PowerChampions and American Skilled Trades Academy Partner to Strengthen Critical Power Workforce Pipeline

As demand for data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities, healthcare campuses, and energy infrastructure continues to accelerate, one challenge remains consistent across nearly every sector: finding enough skilled trades professionals to build, maintain, and operate increasingly complex systems.

To help address that challenge, Charlotte-based PowerChampions and the American Skilled Trades Academy (ASTA) have announced a strategic partnership focused on workforce development, technical training, and career advancement across the skilled trades industry.

The collaboration brings together a growing critical power services platform and a workforce training organization with a shared mission of developing what they describe as “thinking technicians”—skilled professionals capable of solving problems, understanding systems, and adapting to rapidly changing technologies.

Investing in People, Not Just Infrastructure

The announcement comes as investment in power infrastructure reaches historic levels.

Growth in data centers, grid modernization, advanced manufacturing, healthcare facilities, and backup power systems is creating unprecedented demand for electricians, generator technicians, HVAC professionals, controls specialists, and other skilled trades workers.

While much of the industry’s attention has focused on equipment, technology, and capital investment, workforce availability is increasingly becoming the determining factor in project delivery and long-term operational success.

PowerChampions believes solving that challenge requires a people-first approach.

“PowerChampions was built on the belief that people are the foundation of every great service organization,” said Ashish Achlerkar, founder and CEO of PowerChampions and co-founder of ASTA. “This partnership represents our commitment to elevating the skilled trades, creating meaningful career paths, and building a new generation of highly trained professionals who will power the future of our industry.”

Developing the Next Generation of Technical Leaders

ASTA was created to help close the gap between growing workforce demand and the supply of skilled labor entering the trades.

The academy’s programs focus on practical, hands-on training while emphasizing systems thinking, troubleshooting, safety, and technical decision-making. The goal is to develop professionals who understand not only how equipment works, but how entire systems operate.

Through the partnership, ASTA will provide specialized training in emergency power supply systems (EPSS), electrical systems, safety practices, and technician development programs tailored to the critical power industry.

The academy also offers training and continuing education across a broader range of trades, including HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing, and electrical disciplines.

According to ASTA co-founder Tom Wein, the future of the trades depends on developing professionals who can think critically and lead in increasingly sophisticated environments.

“Skilled trades professionals are the backbone of modern infrastructure, yet for too long the industry has lacked the visibility, investment, and development pathways needed to attract and retain top talent,” Wein said. “We are not simply training people to perform tasks. We are helping develop the next generation of technical leaders.”

Addressing a National Workforce Challenge

The partnership reflects a broader shift taking place across construction, manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure sectors.

For decades, workforce discussions often focused on attracting labor to individual projects. Today, owners, contractors, service providers, educational institutions, and workforce organizations are increasingly collaborating to create sustainable talent pipelines that can support long-term growth.

The challenge is particularly acute in the critical power industry, where reliability expectations continue to increase and downtime can carry significant financial consequences.

As backup power systems become more sophisticated and mission-critical facilities become more dependent on resilient electrical infrastructure, demand for highly trained technicians is expected to continue growing.

Training for the Future of Infrastructure

As part of the partnership, ASTA and PowerChampions will collaborate on workforce development initiatives, technical workshops, continuing education programs, apprenticeship support, leadership training, and industry-specific certification pathways.

The organizations also plan to work with employers, contractors, schools, and industry associations to expand awareness of careers in the skilled trades and critical power sectors.

The first major training initiative under the partnership will be ASTA’s EPSS 101 Workshop, scheduled for June 17 in Greenville, South Carolina. The program will provide foundational instruction in emergency power systems, generator theory, applications, and industry standards.

For the construction and infrastructure industries, the announcement represents another example of how workforce development is evolving from a recruitment challenge into a strategic business priority.

As investment continues to flow into energy, manufacturing, data centers, healthcare, and other critical infrastructure sectors, the organizations that successfully develop talent pipelines may ultimately gain the greatest competitive advantage.

“The future of the industry depends on our willingness to invest in people,” said Achlerkar. “This partnership is about more than training. It’s about building confidence, creating opportunity, and helping skilled professionals build careers they can be proud of.”