These days, Brandon Sandmaier is a thriving solar-energy entrepreneur—thanks in part to a seemingly precarious decision he made four years ago.
Brandon left a six-figure salary job in the oilsands to study Alternative Energy.
In 2014, Sandmaier was a heavy-duty mechanic, pulling down a six-figure salary in Alberta’s oilsands sector. Yet, somehow, he didn’t feel his life was headed in the right direction. “I had two children at the time,” he recalls, “and I really wanted to move into a career where they could be proud of their dad, and what he decided to do with the last half of this half of his life. And so ultimately I decided to take [NAIT’s] Alternative Energy Program.”
Sandmaier had a dream: “I wanted to own my own business, quite honestly. My family had a history of owning businesses. My grandfather who is 83 is just celebrated his fiftieth year in business.” His mother had a business too.
With two kids at home and another on the way, Sandmaier went back to school. But, he never lost touch with his dream.
Solar is the next big thing
Brandon Sandmaier met his future business partner Jeremy Frentz when they were both students at NAIT in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo by NAIT
Just as he was just starting his final semester of studies, Sandmeir was approached by an electrician friend who also wanted to expand his horizons. “He really felt that solar was the next big thing, and he wanted to get onto it.”
Sandmaier teamed up with a classmate, Jeremy Frentz, and the two of them started to drum up solar jobs.
They also registered a web domain and set up their own company (Generate Energy)—while they were both still studying at NAIT.
As his NAIT capstone project, Sandmaier worked with the University of Alberta, performing an ASHRAE Level II audit for the Saville Centre, a large recreation facility. The experience helped him envision a business plan. “We were able to develop a model that would allow us to install solar in the summer and then in the winter time complete energy assessments for commercial customers.”
Energy audits for 14 community leagues
Opportunity soon knocked. The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues had just launched its Green Leagues program, to help community leagues perform energy audits and install solar.
Generate Energy landed the contract. “We became their provider—14 energy assessments in that first year,” says Sandmaier. “So, that was our winter work for the year. We learned a lot, and really loved working with the community leagues.”
It wasn’t long before others noticed the quality of their work. Sandmaier and Frentz then took Generate Energy and joined the Vital Group of Companies, which includes Vital Engineering and 3D Energy. Together, they offer a comprehensive range of clean energy services.
Brandon Sandmaier with clients Esther Kuosch and Grant Letendre at a solar project near Pigeon Lake, Alberta. Photo David Dodge, GreenEnergyFutures.ca
Clean energy jobs
“It [Vital Engineering] was a 12-man operation, and they’ve since grown to 43 people,” says Sandmaier. “This is in two years. So, it’s been it’s been a massive growth. We have more projects coming in every day, and we’re constantly looking at hiring every week. It’s been exponential growth, and I don’t see it slowing down.”
NAIT program chair Dr. Jim Sandercock estimates at its peak 13 per cent of the Alternative Energy grads start their own businesses. And this year NAIT is doubling the size of its Alternative Energy program, one of the most respected programs in Canada.
With the declining price of solar and the knowledge that wind power is now the cheapest way to generate electricity. These ideas are hardly “alternative” anymore. “I think that really makes a difference when people understand this isn’t just a job. This isn’t just a career, but this is an actual opportunity to get on board on basically the next industrial revolution for energy,” says Sandercock.
Diversifying Alberta’s economy
The program will likely have to expand even further in order to keep up with growth in the industry. When Sandmaier started the program at NAIT, the Solar Energy Society of Alberta listed 40 Alberta solar installer companies. “When I finished the program in 2016 there was about 80, which was a doubling. And now there’s over 200.”
Sandmaier says solar adds a layer of diversification to the economy. “I really think it’s a win, win, win all across the board because we have low employment in other sectors and solar is coming online along with energy efficiency to pick up that slack.”
Just seven years ago, NAIT’s Alternative Energy program seemed ahead of its time. But, today, graduates like Brandon and Jeremy are playing key roles in Alberta’s rapidly expanding clean energy sector.
This Faces of the New Economy story is a joint project with the David Suzuki Foundation and part of the Charged Up Series. Learn more about The New Energy Economy on an interactive map.
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