KC Tech Council’s apprenticeship program launches with job growth hopes from Davids, Cleaver
January 27, 2021 | Startland News Staff
A freshly launched partnership between KC Tech Council and Apprenti — designed to cultivate tech skills and offer first-hand experience for apprentices — is a solid fit for Kansas City’s talent needs, two members of the metro’s U.S. congressional delegation agreed.
“I truly believe that entrepreneurship is baked into the DNA of our region,” U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, told an online audience Tuesday. “I’m so glad that we have organizations like Apprenti recognizing that investing in the entrepreneurial spirit we have here is so important … I’m optimistic that this is going to be a big benefit not just for Kansans but for the employers in the third congressional district in the metro area.”
Davids, who represents Kansas’ third district, sits on the House Small Business Committee and previously founded an entrepreneur-focused podcast, “Starty Pants.”
Click here to read more about how the KC Tech Council hopes its partnership with Apprenti will help fill 4,000 vacant tech positions.
Erin Christensen, KC Tech Council, Apprenti
“We all know that two of the biggest challenges facing the tech industry are a lack of talent, but also a lack of diversity. … With over 70 percent of our apprentices being women, veterans and/or people of color, Apprenti has a proven model for diversifying tech talent across the country,” said Erin Christensen, KC Tech Council’s program manager for Apprenti, on Tuesday during the organization’s online “Tapping into Talent” event.
Joining Davids with a pre-recorded video, U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, said the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession it caused mean Kansas City needs a strong tech workforce and innovative training programs more than ever.
“As the representative for Missouri’s fifth congressional district and as a member of the House Financial Services Committee, I’m always on the lookout for new and promising developments that demonstrate economic progress for my district,” Cleaver said. “Apprenti certainly seems to fit that bill.”
Bringing the program to Kansas City feels like a “homecoming,” said Jennifer Carlson, co-founder of Apprenti and an Overland Park native.
Click here to watch the full online event.
By Tuesday, Apprenti had already gathered 160 applicants for Kansas City’s tech market, Christensen said. Employers are excited to engage the potential apprentices in areas ranging from cybersecurity to software development, according to event speakers from such organizations as BARR Advisory and CertTech.
“Some of [the applicants] are from Kansas and Missouri. But a good chunk of them — because we are just now doing our official launch — are from other markets [and] are interested in coming to Kansas City,” she noted. “Imagine the opportunity to not only cultivate local talent but also relocate talent to Kansas City.”
For more information on how a businesses can partner with Apprenti, or how individuals can sign up for an apprenticeship, email Christensen at: Erin@kctechcouncil.com
Featured Business
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Not just a pet project: Why this KC e-commerce team adopted a dog supplement brand as its own
The Morgans — the family behind Marknology, a bootstrapped digital marketing firm specializing in Amazon sales — are taking a dog supplement brand that they built as a client to the next level now as owners, they shared. Waggedy — veterinarian-formulated supplements to keep dogs healthy and active, launched by Ben Bellinson in 2015 in…
She’s the mixologist of melt: Jess Priemer blends a cocktail of Kansas City into candle scents
With niche blends like 18th & Vine (whiskey, tobacco, and rose) and KC BBQ (hickory, oak, and BBQ sauce), Jess Priemer evokes memories and local landmarks with the lighting of each wick. Her candles are the best part of what makes Kansas City uniquely home, she said. “I love this city, like everybody else around…
Inside grantmaker’s ‘major shift’: Here’s how dreaming big could help rural communities thrive
The Patterson Family Foundation is committed to helping rural communities in Kansas and western Missouri thrive, said Chris Harris, noting the foundation’s new grantmaking strategy expands that access more broadly across its priority region. The Kansas City-based Patterson Family Foundation — founded in 2007 by Neal Patterson, the late Cerner CEO and co-founder, and his…
With the world tanking, this entrepreneur descaled opportunity from the bottom of your dentist’s aquarium
Brian Blake didn’t just start Merriam-based Boodleshire Aquatics; the biologist and lifelong lover of aquatic life built it from a moment of pause. He always dreamed of turning his passion into a business — returning to water at times throughout his career — but the push to take that leap came in an unexpected way.…