Top Organinizations Launch IT “Boot Camp” to Train, Employ Rhode Islanders

Saturday, January 29, 2011

GoLocalProv Business Team

In order to meet the demands of future job growth opportunities in the region, the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island, Tech Collective, Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, and TCP Learning, have teamed to launch of the RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp. This first of its kind 15 week RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp is designed to provide industry-endorsed technical and soft skills training with the goal of creating fulltime participant employment - jobs that are aligned with private and public sector needs.

With Rhode Island suffering through an 11.5% (Dec. 2010) unemployment rate, the Boot Camp is aimed at getting people trained and prepared to succeed in Knowledge Economy careers. Research provided by Tech Collective and reaffirmed by the Federal Reserve identify that the IT industry is one of the fastest growing and highest paid industries across the country, projected to grow 20% between 2006 and 2016 in Rhode Island.

Launch Phase

In this launch phase, sixteen unemployed and underemployed Rhode Islanders will pilot the Winter/Spring 2011 RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp program with a curriculum including: CompTIA and other technical certifications, industry tours and speakers, customer service skills, job seeking and interview coaching, and a four week internship-style experiential learning segment at a Rhode Island IT company or department. In the final stages of the program, Tech Collective and TCP Learning will be working with local businesses to help as many Boot Camp participants as possible be in the process of or have secured fulltime, entry-level industry employment.

Employers Goals

“As an employer planning on hiring in the near future, the RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp is invaluable to us,” said Jim McAssey, Vice President of local technology company, Brave River Solutions, “We have shared a collaborative voice and role in the Boot Camp’s creation, and when it comes time to look at hiring these participants, we will know the quality of the training they have gone through. The Boot Camp is a great cause, one that is helping people enter into the IT field and increase the talent and viability of the Rhode Island technology community.”

According to Tech Collective, "Over half of Rhode Island employers surveyed report they are inadequately staffed in IT and have difficulty in hiring needed skills sets."

Companies Join the Effort

In addition to Brave River Solutions, several other local technology leaders are participants of the Boot Camp, including: AIPSO, Atrion Networking Corporation, Dominion Diagnostics, EPAC Software, GTECH Corporation, Hasbro, Lighthouse Computer Services, PC Troubleshooters, RINET, and SIMULIA.

The RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp is owned and managed by Tech Collective, Rhode Island’s IT Industry Association and the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island’s Information Technology Industry Partner. The Boot Camp is funded through the Governor’s Workforce Board of Rhode Island and Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island’s Information Technology Industry Skills Development Initiative (ISDI) grant. TCP Learning is the contracted RI_WORKS_IT Boot Camp training provider.

Boot Camp Participants:

More than 70 Rhode Islanders inquired into the Boot Camp program and were screened in close conjunction with state netWORKri offices and TCP Learning staff. Further interviews and evaluations drove the selection of the final 16 Boot Camp participants. Currently unemployed or underemployed, the participants bring to the program with them a variety of education and career experiences, ranging from recent high school graduate to Yale University graduate, from former EMT trainee to career-long boiler mechanic. Two of the participants serve in the National Guard. Six of the participants are female and 11 are male, an approximate 50:50 ratio that rates far better than the industry average of one female technology professional for every four male technology professionals.

Based on the findings and recommendations of the IT Skills Gap Report, it was clear that content for the Boot Camp was critical, needing to not only teach proficiency in the technical skills, but also, and moreover, the soft, customer service skills. Tech Collective worked extensively with industry representatives from companies of all areas of specialty and sizes to garner first-hand strategic direction into the curriculum content, experiential learning opportunities, and overall approach the Boot Camp should entail.

The Need

“There are three critical and pioneering aspects to the Boot Camp,” said Kathie Shields, executive director of Tech Collective, “it is created and driven by employers..and it is designed and supported to get people into viable, sustainable, and in-demand jobs. This program has been three years in the making and we are ecstatic to be working with the Governor’s Workforce Board, Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, TCP Learning, and, above all, the Rhode Island IT employers, to bring the Boot Camp to fruition and make a difference in not only the lives of sixteen people, but also our employers and community as a whole.”

"The IT Boot Camp is a great example of workforce development in action,” said Joseph J. MarcAurele, chairman of the Governor's Workforce Board and CEO of Washington Trust. “Our Industry Partnership, Tech Collective, has relied on input from the private sector to build a demand-driven program targeting those job seekers most likely to benefit from this intensive training. The Governor's Workforce Board is particularly proud to have financed such an innovative and thoughtful approach to skill building and workforce expansion, and we hope that it serves as a model for other industry clusters in the New England region."

The new program will be hosted in Providence, Rhode Island.