Venture for America fellows alongside partnered startups and supporting organizations met Wednesday to highlight the growth of the program in San Antonio and its potential for attracting young professionals to the Alamo City's work force.
The mixer event was held in partnership with Geekdom and The 80/20 Foundation.
The Venture for America program, a two-year fellowship program for recently-graduated aspiring entrepreneurs, partners with local startups and other organizations to place high-performing, young professionals in local entry-level positions.
Tom Cuthbert, Chairman of Sales City Group — a local sales training, development and coaching company – said Wednesday the organization hired its first VFA Fellow, Hollis Rudd, about a year and a half ago. She moved from North Carolina and was placed in the executive development program. She was so successful in the role that the company went on to hire another VFA fellow a year later and is now looking to hire four more.
The program attracts intelligent young professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset and strong team-building skills, Cuthbert said. While it has great potential to attract young talent to the city, he cautioned partner companies must do the work to retain them.
"For us to attract and retain this level of talent ... we have to make sure we create opportunities for these young people to come in and succeed," he said. First, companies must involve them in the local community and support them; second, they must compensate them fairly; third, they must show them next steps for their career so at the end of the fellowship they're more likely to remain with San Antonio companies.
Rudd, Sales City Group's first fellow, said the fellowships are very competitive, and fellows are primarily looking for mentorship, room to develop their careers, and hoping to work with passionate and ambitious teams.
Since 2014, the national nonprofit has placed more than 50 fellows in San Antonio, and fellows have worked for more than 30 companies in the area — including Scaleworks Associates and Big Sun Solar. Local fellows have gone on to launch 11 local startups.
Ed Byrne, co-founder and general partner of Scaleworks, said getting entrepreneurial graduates who want to join small companies and startups is a great way to add talent to local work force.
"The more startup-hungry smart graduates that move to San Antonio, the better for the ecosystem here," he said.
Startups founded by VFA fellows include FloatMe, Sendspark, Pinch Boil House and the recently announced Wurst Behavior beer garden.
Sarah Olivarez, Director of San Antonio's Venture for America arm, said local fellows have been extremely successful. With its boots-on-the-ground approach, the program enables young professionals to gain hands-on experience of what it takes to run a company.
“They’re an incredible group of future entrepreneurs who want to lean in and learn from leaders willing to teach them," she said.
