’s approach often involves developing renewable energy projects for governments and businesses, and then recruiting, training, and employing local service veterans to build those projects. They act as a complete solution to the industry by originating and developing projects and subsequently recruiting, training, and employing veterans within those projects.
Key Partnerships and Collaborations: Empower America forms strategic alliances and partnerships within the solar industry to create these opportunities:
DEPCOM Power: Empower America partners with DEPCOM Power to hire and recruit U.S. veterans for open construction positions, specifically on Utility Scale Solar Projects. Veterans are hired for various craft labor positions. DEPCOM Power views this partnership as leading the charge in giving back to veterans and helping to shape an optimistic future for them with meaningful jobs.
SolarWorld: Empower America partnered with SolarWorld, a large U.S. solar manufacturer, to employ U.S. veterans in solar projects that utilize American-made products. SolarWorld serves as a primary supplier of solar panels and racking and provides technical and engineering assistance for Empower America’s projects. This partnership is particularly focused in Southern California and aligns with regional legislative efforts to promote solar development and veteran job creation.
OneRoof Energy: As part of its Solar Military Appreciation Program, OneRoof Energy formed an alliance with Empower America, making Empower America a preferred installer for their solar systems, which are installed by U.S. veterans. Through this partnership, they planned to donate solar services to veteran rehabilitation facilities and offer discounts on solar leases or purchases to military personnel. Both organizations recognize veterans as strong supporters of energy independence through solar.
Renewable Energy Systems (RES): Empower America partnered with RES and Eastridge Workforce Solutions on specific projects, such as the Turquoise Solar project in Nevada. This collaboration aimed to deliver a workforce committed to hiring veterans first, with a goal of up to 20% veteran employment on the project. Empower America assisted directly in hiring military veterans for this project, which was seen as instrumental in helping them transition to civilian life.
National Coalition: Empower America has organized and leads a national coalition of solar leaders, including companies like JE Dunn Construction and Cypress Creek Renewables. This coalition works together to develop more solar projects and training opportunities specifically for veterans. The goal is to leverage veterans’ skills to help address the construction industry’s ongoing need for skilled workers.
Advocacy and Impact: Beyond direct hiring and training, Empower America’s work with its coalition aims to motivate corporate leaders and elected officials to build more solar power and create more jobs for veterans. Their model is presented as potentially serving as a national job creation model for all industries. By connecting veterans to well-paying jobs in the solar industry, Empower America helps them begin a great civilian life and continue supporting the nation’s security and economic vitality. Industry partners value the tangible drive and leadership that veterans bring to the workforce. This response is based on the information provided in the sources and our conversation history.
