Most people don’t break into clean energy project development by asking, “Can I work for free?” But that’s exactly what Landon Redmon did.
An Army National Guard veteran and self-proclaimed “intern,” Landon’s story isn’t about having the perfect résumé. It’s about persistence, cold-calling thousands of strangers on LinkedIn, and showing up to veteran happy hours until doors opened.
That grit turned into a career leading 100–200 MW solar and battery projects across Kentucky and Georgia, projects shaping the future of American energy.
From Pre-Med to Water Purification to Solar
Landon didn’t start in energy. He started as a pre-med student, working as a phlebotomist to pay tuition, then joined the Guard as a 92W Water Dog, purifying water and hauling fuel.
A motorcycle accident ended his military career early. Medical school was off the table. But instead of stopping there, he pivoted. A sales role in SCADA systems introduced him to utility-scale solar. From there, he jumped into development, where he’s never looked back.
Lesson for veterans: your first path doesn’t have to be your final one. Persistence and adaptability are the transferable skills.
What Project Development Really Takes
For listeners who don’t live in the weeds, Landon breaks project development down into four pillars:
Land – finding and securing the site
Interconnection – space on the grid
Permitting – local and state approvals
Offtake – a buyer for the power
It sounds simple. In reality, it’s years of relationship-building, paperwork, and problem-solving across conservative counties where “solar” isn’t always a welcome word.
But here’s the surprise: when Landon talks to landowners, county commissioners, and local businesses in rural Georgia, they’re not hostile. They’re calling him asking, “When can we get this project built?”
Why? Jobs. Taxes. Reliability. The basics that keep communities alive.
Clean Energy Without the Politics
One of the strongest themes in this conversation: renewables don’t have to be partisan.
In red districts, Republican leaders are asking Landon how they can help move projects forward.
At the local level, it’s less about ideology and more about whether a new project keeps the lights on, funds schools, and strengthens local budgets.
For veterans, it’s always about national security = energy security.
As Landon puts it: “I feel like I’m continuing service, without being shot at.”
Veterans as the Quiet Professionals
This episode hits the heart of Project Vanguard’s mission:
Veterans are 10% of the clean energy workforce, twice the rate of the general industry.
Communities trust veterans more than almost any other group.
Veterans know how to lead in tough environments and earn trust one conversation at a time.
That’s why we believe doubling the number of veterans in energy isn’t just good for the industry, it’s essential for American energy dominance.
Landon is proof. From cold calls to co-chairing his company’s veteran group, he’s showing how service continues in the civilian world.
Final Thoughts
Talking with Landon reminded me of something simple: we don’t need more politics, we need more veterans in this fight.
Whether it’s hog hunts with landowners in Georgia or teaching your coworkers what an MRE tastes like, veterans know how to connect across divides. That’s what makes them the quiet professionals of the energy transition.
If this story sparks something for you, share it with another veteran or someone who still thinks energy is a left vs. right debate. The truth is simple: energy security is national security. And we need every tool, and every veteran, to build it.
Timestamps:
00:05 – Introduction and Mission
02:05 – How Kevin and Landon Met
03:25 – Breaking In Through Persistence
05:58 – Landing the First Project Development Role
08:52 – Why Landon Joined the Guard
13:50 – Transition into Energy Sales
15:11 – What Project Development Really Involves
16:46 – Local Support for Solar in Georgia
20:27 – Veterans, Firearms, and Local Trust
23:06 – Leading Projects in Red States
26:29 – Fighting Misinformation and Educating Communities
28:06 – Advice for Veterans Entering Energy
29:43 – The Vanguard Slack Network
30:44 – Final Thoughts and Why Veterans Are Needed
31:44 – Veteran Resource Group and MRE Stories
Resources:
People & Networks
Landon Redmon – Army National Guard veteran and Project Developer LinkedIn
Rob Anders – Colonel, clean energy leader, and guest on a past Project Vanguard episode LinkedIn
Evan Weaver – Veteran working at NextEra Energy LinkedIn
Organizations & Companies
EDP Renewables (EDPR) – Landon’s employer, global leader in renewable energy Website
Veterans Synergy Group – Veteran employee resource group co-chaired by Landon and Rob Anders (internal EDPR ERG)
NextEra Energy – Renewable energy and utility company Website
Atlantic Council Fellowship – Energy and security policy fellowship program Website
Industry Events & Conferences
RE+ (Renewable Energy Plus) – The largest clean energy event in North America Website
Military & Service References
92W Water Treatment Specialist (“Water Dog”) – U.S. Army MOS for water purification Army MOS Info
MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat) – U.S. military field rations Amazon
“In the Army Now” (1994) – Pauly Shore movie jokingly referenced for the Water Dog MOS IMDb
Transcript:
Kevin Doffing (00:05.592)
Welcome to Project Vanguard podcast, home of the community of veterans in energy, where we explore the journeys of veterans leading in energy. We're building American energy dominance through an all the above approach where energy security is national security. And our mission is to double the amount of veterans working in the energy industry. I'm your host, Kevin Doffing. Today's guest is Landon Redmon, an Army National Guard veteran turned project developer in utility scale solar and battery storage.
