S.O.S.T. becomes Corrodere’s official US training provider

Corrodere Academy is pleased to announce Straight Outta Surface Training (S.O.S.T.) as its first official training partner and representative in the United States.

Under the partnership, S.O.S.T. will represent Corrodere Academy throughout the USA, promoting, selling and delivering internationally recognised training programmes, including Train the painter. The partnership will provide contractors, asset owners, inspectors and coatings professionals across the United States with greater access to structured training and recognised workforce development pathways.

Straight Outta Surface Training was established to address the growing demand for practical, structured training within the US corrosion and protective coatings industry. Amy Kemper founded the business after recognising the difference that formal training had made to Kris’s career and the lack of recognised development pathways available to many applicators across the industry.

For Kris Kemper, partnering with Corrodere Academy was the natural next step.

“Amy watched me spend years advancing in this field without any real formal foundation, relying on instinct and self-taught knowledge until I finally sought out proper training later in my career. I actually first came across Train the painter over 10 years ago and have used it internationally ever since, so I’ve seen firsthand how effective the programme is across different markets. Over time, people across the industry kept coming to us asking for a real solution to that same training gap – so we went and found it, and now we’re bringing it to the people who need it most.”

The partnership comes at an important time for the US corrosion and protective coatings industry, where workforce shortages and the need for recognised competency continue to present significant challenges.

“Workforce shortage and skills verification. There’s no consistent, industry-wide way to prove an applicator’s actual competency, and an aging, experienced workforce is retiring faster than it’s being replaced.”

Corrodere Academy’s internationally recognised training programmes provide a structured pathway for workforce development, helping companies develop skilled applicators while giving contractors, inspectors and asset owners greater confidence in workforce competency.

“At the applicator level – hands-on surface prep and coating application skill. Inspection and engineering have solid certification pathways; the trades themselves have historically lacked that same structured progression.”

Train the painter’s tiered pathway, from trainee Orange through to Gold, enables companies to build long-term workforce development programmes while providing individuals with recognised milestones throughout their careers.

“It’s structured, scalable, and tiered – Orange, Bronze, Silver, Gold – so companies and training providers can build a real development pathway instead of one-off classes with no progression.”

The benefits extend across the entire supply chain, from contractors and inspectors to asset owners and applicators.

“Contractors get a verifiable, tiered skills benchmark for hiring and quality assurance. Inspectors and asset owners get confidence that the crew on-site meets a real standard – not just a name on a resume.”

Looking ahead, Kris sees significant opportunities to improve training standards across the United States.

“Between industrial, infrastructure, marine, and energy sector coatings work, there’s a large population of applicators who’ve never had access to a credentialing pathway like this – and honestly, this is the same gap people in the industry have been asking us to solve for years.”

“I’d like to see it help raise the bar = a recognized, consistent standard that asset owners and contractors alike can point to, and that gives applicators a real, respected career path in this trade, so nobody has to learn it the hard way like I did.”

Andrew Deere, Managing Director of Corrodere Academy, said:

“We’re delighted to welcome Straight Outta Surface Training as Corrodere Academy’s first official training partner in the United States. Amy and Kris share our mission of raising standards through high-quality training, and we’re excited to work together to make our internationally recognised programmes more accessible across the USA.”