Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico have become part of a growing tech ecosystem which focuses on obtaining tech jobs for deserving people that may be overlooked. Santa Fe has joined national network of 71 TechHire communities that will be expanding their local tech sector while offering more tech opportunities to local residents.
“We are very pleased to welcome Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico to the TechHire Initiative,” said Tess Posner, Managing Director of TechHire at Opportunity@Work, Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico have demonstrated a true commitment to making opportunities in tech more inclusive, and we at Opportunity@Work look forward to working with you to help implement, grow, and amplify your efforts.”
Community Learning Network joined forces with StartUp Santa Fe to submit the TechHire proposal and put together a regional Tech Task Force to help start the TechHire program in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico to develop the tech ecosystem. The program involves constructing online Tech services including a Tech Business Directory and a site featuring interviews and educational material from local tech professionals. The program will feature educational opportunities along with Tech business enterprises and innovators. It will also promote local Santa Fe Tech events, workshops, summer camps, and training programs. The goal is to support Tech training for more than 500 local Santa Fe residents by 2020. To help achieve this goal, 8-week Coding Bootcamps are being organized to train regional software developers in 2017. This will take place through a partnership with Cultivating Coders, an Albuquerque-based accelerator training provider that focuses on facilitating intensive Tech training programs for rural communities.
“My priority the past two and a half years has been investing city resources and time in developing the homegrown skill sets our people need to grow our economy and access jobs that provide real wage growth and upward social mobility,” said Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales. “Those investments in initiatives like StartUp Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Film Office and more are paying off. Our path forward will be defined by our ability to make good careers available to the next generation of kids growing up in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, and we can’t wait to get started on making this region the next leader in technology industries and opportunities.”
Here is a list of the 19 communities that are joining the National TechHire Initiative to create a tech ecosystem:
- Alachua and Bradford Counties, FL
- Anchorage, AK
- Arizona
- Carroll County, MD
- Central Florida
- El Paso County, TX
- Bellevue, WA
- Boston, MA
- Howard County, MD
- Mobile, AL
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Pensacola, FL
- Puerto Rico
- Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
- Stamford, CT
- Tampa Bay Metro Region, FL
- Toledo, OH
- Trenton City, NJ
- Tulsa, OK