Kevin Doffing (00:35.116)
Lennon's path into energy wasn't straightforward though. He started out studying pre-med in college, found himself purifying water in the guard, and after a motorcycle accident, up into his military career, he stumbled into renewables through making cold calls, being persistent, and having a willingness to start at bottom. Now,
Kevin Doffing (00:55.106)
He's leading project development on utility scale projects across Kentucky and Georgia, navigating land deals, community relationships, and state permitting in some of the most conservative parts of our country. And along the way, he's learned something important. Clean energy doesn't have to be a partisan issue. At the local level, it's all about keeping things practical, not political. He knows what matters most, jobs, taxes, keeping lights on.
Kevin Doffing (01:24.108)
In this episode, we talk about how veterans can break into project development, why national security and energy security are inseparable, and what it takes to earn trust in rural communities. We also dive into how Project Vanguard's veteran network is opening doors, turning cold calls into warm leads, and why the next wave of clean energy will need more veterans like Landon to make it happen.
Kevin Doffing (01:48.598)
If you want a candid look at where clean energy meets real America and why veterans are the quiet professionals leading the charge, this conversation is for you. Let's get into it.
Kevin Doffing (02:05.098)
Landon, thanks so much for making the time to be here today, man. I'm real excited to have you on here, especially because you just have this great story. It's a lot more reason than mine on getting into this industry and the way you went about doing it, but also just the great work you're doing. So thanks for making the time.
Landon Redmon (02:19.746)
Yeah, I'm proud to be here. Thanks, Kevin.
Kevin Doffing (02:21.624)
So
Kevin Doffing (02:22.135)
before we get into it, I want to go back to how you and I met. Can you tell that story?
Landon Redmon (02:26.99)
Yeah. So I was in a business development role for SCADA. So supervisory control and data acquisition. It's what collects data and controls these projects remotely on the utility scale. And was a huge fan of sales, wanted to get into the project development world. Was calling anybody and everybody I could on project development connected with probably 2000 people I did not know on LinkedIn. Just to
Landon Redmon (02:56.462)
try and tell people about project development came across Evan Weaver, a veteran over at NextEra. Saw that he was going to be at RE plus. This was, what is that, like 2023 ish. So that was the big, one of the big Vegas ones. I was like, Hey man, can we chat about project development? I want to get into the space, see what's going on. He's like, yeah, sure. Just come by. going to be at this little vet's happy hour. was like, sweet. I'll pull up.
Landon Redmon (03:25.696)
He was like, Hey, I just got accepted and I'm about to start this fellowship with the Atlantic council. I was like, that's really cool. Can I apply to it? And he's like, I don't know, check it out. And I checked it out. Deadline passed. Saw that you were front running that and said, Hey, Kevin, missed the deadline. I can't still apply. Can I? The answer was no. right.
Kevin Doffing (03:48.718)
Get out of here, private.
Landon Redmon (03:50.998)
Yeah. So then it was, all right, can I help you run it? You need assistance? Do you need an intern? And that's how I got into project development. Kind of.
Kevin Doffing (04:01.134)
Okay, so you're skipping a lot of things that happened after that, but you're also skipping the part that like who reaches out and says, I can't apply for a thing. Can I work there for free? Like, I feel like you're good in sales. Also, you're the only person that we've had that's made inroads and we've cold calls, taps programs nationwide. And you're like, what, it's just like calling a cold call list. And I'm like, yeah, people aren't usually good at that, man.
Landon Redmon (04:11.009)
Yeah.
Landon Redmon (04:27.042)
Yeah. And the business development role, was all calling senior directors and C-suites. So there was a lot of, you can't really care about who you're calling. They're way above your pay grade. So it doesn't really matter. And I would say where that comes from with me is way back when, all right, we're talking like early 2000s. was little land in. Whenever me and my brothers were home, we wanted to order pizza. Mom was like, all right, cool. You're ordering it.
Landon Redmon (04:57.058)
This is what you can order. These are your parameters. This is your budget, but you're calling them and you're telling them what you want. So is like five years old, maybe. Ordering pizza from Domino's, giving the guy the tip at the door, taking the boxes of pizza, definitely breaking any sort of social anxiety barriers at a very young age.
