The SkillStream: Advanced Energy Workforce Project is a transformative initiative designed by the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation to establish a replicable, equitable workforce development pipeline for the advanced energy industry. As an emerging sector with above-average job growth and wages, advanced energy presents significant opportunities for all populations. This project addresses the critical need for a facilitator to formalize educational and career pathways by implementing a seven-phase model in a variety of Arkansas communities.
Overview
Advanced Energy is a new, burgeoning industry in Arkansas, creating a lot of workforce development grey area not under the responsibility of others. This is especially true since it includes both new sectors and those that overlap and connect with a variety of others. However, specific focus is needed to coordinate an effective and contiguous career pipeline. A network of licensure, education, funding, and other partners must be woven together to help all collaborative stakeholders access available resources. AAEF is proud to provide industry workforce focalization through our SkillStream program.
The goal of the SkillStream: Advanced Energy Workforce Project is to accelerate the growth of the emerging advanced energy industry by developing a career pipeline model that can be applied to any Arkansas community. The intent is to balance economic development, equity, and environmental benefit in communities ripe for this work.
The SkillStream program, created by the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation, aims to engage diverse participants from all communities like K–12 and university students, re-skilling, veterans, and formerly incarcerated individuals. By providing industry exposure, hands-on training, mentorship, support services, and career development opportunities, we seek to prepare participants for careers in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, advanced manufacturing, and electric vehicles.
The Process
The progressive nature of this model is such that it develops an industry workforce river for candidates to flow contiguously from one phase to the next producing a steady stream of diverse, skilled candidates for local employers. Funding will be used to develop a pipeline that includes the following phases:
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Identification and visual mapping of employers, community partners, training institutions, workforce boards, funding, and other relevant local contacts.
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These events will gather industry employers to survey their hiring, retention, and training needs, while also showcasing work-based learning solutions, training funding, and previous employer successes. Employers that decide to participate further must prove they are offering quality jobs.
Check out SkillSync and SkillStream employer events
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Engagement of local community organizations that are directly connected to diverse and underserved populations. Their role is to source potential youth and adult program candidates, connect talent to support services, and provide career coaching and accountability.
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Industry expo events will be held that expose potential talent to careers in the industry so that they can gain the spark needed to pursue the appropriate path. Events may include hands-on activities at booths hosted by local employers, engaging industry speakers, live career coaching, project tours, and job shadowing.
Check SkillStream events for upcoming expos.
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Short 4-10 week trainings will be provided by local educational institutions to small cohorts of both youth and adult talent to gauge affinity and provide early experience and credentials/certificates. Stipends and support services are provided to ensure equitable access. Employers that are most involved in the trainings through speaking, tours, equipment, etc. have first choice of hiring graduates.
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Employers that hire from these cohorts agree to provide full-time, quality jobs and continue their new staff training through established work-based learning programs like apprenticeship or internships.
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Continued support in the form of career counseling, mentorship, professional development, entrepreneurship resources, and worker voice will be provided.
The Success
Employer Forums
The Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation (AAEF) will host two SkillStream Employer Forums in 2025 as part of its SkillStream program – a local, employer-driven initiative to build a skilled workforce for Arkansas’s fast-growing energy industry. More than 2,000 employers have been invited to participate.
Employer insights will directly shape the design of Arkansas’s advanced energy workforce training and hiring pipeline. Forum benefits for employers include:
Access to funding streams and incentives
Assistance improving retention, innovation, and productivity
Insights about economic development efforts shaping the region’s energy future
Employers unable to attend the forums are still encouraged to fill out the survey as part of the RSVP form (links below) and can just select “not attending” to proceed to the questions. The survey results will be critical to Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation’s workforce development efforts.
Questions? Email April
Central Arkansas SkillStream Employer Forum
The Central Arkansas SkillStream Employer Forum was held July 22, 2025. Thank you to our partners and attendees who made the event a success. If you are a Central Arkansas employer, we still need your input! We encourage as many employers as possible to fill out the employer survey by August 9, and be entered into a drawing for a number of gift cards. After the deadline, we’ll compile the results and share them during a virtual meeting with our community and workforce partners to explore ways we can combine our resources to meet employer needs, identify gaps, and begin sourcing candidates.
