Meet a Solar Ready Vets Fellow: Josh Kenyon

IREC leads the Solar Ready Vets Fellowship in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program. Offered at no cost, the fellowship matches solar industry employers with service members who are in transition from the military to the civilian workforce.

Josh Kenyon: Development Manager, Core Development Group

Josh Kenyon was a Solar Ready Vets fellow at Core Development Group from January-April 2021, and then transitioned to a role as Development Manager.

Josh Kenyon joined the Solar Ready Vets Fellowship program after a long and successful career in the U.S. Air Force. During his 20 years in the service, he piloted a KC-10 aircraft; was a staff squadron commander in charge of more than a thousand service members; worked as a joint base inspector general; and lived in a shipping container outside of Abu Dhabi, to name just a few career highlights. The fellowship allowed him to move back home with his family near Saratoga, New York and take on a leadership role at Core Development Group, a turnkey solar developer that manages commercial and utility-scale projects. “It was an awesome opportunity to transfer from military life back to civilian life in a smooth way,” Josh says.

Josh began the fellowship in January 2021, and shortly thereafter accepted a permanent position as Development Manager. His role at the company is wide-ranging and covers aspects of site development, financial analysis, building scope design, and marketing. Josh draws from an academic background in both engineering and finance, as well as the robust leadership and management abilities he acquired in the military. “My leadership skills in the Air Force allow me to have that soft touch when you’re making a deal and steer the direction toward a beneficial outcome,” Josh says.

At Core Development Group, Josh says he enjoys the chance to work on solar energy projects that make a difference in people’s lives. For example, he helped close a deal to provide two nonprofit schools in New Jersey with new roofing, solar panels, and a huge reduction in energy bills. “It’s pretty neat to be able to do these kinds of deals where everyone is winning,” Josh says.