Kevin Doffing (05:19.276)
Nice. So whenever we go get donuts at the drive-through line is long, I just have my daughter go in with the credit card. I watch them. Don't call the cops on me. But it's nice when a five or a seven year old is like going in and transacting with an adult.
Landon Redmon (05:34.124)
Exactly. It's just starting social interactions at like an early age and being comfortable with it.
Kevin Doffing (05:40.494)
was a lot of self-confidence. Okay, so that's how you weren't afraid to ask for something that most people, nobody else asked, hey, can I be the intern as the moniker stuck through the program, in the intern. But then how did that help you get a job in this space?
Landon Redmon (05:58.424)
That was just sort of networking a nice little piece on the resume definitely helped me get a more well-rounded perspective of the space. And then I think connections definitely played a part in knowing like who was hiring and where. And I was just kind of shotgun blast applying to Project Ev everywhere. And EDP was one of the applications. You knew Rob Anders who's just on the podcast.
Landon Redmon (06:28.046)
great podcast, the guy is an icon of a man. And you're like, Hey, know Rob, I can say that you apply to the project dev position and we'll see what happens. And then I ended up getting it, which was great.
Kevin Doffing (06:43.352)
think I told Rob, if you don't hire him, I will. And Rob was like, Kevin, we've got a process for this. Like, calm down. It was very like, we do things by the book around here, Kevin. I appreciate your feedback, but what will happen will happen.
Landon Redmon (06:58.318)
Yeah, Rob's very serious. His process for hiring though, is like no other. The interview process, got to the interview, no context beforehand. Panel of eight people is like the entire team and then like four people from adjacent teams and then me.
Kevin Doffing (07:20.152)
So it's like an E5 panel. You're just going in there, gonna be grilled.
Landon Redmon (07:23.384)
Yeah,
Landon Redmon (07:23.635)
but it wasn't too bad. I just kinda showed up and was like, cool, alright, more people to talk to. How are y'all doing?
Kevin Doffing (07:30.255)
my god, I forget, did you ever go through an E5 panel? Or did you get out a Z4? Yes.
Landon Redmon (07:34.83)
Yeah, I got out as E5. So we went through an E5 panel and then there was some like Soldier of the Year competition that I had gone through as well. That was a panel of all these like colonels and whatnot. I was like, goodness. Yeah, kind of the same vibe. A little bit more serious in the military.
Kevin Doffing (07:53.28)
Now I, I just remember prepping our guys when we were in Iraq for their E six board, like I wasn't doing it. Obviously like I'm an idiot. I don't know anything. I was a lieutenant, but like just hearing my guys talk about like the strategies of like, just remember you're never wrong and just work through anything and never admit defeat. And I was just like, you're not saying lying. No, it's not lying. It's about confidence. And that's the greatest respect I've ever had for the NCO core is just the fact that like,
Kevin Doffing (08:23.316)
It's a hundred percent about always like instill confidence in everyone around you leadership lead by example, but never admit defeat. Just go in there and crush it. Like I just love and I love the horror stories of guys getting ground up inside of a panel. Like, like guys will tell me like I got lectured on how much wires and like, you know, those old field phones that we would use in the field from like the eighties.
Landon Redmon (08:36.054)
I've liked it.
Kevin Doffing (08:52.076)
And I got to know from the TM what it was and who would know that? But I got grilled on not knowing it. man. Well, so that brings me to, know, something I always like to talk about, get yourself, how did you get into the military in the first place?
Landon Redmon (09:10.2)
So that was sophomore year of college, you know, made it through freshman year. I had that big old tuition bill from freshman year. I was thinking, that's a lot of money. How do I pay for that? Got a part-time job as a phlebotomist and going through college, was a biology pre-medicine major.
Kevin Doffing (09:31.403)
Tell everybody what a full bottom is says if they don't already know because these people are also dear to my heart.
Landon Redmon (09:35.948)
Yeah. So you draw blood. That's what you do is throw needles in arms and you draw blood.
Kevin Doffing (09:40.662)
And if you work at a plasma center and college station back in around 2000, I really appreciate you funding my lifestyle.
Landon Redmon (09:48.814)
Yeah, that was 90 % of who I was drawing blood from was, you need an extra little 40 bucks for the weekend and then you're good to go.
Kevin Doffing (09:59.938)
Yeah, and if you go twice that week, you get a net $2 adder. And if you can make it four times in the month, that's another $2 and you just keep stacking it on.
Landon Redmon (10:07.138)
Yeah, it's a good little college kid sidekick.
