Jacksonville-based SkillStorm has partnered with the University of Tampa to launch two tech skills-building programs in the hopes it turns the region into a “talent tech hub.”
UT and SkillStorm said Wednesday they were launching an “accelerator program” and “emerging tech program,” both aimed at filling talent gaps in the Sunshine State.
“Against the backdrop of a rapidly changing labor market, companies nationwide are turning to new models of education and training that can help fill critical tech talent gaps,” SkillStorm COO Joe Mitchell said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with a top university in the Tampa Bay area to build a tech talent hub that will help companies seeking to access talent certified in today’s most in-demand technologies.”
Both programs are open to non-UT graduates, although UT students will have priority in the programs.
The accelerator program will help students gain certifications in enterprise technologies like Amazon Web Services, Salesforce and Pega. It will be taught through online and in-person training courses.
The emerging tech program will hire recent college graduates, veterans and transitioning service members with strong technology backgrounds. Participants will go through a 12-week course of training before redistributing them to SkillStorm’s clients of Fortune 500 companies and government integrators.
The latest partnership builds upon UT’s growing technology focus, which includes the construction of a six-story, 91,000-square-foot technology building in the heart of campus. Roughly 600 students are enrolled in the school’s technology programs, ranging from certifications to graduate degrees.
“UT already has a broad array of quality information technology programs; however, we envision adding further opportunities for students,” UT President Ronald Vaughn said in a statement. “The partnership with SkillStorm is a tremendous asset, not only for students but also for area technology companies.”
The university talent pipeline is essential not only for existing companies but for potential transplants. Technology companies that have expanded in recent years to Tampa, including Boston-based companies Drift and Rapid7, have cited the surrounding universities as indicators of a potential talent pipeline.
“It was a deliberate expansion into the Tampa market; we wanted to be part of the vibrant community,” said Bruce Zambrowicz, Drift’s VP of global talent and acquisition, in a previous interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “It’s a great group of individuals in the innovation space, and there’s also access to incredible talent.”
