As part of the VIP website launch, we wanted to kick off a series of periodic posts called VIP Talks with our leadership team.  For the inaugural post we have Mike Weich, CEO and Co-Founder of VIP sharing his thoughts on one of the biggest challenges facing the renewable industry - finding the right people:

Like VIP, many recently established renewable energy companies are emerging across the U.S.  Fueling this growth is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in August 2022.  By some estimates, almost 1MM jobs a year will be created by the companies pursuing the financial incentives within the IRA. For the next generation of talented young green energy professionals, decisions need to be made on where to place their career bets.  Which organizations should they choose?  Below are a couple thoughts for consideration:

1) Opportunities For Growth:

Does a company set the conditions for you to grow and continue to evolve your career? It’s important when evaluating a young company to ensure you have opportunities to grow beyond the role you were hired for. The best companies will provide the support needed for long-term career growth and look at the potential that every employee has. Working for a company shouldn’t be a one-way proposition: companies should give a significant amount back to an employee in the form of training, mentorship, feedback and opportunities to lead.

2) Work-Life Balance:

At VIP we want to give our employees the opportunity to integrate their professional careers and personal life as they deem necessary. So many professionals struggle to balance and separate work and personal life. VIP wants to empower employees to integrate the two providing everyone the opportunity to maximize both in parallel.

3) Community:

We all strive to find our tribe, while you may not feel the need to be best friends with your coworkers, it’s important that you feel part of something greater than yourself. You should feel like a member of a greater community working towards common goals. Look for companies that seek to build a community, not just within the company but outside it as well.

4) Appreciation:

The energy transition is this generation’s greatest challenge. For those employees working long hours on behalf of companies tackling this challenge, where is the reward beyond your financial incentives?  The investment of your time for the benefit of the company should be recognized and appreciated. Many employees across different industries put in significant hours away from family to deliver results for companies. While not everyone can be the most valuable player it’s important you feel valued regularly.

VIP has a relentless determination to deliver results and perform to the highest standards. In the process of delivering the highest quality assets we recognize our success comes from our employees. We seek talented individuals with tremendous grit and a passion for renewable energy. In the process of developing a first-class team we want to establish a culture that allows employees to grow, creates a healthy work-life balance, provides a safe work environment, and values our most important asset – our people.  This commitment to our employees is the VIP difference and defines our culture.