Kevin Doffing (10:10.606)
Kevin Doffing (10:11.128)
I love that. All right, so we go from full bottomist to paying our job to what does the military have for me?
Landon Redmon (10:17.494)
Yeah. So I was actually sitting in the cafeteria doing homework in college, sophomore year. And I saw this email. It was like, pay your tuition. I was like, that's a scam. Clicked on it anyway. All right. Okay. Boomer. And it was the national guard recruiter. And it was like, Hey, join the national guard, pay for your tuition. Get a little paycheck from your drill weekends. It's like, sounds kind of cool. Sure. When spoke with the recruiter.
Landon Redmon (10:46.83)
There were all these cool jobs, whatever, whatever. I chose 92 Whiskey water purification because the drill unit was like five, 10 minutes from the campus. So I was a little water. You know, I haven't, I hear that every single time, but I have not seen it.
Kevin Doffing (10:58.498)
Have you seen that Pauly Shore movie?
Kevin Doffing (11:06.318)
Good one. I can't remember what it was called now, but that was ZMOS.
Landon Redmon (11:10.734)
Yeah, yes, it's a infamous movie. hear it every time I say water dog. It's on the to-do list. A years late, but it's on the to-do list. I found it.
Kevin Doffing (11:17.006)
I had to check it out.
Kevin Doffing (11:20.366)
Flair
Kevin Doffing (11:20.626)
is from when was 12. I assume it's held up.
Landon Redmon (11:23.15)
Yeah. Well, as a water dog, you purify water. And AIT, you learn all sorts of how to turn ocean water, brackish water, whatnot water into potable water. So drinkable water. I think it's your unit. You've got water fountains, you've got water bottles. You're not doing too much of that. I did have a buddy out of AIT go to Hawaii and he was properly purifying water with like a TWIP system. It's like an actual water purification system.
Landon Redmon (11:52.366)
Which was really cool. But when I got to my unit, not purifying water, totally fine. No reason to purify water in Norman. But it did basically turn into a truck driver and a fueler. So you got to move the water with hippos, just big old storage tanks of water. And then we are attached to the fuelers. So you just kind of help them out whenever they need help. And then that was about it.
Kevin Doffing (12:16.376)
So you go through and what's the moment you decide I'm gonna get out?
Landon Redmon (12:21.646)
So it wasn't
Landon Redmon (12:22.486)
my decision. I was medically discharged. That was somebody else's decision after a motorcycle incident, which was unfortunate. And then diverted my career from medicine and the military. Cause the plan was to be in the guard as enlisted, commission into the med school scholarship program and then be a provider as an officer and go active duty.
Landon Redmon (12:51.414)
With being medically discharged, that was no longer an option. And the quarter million dollar bill of medical school seemed a lot less appealing when somebody else wasn't paying for it. for sure. So then I'm sitting there with a bio premed degree thinking, how do I make money if I don't want to go to medical school? And it's like, all right, well, I can work in these medical type jobs. It's like a medical assistant, surgery tech, stuff kind of like that. And.
Landon Redmon (13:21.31)
wasn't great money. The next logical step was, well, do I want to teach, go back and get like a teaching certificate or medical device sales. Going back to school to then teach at school wasn't super appealing. So like, all right, we'll do medical device sales. I heard you can make money on it. Let's go see how that goes. Yeah. Applied for a position that was supposed to be medical device sales and ended up being scada sales for utility scale solar. And I was like, Hey, this isn't.
Landon Redmon (13:50.87)
Exactly what I signed up for, but like, whatever, we'll make it work. This seems kind of cool. See where it goes. And that is, yeah, where I learned I'm not a huge fan of sales and I wanted to help create the projects instead of sell to the projects. So that is the long story of how I quote unquote chose to get out of the military and then what happened after.
Kevin Doffing (14:11.886)
So
Kevin Doffing (14:12.537)
how have you liked project development versus the sales skater stuff?
Landon Redmon (14:18.734)
10 out of 10, never looked back on sales, SCADA, healthcare, the military, anything. I'm super glad that I'm in project development.
Kevin Doffing (14:27.394)
I
Kevin Doffing (14:27.504)
when talk to Rob, he's always telling me like, you're doing good and they just keep throwing more stuff at you. And it sounds like you're busy, busy good, not busy like falling behind. like, I hear good things from people that have no reason to lie to me. So.
Landon Redmon (14:42.638)
That was good. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. So just as a breakdown of Project Dev for listeners not familiar, we've got four main pillars. It's bringing the project from the time of this idea up until construction. And you got to make sure you've got land, interconnection, permitting, and off-take. So land, a physical place to put it. Just land acquisition, land contracts, all that good stuff. Interconnection, making sure you've got a place on the grid. There's space on these transmission lines to put it.
