Freedom Forever Launches Electrical Apprenticeship Program

The move is expected to ensure more formal, consistent, and high-quality training for its electrical apprentices and a swathe of other benefits for the business.

Freedom Forever, an innovative residential solar energy installer, has gained U.S. Department of Labor approval to run RA programs in Maine and Texas, which will be followed by many other states. This will help build a roster of skilled employees that will help the company succeed despite patchy growth across the country, says Matthew Markham, Director, Electrical Applications at Freedom Forever.

“A lot of companies have been really struggling … but we’ve been lucky to have steady, responsible growth,” Markham says.

What could help buffer market forces is Freedom Forever’s suite of apprenticeship programs, which take a medium-to-long-term perspective to build a talent pipeline across its branches. The programs all adhere to the same general standards but are customized by state, depending on if a state apprenticeship is involved in approvals. Each state might have its own requirements around work processes and technical instruction, which means a bit of customization to get the documentation right, Markham says.

Freedom Forever, which currently operates in more than 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, invests significantly in professional training for its employees, but until now the path for electrical apprenticeships has been somewhat ad hoc and dependent on various state level programs and requirements.

“Some of our apprentices are registered and go to third-party training; some states have fewer formal requirements. We offer to support employees to pursue training on their own and we’d reimburse them, but we have difficulty tracking their progression or knowing how we can help them as they move through their training,” says Markham.

The Advantages of an RA Program

Once Freedom Forever’s RAs are in place, they will be able to easily track apprentices’ progress wherever they’re based. Importantly, boosting training quality will support the company’s key promises to customers, including a 25-year production guarantee offered on each residential system it installs.

The company sees the apprenticeship program as an opportunity to better support and develop its employees, address the industry’s skilled labor shortage, and promote long-term careers in the renewable energy industry. It also aligns with the company’s corporate values around diversity, accountability, and industry leadership. Pivotal to improving its approach to apprenticeships is a cross-organizational team that meets weekly.

“One of that team’s members is from HR and actively recruits with partners who focus on those who have been traditionally underrepresented in our industry, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), trade schools geared toward women, solar and construction training programs in underserved communities, workforce development centers, youth programs, and immigrant and refugee centers preparing new residents in their transition into our country’s workforce,”  Markham says.

Freedom Forever’s electrical apprenticeship program will be four years long and include in-house technical instruction using a third-party curriculum (Mike Holt Enterprises). Employees will take part in the program on their own time, typically two evenings per week and mostly online, with Freedom Forever covering the costs, including textbooks. Freedom has more than 30 buildings and warehouses nationally, so the company will set up hands-on training in these locations, too. Markham says this structure is common in the industry, allowing staff to work a full day to meet their on-the-job learning requirements and fit their education around that.

“The apprenticeship program will increase the sticky factor for staff engagement –—employees are making that investment in themselves and we’re investing in them. We hope it’s going to develop long-term employees and leaders for our organization,” Markham says.

About a dozen employees had been earmarked already in July for the company’s first RA, which is set to roll out in September in Maine. Another five states where the company has branches are next in the queue. About 30 apprentices are expected to take part in the first year, expanding to 200 active apprentices over four years, says Markham. The RA is a key part of the company’s strategy to meet the growing demand for skilled electricians in the renewable energy industry, including for solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle integration.

The ACE Network: Forming National Partnerships

But developing RAs hasn’t been a solo effort.

Freedom Forever reached out in February 2024 to the Apprenticeships in Clean Energy (ACE) Network and got matched with one of the network partners, IWSI America. IWSI Registered Apprenticeship expert Bill Kraus says his organization worked “hand in glove” with Freedom Forever.

“We helped them decode the apprenticeship requirements, develop standards, took their raw ingredients and put it into DOL language like ‘journey worker’ and ‘ratio’. Until you’re in the tent you don’t know the corporate speak,” he says. “We also negotiated on their behalf with the department. It’s crossing the ‘t’s and dotting the ‘i’s through the process and we like to think we helped streamline it for them.”

Kraus stresses the need to customise each RA to an employer’s needs and the relevant state apprenticeship office requirements.

“For instance, an employer can’t say an apprentice ‘must have a car’, rather ‘you must have reliable transportation’. If you say there’s a requirement to hold a driver’s license, your application needs to interpret it, so it’s not seen as a discriminatory tactic. Instead, set a minimum requirement to have a licence for an employee to be able to drive a company vehicle. As well, employers should be explicit about the use and availability of accommodations for staff to ensure they have a safe and accessible workplace.”

Meanwhile, Markham acknowledges the apprenticeship system will grow with the company and industry. 

“It’s been mostly photovoltaic solar, but the attachment rates of batteries nationally have risen considerably due to utility and other policy shifts. Batteries require a different level of interaction with the existing electrical service, as do EV chargers, heat pumps, [and] HVAC, and there are moves to connect the smart home and vehicle. There are lots of things on the horizon.”

Even virtual reality or augmented reality training could be on the cards down the track, he says.

Photo courtesy Freedom Forever

Learn More

• What is an Electrician? Read our career profile on Green Workforce Connect
• Electricians apprenticeship page at the U.S. Department of Labor