After watching the NSCA Education Foundation’s workforce initiatives create opportunities for growth, Edge’s Mike Boettcher decided to join the action.
For a decade, as he served on the NSCA Board of Directors, Edge President Mike Boettcher had a front-row view of how NSCA’s nonprofit arm, the NSCA Education Foundation, shapes the future of commercial integration.
Serving NSCA beginning in 2014, and becoming president in 2021, he watched the organization’s education and workforce initiatives create real opportunities for growth. From bringing more talent into the industry to offering career-advancing scholarships that support training and leadership development, Boettcher was ready to be part of the Foundation’s impact more directly.
“Once my term was up with the NSCA Board of Directors, and after a conversation with NSCA CEO Emeritus Chuck Wilson, I jumped over to actively support the Foundation’s efforts,” Boettcher explains. “I wanted to do what I could to carry on the cause.”
From Board Leadership to Foundation Impact
Acknowledging the industry’s ongoing struggle to find and develop talent, Boettcher believes the Foundation’s programs are key to keeping integrators relevant within the greater technology ecosystem. In Commercial Integrator’s 2025 State of the Industry report, for example, more than three-quarters of integrators cite talent challenges as a top concern, with lack of qualified candidates being the leading obstacle to growth.
“As they become more intertwined with other low-voltage disciplines, integrators need to maintain their competitive advantage so they’re part of future opportunities,” says Boettcher. “The Foundation is intentionally building that advantage by bringing new people into the field and giving them the skills and support they need to stay.”
On a Quest to Keep Integrators Relevant
On a more personal level, Boettcher’s own career has been shaped by many of the principles that guide the Foundation: mentorship, accountability, and shared learning.
“People invested time and energy to help me collaborate on ideas, learn about new technologies, and hold me accountable for getting things done,” he says. Those relationships changed the trajectory of his career, and he wants to do the same for the next generation.
Today, he’s a member of the NSCA Education Foundation Board of Directors, helping guide initiatives that support workforce development, education, and mentorship. While his time with NSCA was centered on effectively operating an integration firm, the shift to support NSCA’s nonprofit arm gives him the opportunity to create the same career-shaping moments for others that he experienced.
Whether it’s helping fund the Randy Vaughan Founder’s Award to help professionals attend the Business & Leadership Conference (BLC) or supporting initiatives like Ignite and the John Greene Mentorship Award, he sees the Foundation’s efforts as investments in people—and a way to help solve major workforce challenges for integrators.
Paying It Forward to the Next Generation
While recruitment is an important part of the industry workforce equation, Boettcher also believes that mentorship is critical to help develop and support new employees. “They will be the ones moving our industry forward, so building their confidence and providing a path for growth will accelerate that process.”
That belief in the power of mentorship is one reason the legacy of John Greene and the Foundation’s John Greene Mentorship Award means so much to Boettcher.
“Whether he was in the office with his staff or at an industry event, John was always going out of his way to take someone under his wing, develop their decision-making abilities, pull them into networking situations, or be their advocate,” says Boettcher. “He played a vital role in the professional development of so many talented people.”
Boettcher played an instrumental role in formalizing a way to recognize those qualities in others. It was his suggestion that the Foundation create an awards program that honors individuals who invest in others and model the kind of support Greene was known for—and to name the program after Greene.
“This is how you pay it forward,” Boettcher says. “NSCA and the Foundation have meant a lot to me through the years, both personally and professionally, and I have grown tremendously through their efforts. So, I will keep doing what I can to help with the cause.”