Landon Redmon (15:11.512)
That comes in the form of a generation interconnection agreement and then permits legally being allowed to put the project where you want to put it. Then off take is making sure you've got a buyer normally in a form of a power purchase agreement for the project. Put all those four together. You've got a wonderful medley to create a project, hit construction and get electricity onto the grid. So that is project development and induction.
Kevin Doffing (15:39.818)
Okay. So, you know, kind of give us your report from the field, your field report. You know, what are you seeing out there right now? You mentioned earlier, before we got things started, you're working in Georgia. What's it like on the ground right now considering, you know, the attitude that the administration has been taking to our industry? You know, what's that feel like at the local level?
Landon Redmon (16:02.392)
Yeah,
Landon Redmon (16:02.612)
so one of my projects, our front runner project in Georgia, the local community is calling me all the time and saying, hey, what's the news on the project? They absolutely want the project. Who's they?
Kevin Doffing (16:12.878)
Is this the landowners, is the county commissioners, is it the off takers, is who is it?
Landon Redmon (16:18.318)
We've got landowners, neighbors, county commissioners, the economic development authority, former house speaker for that district, the current state speaker for that district. We've got the, just people I come across on the street, they want the project. They see the economic benefits that can come with this project. I was calling even just like the local utility sales rep guide, just to get some estimates on.
Landon Redmon (16:46.676)
what we would need for our like a control house and our O for a service contract on electricity. He's like, hey, you're working. This is that solar project, right? I was like, yeah, yes, sir. It sure is. What's going on? He's like, I really hope it goes through. We want to see the project in our county. Please build it.
Kevin Doffing (17:04.44)
So
Kevin Doffing (17:04.56)
what's their motivation? Do they just see the economic benefit? Is there a lack of other economic development opportunities for them? Like what's kind of driving their excitement?
Landon Redmon (17:14.126)
So in some counties there is a lack of other industry in the county. This county has an airport. They train people to be pilots at this airport. They don't particularly have a lack of industry. Now it's a smaller county. We're talking about rural Georgia here. It's not Atlanta by any means, but it's still like, it's a nice county and they just see that these projects have very minimal drain.
Landon Redmon (17:41.772)
or draw from these local resources with a significant upside in terms of the additional tax base that they can provide.
Kevin Doffing (17:49.954)
They
Kevin Doffing (17:50.155)
built additional renewable energy projects in the county or?
Landon Redmon (17:53.782)
No, this would be their first one.
Kevin Doffing (17:55.778)
Yeah, we've seen that there's one place we're helping a developer in Indiana and just to the east of them, there's another county that kind of started welcoming renewable energy project development like 15 years ago. wow. And they kind of hang their hat on it because they're the only county in like that area that's not hard up for some of their road work or they have a new ambulance. They have, you know, you know, an auditorium.
Kevin Doffing (18:23.022)
for their high school and just different things that are more available with that economic development. I know that last session, India's state government was like, hey, you can't keep turning things away. And then coming asking us for money for projects. People are trying to give you money. Yeah. Let them give you money.
Landon Redmon (18:40.718)
Yeah. So a lot of our projects are in Illinois and Indiana. I am over in the Southeast. I'm in Kentucky and Georgia, but with our Indiana and our Illinois projects, a lot of those counties say, Hey, the first project's great. You delivered on all your promises, operating the project. Please come back and do another one. Like we've got space for it. It works out on the grid for there to be like the room on the grid. And we just have like a phase two and phase three and they just.
Landon Redmon (19:09.474)
double and triple the benefits of the project.
Kevin Doffing (19:11.544)
point. Yeah, and you have most of those development done at that point too.
Landon Redmon (19:14.402)
Right. Yeah. So a lot of the like local relationships, it's going to be the same developer as long as they're still with the company and you just kind of rent and repeat.
Kevin Doffing (19:21.92)
Awesome.
Kevin Doffing (19:23.292)
So how does like your status as a veteran play into that when you're in those communities? Or does it even come up at all?
Landon Redmon (19:29.07)
So it comes up sometimes, normally directly. I think it can come up sometimes just because of the perspective on topics normally in these rural communities. People talk about firearms a lot and they're like, oh, you seem comfortable around firearms. you like police or military? I'm like, probably service. So it comes up like that. And then in terms of the messaging that we have, it's not required.
Landon Redmon (19:57.99)
But the reason that I work in renewables is absolutely for national security. With my military career being cut short, it played nicely to make good money and then also contribute to energy security, which then bolsters national security. So I feel like I'm just continuing service without being shot at, which is really cool. that is. Yeah. So that's a big piece of whatever I get asked, like why renewables? Cause.
