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White House picks Akron/Summit for TechHire community

August 9, 2016

The White House has selected Akron and Summit County to be part of TechHire Communities, which aims to employ 400 people in the county in tech industry by the end next year.

President Barack Obama hosted the first-ever Demo Day Aug. 4 and Summit Workforce Solutions President, Sue Lacy, was on hand to represent Akron at the White House event.

TechHire is an innovative multi-sector initiative and call to action that empowers Americans by providing them with the tech skills they need, through universities and community colleges, non-traditional training and high-quality online courses. Jobseekers can be trained rapidly, often in a few months, for a well-paying job.

As part of TechHire Communities, Summit County and Akron will be asked to submit a grant request to the U.S. Department of Labor that could result in a $2 million to $6 million grant designed to train and place 400 job seekers from Akron and Summit County into internships and jobs in the tech industry by the end of 2016.

Summit Workforce Solutions coordinated the initial application and will serve as the lead organization for the initiative. The application will be submitted this fall with the anticipated announcement of the award to be made in early 2016.

A group of local partners led by the Akron Global Business Accelerator (a technology business incubator) and Summit Workforce Solutions submitted a letter of commitment about a month ago, articulating how training, community college, higher education, government and businesses are prepared to work together to train and place hundreds of people in good-paying tech jobs.

“We’ve already had great success at the Akron Accelerator through our client/partner Software Craftsmanship Guild,” says Anthony Margida Ph.D.,CEO of Akron Accelerator. “In just a little over a year, more than one hundred people have been trained to become sufficiently proficient in writing code, AND the employment rate for graduates is better than 95 percent.”

If Akron receives funding as a TechHire Community, the Akron Accelerator plans to offer free classes in coding online, with the Akron-Summit County Public Library and the BAIC offering facilities free to enrollees, according to Margida.

“The county is ready to take on this new initiative, and to be successful,” said County Executive Russ Pry. “Our Summit Workforce Solutions already works with a cross sector of businesses, educators, government and organizations that are crucial to the success of this initiative.”

More than 20 communities nationwide are already involved in the first phase of the TechHire initiative. Programs and processes already in place in these communities will aid in the creation of local collaborations and partnerships to foster success.

Read original article here.

Staff. (2015, August 9). White House picks Akron/Summit for TechHire Community. Stow Sentry. Retrieved from http://www.stowsentry.com/news%20local/2015/08/09/white-house-picks-akron-summit-for-techhire-community.