New Information Technology Pathways Program announced in Lehi
Val Hale, GOED’s executive director, speaks about the importance of the new IT Pathways Program announced Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
Utah Valley University President Matthew Holland speaks with a panel of educators on the importance of the new IT Pathways Program announced Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
Gov. Gary Herbert speaks about the importance of the new IT Pathways Program announced Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
Utah educators and business leaders mingle after the announcement of Utah's new IT Pathways Program announced Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Silicon Slopes announced Wednesday the newest Talent Ready Utah initiative — the IT Pathways Program — and lauded it as an important part of Utah’s economic future.
“The IT Pathways Program will fill critical workforce needs in our state and ensure the continued success of Utah’s tech industry,” said Gov. Gary Herbert. “This program will be an important investment — for education, for our growing workforce, for the IT industry and for economic opportunity — in other words, for Utah’s future.”
Following on the heels of GOED’s aerospace, medical innovations, and diesel tech pathways programs, this newest partnership will work with educational and technology companies to create a career pathway to train Utah’s tech workforce. Ginger Chinn, one of GOED’s managing directors, explained that Wednesday’s announcement is one of the first steps towards creating a program that will meet the needs of the tech industry. And there are multiple needs within this industry, outside of coders.
“There are a lot of jobs in tech, and tech isn’t just a software engineer,” said Cathy Donahoe, vice president of human resources at Domo.
Wednesday’s announcement was made at the Silicon Slopes headquarters in Lehi and featured an education panel with Matthew S. Holland, president of Utah Valley University; Deneece G. Huftalin, president of Salt Lake Community College; Noelle E. Cockett, president of Utah State University; and Dave R. Woolstenhulme, commissioner of the Utah System of Technical Colleges. They discussed current and potential strategies to prepare Utah students from even a young age to enter the tech workforce.
Cockett discussed concentrated pathways at the high school level that will help this program, and suggested building “stackable credentials” within the program to allow people to enter the tech workforce at various stages in their learning. The panel backed her up, saying that one of the key points of this pathways program is to educate students and parents about these different educational entry points — and to emphasize that many of on-ramps to careers in technology do not require a four-year degree.
“We’ve done a terrific job in the state of Utah of encouraging students to get a four-year degree, but there are a lot of high school grads who say, ‘Wow, I just don’t see myself there.’ We need to encourage, and really congratulate people when they take the technical skills direction as well,” she added. “Both types of education are needed in Utah.”
Holland explained that today’s children are growing up in a different workforce than their parents, one where technical skills are vital to career success.
“We need to educate students, and parents, about the new economy, and what it takes to prosper in the new economy, and what kind of skillsets are required,” he said. “This has to be a statewide effort. That’s what I see coming together this morning,”
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016 the state had the greatest percentage of tech job growth in the nation at 7.69 percent. Careers in software and information technology represent more than 68,000 jobs among more than 4,000 companies. The IT Pathways program is designed to help ensure the continued growth and success of Utah’s tech industry.
“This is the culmination of a lot of effort,” said Val Hale, GOED’s executive director. “Our secret sauce in this state is collaboration. This public-private partnership of this IT Pathways Program is going to make a huge difference as we move forward in the state.”
Chinn said the IT Pathways Program will roll out as quickly as possible once education, technology and state leaders identify the skills and education programs needed. For more information about the IT Pathways Program and other state workforce initiatives, visit talentreadyutah.com.