This episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast features Josh Rangel, founder and CEO of Rangel Renewables, a rapidly growing company providing renewable energy solutions. Josh discusses how he is partnering with community colleges to train new wind technicians to meet surging industry demand, his plans to expand into repowering projects with his crane company King Heavy Lift, the positive impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act, and how he is fostering a family culture and safety focus at his company during a time of unprecedented growth. The hosts also explore the global shortage of qualified wind technicians and what skills are most valuable for new hires to have. Throughout the wide-ranging conversation, Josh shares invaluable insights from the frontlines of the U.S. energy transition.



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Joel Saxum: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I'm your co host, Joel Saxum, and today, Allen Hall and I have a very special episode in store for you. Joining us on the show is a forerunner in wind energy growth and a leader in the U. S. energy transition, Josh Rangel. He's the founder and CEO of Rangel Renewables, a company that's been growing rapidly, providing renewable energy solutions to the industry.



And he's also the visionary behind King Heavy Lift, a key player in the race for a greener tomorrow. But today, he's not just a business builder. He's here to share his invaluable insights into the wind industry, hiring the right technicians, developing their skillsets, fostering an amazing family style company culture and discussing how the IRA bill is driving unprecedented growth in our field.



Without further ado, let's get started with this episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. One of the things that we talked about off air was the fact that you're not, Rangel isn't out to steal technicians from that company and this company and that company. What you're really doing is adding to the overall talent pool.



Because that's the problem we have as an industry. We have, there's a batch of really good technicians and people within the industry that know what they're doing and can do it. However, We're not going to be able to sustain the growth in what we need to accomplish for our energy transition unless we take brand new green people and train them up and give them opportunities to succeed.



So how are you guys attacking that problem?



Josh Rangel: By partnering with the community colleges this is my big point that I get all the time. I'm interested, but I just don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. How do I apply? What are the steps? Do I need to go to a school that is requiring me to go for two years?



When you get a call and hey, we need 35 individuals in two to four weeks, can you support it? I necessarily can't have somebody go out to a school for two years and then say hey, you know Call me back whenever you're ready to go. And so Streamlining the processes as we identified. Okay. Hey The market is going to continue to grow, not enough, staff that can do the work.



Trying to do our best to now working with Aaron to educate those from our social media posts or to go to apply, what the steps are to take.



Joel Saxum: Absolutely. And one of the tools that you have to do that is you've got access to some funds too, don't you?



Josh Rangel: Yep. So with the Houston Community College,