Kevin Doffing (20:20.647)
to not be shot at.
Landon Redmon (20:27.744)
It seems to be like you're the villain in some counties and it's just like miseducation on the industry as a whole. you're like, Hey, this is actually wildly patriotic and there's a great reason for this.
Kevin Doffing (20:38.584)
So go back, you're hanging out with a bunch of local constituents or stakeholders and they're asking, hey, you seem familiar with or comfortable around firearms. Is that because they're open carrying, you're open carrying, or you're just like, hey, let's do a meet and greet at the gun range.
Landon Redmon (20:53.486)
I mean, somewhere in between all of that. So I don't normally open carry because we're taking flights. here in Texas, it's pretty standard just for Texas citizens to open carry. No, you meet these landowners and just people in their homes and they have firearms laying around. They're like, hey, you want to check out my Glock? You want to see my Remington 700, yada yada? And they're like, yeah, sure. Why not? And we're actually going on a hog hunt.
Kevin Doffing (21:00.01)
That's probably for the-
Landon Redmon (21:23.668)
next weekend. So nice. With some locals in the community, we had purchased a hawk hunt at a touchdown club as their local football high school booster club. yeah, so firearms definitely come up in these communities.
Kevin Doffing (21:39.936)
All this makes sense to me. Yeah. I grew up in Texas. I get all this. Yes. You did not grow up in Texas though. You live here now, but...
Landon Redmon (21:47.128)
Yup, born and raised, Dave W.
Kevin Doffing (21:49.772)
No, that doesn't count. That's southern Oklahoma.
Landon Redmon (21:51.446)
Not Houston. I
Landon Redmon (21:53.069)
never stepped foot in Houston until this job. What do you think? It never ceases to amaze me how human it is here. It is insane.
Kevin Doffing (21:55.918)
Think of it now.
Kevin Doffing (22:02.422)
It has been overcast lately, so it's like not too bad. you haven't had, well, you did have last August here,
Landon Redmon (22:09.71)
Yeah. It's, like walking into a hot shower. Yeah. But it's out of the front door.
Kevin Doffing (22:14.67)
It's
Kevin Doffing (22:14.91)
a furnace. It's furnace of your own sweat. Okay, so when you're doing these hog hunts and stuff like that, like, what does that look like? I mean, you get to go hog hunting for work or this is like, yeah, I'll meet you up, you know, whenever we're off clock or, you know, this is just part of stakeholder relations.
Landon Redmon (22:32.206)
It's just kind of part of stakeholder relations sometimes. Now this, this hog hunt will be on a weekend. So it's not like I'm getting paid for it, but I'll already be out there for project activities. So yeah, it's like somewhere in the middle.
Kevin Doffing (22:46.786)
I come from oil and gas, like white wing hunging is part of BD. I mean, if you're going to go get some whitetail, maybe do some elk or, know, the company owned lease by an oil field services company is a must for your business development, you know, spend. Yeah. that's awesome, man. Well, so what's kind of coming up next for you?
Landon Redmon (23:06.638)
Are you about like in his projects, career or? All the above. All the above. So currently it's one of our
Kevin Doffing (23:11.958)
key
Kevin Doffing (23:12.15)
messages all the above.
Landon Redmon (23:14.826)
Yeah, absolutely. I'm currently the lead for all of our Kentucky and Georgia projects. So we've got three projects in both of those states, anywhere between a hundred megawatts and 200 megawatts of solar and battery. So we're really just trying to get those matured to the point where we can start construction. But what that looks like in the short term of one, two years is a lot of permitting, a lot of local and state level permitting. So.
Landon Redmon (23:43.926)
It might seem like daunting paperwork. actually really like it. It's like just enough legal work to play paralegal without even touching the legal space. I, I don't want to be a paralegal. No, thank you. But yeah, I'll play paralegal and permit some projects. So.
Kevin Doffing (24:02.732)
So go back, as you're working in these states, these are places that traditionally someone would think, well, renewable energy is all about the Democrats and these are not democratic states, right? So how are these projects getting built in a place that from the outside looking in would be antagonistic, if not outright hostile to renewable energy project development?
Landon Redmon (24:25.294)
Yeah. So there are definitely some red states. A lot of these reps in those states are red as well. You you get your blues sprinkled in there. All of our projects are in red districts. But that front runner project in Southern Georgia that I'm going hog hunting with next week, yeah, the state rep for that project, red, far right leaning, but sees the economic benefits of this project and has reached out to me.
