FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2016
Contact: Michael Schirling
802.316.0478
mike@btvignite.com
City of Burlington Named a White House TechHire City
Burlington, VT – BTV Ignite Executive Director Michael Schirling today announced that the City of Burlington has been named a White House TechHire community, part of a multisector White House initiative to link area employers with Burlingtonians, growing the local tech workforce and empowering community members with the skills they would need for wellpaying jobs in innovation and technology. The City of Burlington and BTV Ignite will partner with local educational institutions and employers to train and employ 75 tech workers in 2016 and 400 tech workers through 2020. Key employers, workforce intermediaries, and training partners include the Vermont HITEC Institute for American Apprenticeship at Burlington College, Champlain College, the University of Vermont (UVM), Vermont Technical College, Community College of Vermont, the UVM Medical Center, the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Vermont Technology Alliance.
“The tech economy in the greater Burlington area and throughout Vermont is robust and growing to provide great jobs and opportunities, and fueling the longstanding
spirit of innovation in our community,” said Mike Schirling, Executive Director of BTV Ignite. “The ongoing commitment renewed today by employers large and small and a wide array of talented education and training partners is illustrative of the strength and breadth of the commitment to this important sector of our economy now and into the future. We have anticipated this designation as a TechHire City since October 2015 and are grateful to the White House for their recognition of our collective goals for the future. I am particularly grateful to the Ignite partners, our employers, and the training partners led by VT HITEC who have stepped forward to
accelerate the pace of training, education, and growth.”
“Burlington is well-positioned to grow jobs of the future and foster economic development in the City and the region. Today’s welcome news of our community’s designation as a White House TechHire City is validation of our work together,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Our efforts to build this critical part of our local economy are working and gaining national recognition, as well as local traction and focus with area employers. Burlington’s TechHire designation demonstrates the importance of innovation and our collective drive to enhance tech capacity in Burlington and beyond.”
The City of Burlington and BTV Ignite —a multi-institution tech partnership—has rallied broad support from local workforce intermediaries, education and training providers, employers, and employer associations to improve career pathways for tech jobs. Working within the White House TechHire model, Burlington’s publicprivate
collaborative will train and place 75 tech workers in 2016 and seek to train and place 400 tech workers through 2020. With support from the Vermont HITEC Institute for American Apprenticeship at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Vermont Technical College, Girl Develop IT, and Vermont Works for Women, and led by bootcamp style trainings and apprenticeships delivered by Vermont HITEC, the greater Burlington area is poised to rapidly increase training capacity to deliver skilled
workers to local employers. These employers include Dealer.com, UVM, MyWebGrocer, the UVM Medical Center, NPI, Inc., Vermont Information Processing, Logic Supply, Vermont Design Works, Higher Turnover, Smart Resource Labs, PAR SpringerMiller, Allscripts, Bear Code, Agilion Apps, Husky Injection Molding, Vermont Precision Tools, and companies within the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Technology Alliance. Each employer has committed to hire qualified candidates emerging from training programs delivered by partner educational institutions and from new coding boot camps, created with support from community partners.
BTV Ignite is the Burlington, VT arm of the US Ignite initiative. Originally announced in October 2013, BTV Ignite’s mission is to facilitate collaborative efforts between public, private, educational, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial partners to grow and attract techcentric talent, leveraging Burlington’s Citywide gigabit Internet infrastructure and 21st century application development to create the conditions for sustainable techcentric economic growth.
US Ignite is a nonprofit organization, launched in 2012 with inspiration from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Both see it as a 21st century competitive necessity for the United States to take advantage of next-generation technologies. US Ignite’s mission is to foster the creation of 60 next-generation Internet applications – from a network of 200 communities, like Burlington – that will provide transformative public benefit in six sectors of the economy: healthcare, education, public safety, energy, transportation, and advanced manufacturing.
To participate in BTV Ignite discussions or initiatives, please contact Michael Schirling at mike@btvignite.com.
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