Collaboration Accelerates Entry, Affordability, and Innovation in NexTech Academy Technical Coaching Curriculum Throughout HVAC, Plumbing & Electrical Trades

Nexstar Community and SkillCat Announce Expanded Partnership. Nexstar Community at this time introduced an expanded partnership with SkillCat, a trades trade innovator and Nexstar Strategic Associate. The collaboration brings collectively Nexstar’s member-driven coaching via its NexTech Academy platform and SkillCat’s mobile-first workforce improvement platform to create the trade’s first absolutely scalable, accessible, and reasonably priced coaching ecosystem for the expert trades.

By combining Nexstar’s trusted technical coaching with SkillCat’s fashionable supply instruments, the partnership goals to decrease obstacles to entry, enhance upskilling pathways, and introduce extra individuals into the trades – supporting long-term trade development via elevated workforce accessibility and retention.

SkillCat will lead the long run improvement and enlargement of NexTech Academy, permitting Nexstar to proceed its focus and refinement of delivering best-in-class enterprise, management, and frontline teaching, coaching, and confirmed providers for its membership.

“This revolutionary partnership permits Nexstar and SkillCat to concentrate on what we every do greatest whereas extra deeply serving our members and our trades,” stated Julian Scadden, President and CEO of Nexstar Community. “SkillCat gives a dynamic and scalable expertise that helps learners succeed at each stage of their profession – from entry-level, to apprenticeship, to accreditations. Combining our strengths, this partnership affords expanded coaching entry to the broader trades group whereas persevering with to offer a seamless expertise for our members.”

What Nexstar Members Can Count on

Members with a NexTech subscription will proceed to completely entry the identical proprietary and related technical coaching platform in the course of the transition, Scadden famous, in addition to added advantages powered by SkillCat together with:

• Entry to 300,000+ energetic job seekers on SkillCat’s community;
• Added accessibility to important certifications (EPA 608/609, NATE, OSHA-10/30) via SkillCat’s mobile-first coaching platform;
• 500+ extra hours of technical coaching content material;
• SkillCat’s cellular studying app for versatile, on-the-go coaching;
• Customized studying plans and pre-hire assessments;
• On-demand movies, manuals, error codes, and troubleshooting guides.

“Our founding imaginative and prescient is to assist over one million individuals construct profitable careers within the trades,” stated Ruchir Shah, CEO and Founding father of SkillCat. “Partnering extra deeply with Nexstar permits us to speed up our mission. As we improve our expertise with NexTech’s unmatched experience and impartial member group, collectively we’re excited to open extra pathways into the trades and help extra success tales with each interplay.”

Scadden estimates by mid-2026 NexTech Academy and SkillCat could have accomplished their effort to mix the member-owned group’s confirmed coaching content material with SkillCat’s revolutionary supply mannequin and enhanced academic providing. Proprietary Nexstar teaching and coaching occasions exterior of NexTech will stay obtainable solely to Nexstar members.

“That is an thrilling evolution as two of our trade’s high technical coaching packages construct one thing stronger, higher, and well-suited for the long run,” added Scadden. “Our members will proceed to obtain the unique content material and help they rely upon via a platform constructed to scale their success.”