Landon Redmon (24:54.626)
directly and said, Hey, I want to see that project built. can, how can we get that built? Let me know if we need to work together to get over any hurdles. So they absolutely see that there's the need and the benefit from these projects. Now you don't see that everywhere. Sometimes you get the stereotypical, I'm Republican, I'm against solar wind battery just because, but at its roots, like solar wind and battery
Landon Redmon (25:24.344)
Like our Republican, it's very much a business that's not dependent on much else. It's a energy independence, U.S. born and raised business. it, it shocks me that you see the right not agreeing with that.
Kevin Doffing (25:40.962)
Yeah, it's very conservative in principle. Right? Yeah. So where do you think that disconnect? Where does that land that you end up with, especially at the federal level, you have a lot of people that are anti this, even though it's bringing jobs and economic development into districts or state? What's your take on that?
Landon Redmon (25:59.886)
I think
Landon Redmon (26:00.056)
it's just a change. think it's a change that's something people aren't exactly used to. Change isn't easy in any sense. And it's really just an educational battle. So I didn't want to get into teaching, but a lot of project development is teaching and it's just correcting misinformation. It's just enough teaching. right. So project development is like, it's everything. Project development is all the above really.
Landon Redmon (26:29.858)
Just enough of teaching to satisfy that. And it really is just teaching people about what these projects are disproving or like correcting the misinformation from all these myths about renewables and then showing the benefits, like clearly outline the facts and letting the facts speak for themselves.
Kevin Doffing (26:53.356)
No, man, I think that's right on the head. You you got to shape the battlefield you want to fight in. And I think that clear messaging is really one of the things that the industry has not gotten great at. Even in energy independence or national security, think are really big messages that are harder to land. And you got to make it more bite-sized. Like when I talk about national security, I just talk about beat China, right? That's it. We're trying to beat China. That's our national security talking point.
Kevin Doffing (27:22.7)
because we don't want to fall behind on where the puck is going. the energy sector, the energy industry is going a certain way.
Kevin Doffing (27:34.272)
regardless of what certain legislation is trying to force or EOs, you know, and we need to chase where the puck's going to be, not where it is right now or where it was in the case of trying to finance coal projects. So this is really great that you're doing this work. And I think that what you're bringing to the industry is really great. If there's other veterans that are trying to come in behind you, given, you know, you kind of had to blaze your own path into this industry.
Kevin Doffing (28:01.314)
What advice would you have for them on how to get into project development or the industry at all?
Landon Redmon (28:06.328)
Don't be afraid to reach out to people. It's going to be the same thing in the military of it didn't really matter who you're talking to. As long as you speak with them, with the addressing them properly and then with respect, you can talk to anybody about anything. There's something my drill sergeant told me back in basic. You talk to a two star as a private, you better say yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am. But you can talk to them. There's no, there's nothing prohibiting that. Right. So absolutely reach out to anybody.
Landon Redmon (28:34.112)
And everybody, there are people out there who will lend a helping hand, help you make connections, but they're not going to unless you ask them.
Kevin Doffing (28:43.79)
Yeah. Well, I mean, that's, I mean, you've been on the project Vanguard Slack channel, which is a way better iteration of than we did with the veterans advanced energy project. remember you always trying to like drop articles and stimulate conversation, but I don't think we had enough people when there was just like 15 to 20 people. Now that we got 350 people, it's a lot easier to generate conversation. What's your experience been like with that channel?
Landon Redmon (29:08.206)
it's been great. People drop job postings all the time. This morning I saw somebody like, like a site operations manager, somebody, their company's actively hiring and they're trying to fill those roles. see anything and everything in the energy industry in that Slack channel, jobs postings pop up regularly.
Kevin Doffing (29:28.59)
Yeah. No, I mean, that's where I always try to direct people now. So if a landing the intern came and found me tomorrow, I'd be like, well, let's jump you into Slack and like, let's, let's get you in there and you can go meet hundreds of people that are ready to take your phone call right now.
Landon Redmon (29:43.65)
Yeah. So it's, it's like providing warm leads for your jobs instead of cold calling.
Kevin Doffing (29:48.974)
There you are the sales guy. doesn't leave you. I have a theory that whatever your first job is, like after high school or college, you know, whenever you're like paying your own way, it's just baked into your bones. And that's one reason like the military has an outsize influence, but that was like your first job job. Like you just can't get out of that. But if your first job was sales or your first job was whatever, you never get that out of your bones. It's just always there more prominently than anything else you've done.
Landon Redmon (30:19.374)
First job out of high school, it was just for a summer, but it was a proper full-time job for the whole summer. Chick-fil-A. It took so long to break the my pleasure. I was just the Chick-fil-A guy, like freshman year of college. Just like, I'm so sorry. I can't not say my pleasure.
Kevin Doffing (30:38.904)
I'm sure your dates love that.
