Nick Martocci, founder of Tower Training Academy, discusses their nationally recognized apprenticeship programs for wind turbine technicians and battery energy storage specialists. The company focuses on creating partnerships and initiatives that support career development and veterans' transition into the renewable energy sector.

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Allen Hall: As renewable energy technology gets more complex and specialized every day, the industry needs skilled professionals ready to climb those towers and maintain critical systems. This week we speak with Nick Martocci founder of Tower Training Academy in Las Vegas. Tower Training Academy offers nationally recognized apprenticeship programs for both wind turbine technicians and battery energy storage specialists, helping everyone from recent high school graduates to career changers develop essential skills and certifications, while providing lifelong career support.

Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining Light on Wind Energy's brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering tomorrow.

So we were just talking, it's been a year since we've spoken to you and I follow your Tower Training Academy YouTube page, LinkedIn page. I think you're on Instagram also.

Nick Martocci: Yep. Instagram. We got [00:01:00] Facebook. A lot of social media. Uh, a lot has happened in the last time since we've chatted. Uh, been able to send a few more apprentices through the wind turbine program.

Uh, I've been able to help out a lot of veterans. We had one veteran actually come through my program, uh, work with us vets to help veterans, uh, transition, uh, into the renewable sector, if you will, and help them out also with transferring them out of a bad situation. Uh, the veteran, he just. Fell onto some harm times and, uh, no, no lie before he was with my program, was actually living in his car and so he got with us vets and uh, was able to get a little assistance from them.

Also got with Salvation Army, got some assistance from them and the US vets actually pointed him towards my program. We were able to get him a sponsorship and to this day it's changed his life and he's still, even right now out in the field. Doing torque contention work. [00:02:00] That's awesome.

Allen Hall: That's a great story.

And I, on your LinkedIn page, I've noticed a couple of ribbing ribbon cutting ceremonies with local dignitaries.

Nick Martocci: Yeah, we had a congresswoman Susie Lee, her office was very, very helpful with getting, uh, some other help that we needed. Uh, moved along with, uh, a few other pieces, but she was out there to help us, uh, announce that we actually did become a, the first.

Approved apprenticeship for the Department of Labor that's active for our battery energy storage apprenticeship program. And so now we have both programs since last year. Uh, that was something that we had to kind of keep hidden behind the green curtain, if you will. And so I was working on that and now that's already up and running.

Uh, we had one apprenticeship approved before us a few years ago and they haven't sent anybody through it and. At the end of this month. Right now we're in March, so at the end of this month [00:03:00] we'll have 10 coming through my program already.

Joel Saxum: I think that's super important for the industry right now where that, that the renewables industry, because battery storage growing.

Right? I, I mean, I live in Austin, right? So it's just batteries after batteries going into the Ercot market and there's a lack of people, lack of technicians,