Landon Redmon (30:40.558)
Landon Redmon (30:41.283)
Super formal is like, okay, sure. It's kind of weird, but whatever.
Kevin Doffing (30:44.266)
Well, you got the smile for it. You're welcome. Well, Landon, any last thoughts for veterans that are considering this industry?
Landon Redmon (30:52.834)
I would absolutely do it. It's got a lot of opportunity, continuing service. It's a mission that needs to be fought and the industry wants veterans.
Kevin Doffing (31:02.326)
Absolutely. And I think we need veterans. So I mean, not just, you know, the scale and quantity of that talent pipeline coming out of the military every year, but also just the quality of the leadership and just getting things done in an emerging industry that's scaling now. So, Hey man, I really appreciate you making the time. It's always great to chat. I love how we started this and you're like, Hey, is this going to be recorded? Yes, we're recording the podcast. Just to close up on that. We did record this.
Landon Redmon (31:31.682)
Yeah.
Kevin Doffing (31:33.11)
Yeah. But thanks for taking the time, man. I know you're busy. I know that they're throwing a lot of things. It's actually over there at EDPR. And we didn't even talk about the veteran employee resource group. Can you give a quick plug for that?
Landon Redmon (31:44.194)
Yeah. So Colonel Rob Anders and myself are the co-chairs for the Veterans Synergy Group is what it's branded here. And we just kind of do stuff for our veterans, try and make sure our veterans benefits are in an organized place for them to see should they need anything. And then another big part is teaching the rest of the company about military culture. So most recently we did a.
Landon Redmon (32:13.578)
MRE lunch and learn and for our non-military listeners here and MRE is a meal ready to eat. It is the food that is used with service members when in scenarios that they don't have access to kitchens or restaurants. delicacy. So you're talking about remote locations. It's like a, it's like a military lunchable, but not as good. Think of like great value kind of canned food, but in brown pouches.
Kevin Doffing (32:42.444)
Yeah, but the peanut butter pouch. like, you can live off.
Landon Redmon (32:45.492)
Yeah, well, all right, don't don't dog on a few but now you put in
Kevin Doffing (32:48.824)
your
Kevin Doffing (32:48.984)
top pocket, you're on the rock march and then every once in you just take a little hit of that. And who hasn't just tried to dip the Folgers packet that they would sometimes slide in there just to kind of stay awake at 30.
Landon Redmon (32:52.258)
Yeah, that'll make your day.
Landon Redmon (33:01.582)
Isn't that what they deemed is like ranger dip? can put it up in a little napkin to make it a little bit better than just raw grounds in your lip.
Kevin Doffing (33:04.718)
Sounds alright.
Kevin Doffing (33:12.898)
That sounds too smart for me.
Landon Redmon (33:15.598)
Man. But yeah, so we did an MRE lunch and learn. It was great. We had a bunch of people come down to one of our big conference rooms. We had a bunch of civilians eat MREs and they're like, Hey, these aren't that bad. And we explained the context of why service members hate them is yeah, they're not that bad, but try eating them breakfast, lunch and dinner three, four weeks straight or months at a time. Anything at that frequency is going to be gross.
Landon Redmon (33:44.438)
You eat your favorite meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week straight. Tell me if you like it anymore.
Kevin Doffing (33:50.202)
week you've run out of like the Cajun jambalaya you've run out of anything you liked eating and then you're stuck with like yeah god I don't even want to remember like I'm so scarred I can't even think about it but it's like well I do need calories so I guess I'm going to consume this
Landon Redmon (34:06.154)
Yeah, at that point it's very much a, I'm gonna eat this or I'm gonna die of hunger and die of hunger is a terrible way to die in the military.
Kevin Doffing (34:15.982)
But you paused there, you paused and you had to think about it like, dying of hunger, eating this thing. All right.
Landon Redmon (34:23.896)
Well yeah, you definitely, you weigh out the pros and cons. You thought about it. And then you come to the conclusion that you have to eat it.
Kevin Doffing (34:31.049)
Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, man, thanks again for making the time. We could end on the high note of explaining to everyone what an MRE is and going down that memory lane. But, thanks, man. Appreciate it. All right, brother, we'll talk to you soon.
Landon Redmon (34:45.944)
Yeah, my pleasure.
Landon Redmon (34:48.824)
Take care.
Kevin Doffing (34:50.744)
Thanks for tuning in to the Project Vanguard podcast. this episode sparked something for you, share it with someone who's ready to think differently, whether it's about an all-the-above energy approach, how energy security is national security or the veteran workforce in our industry. If you believe what we're building, a quick review goes a long way. You can do that wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, keep up the fire.
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