As the Russian threat against Ukraine intensified, so did efforts by Terra Dotta, a Chapel Hill technology firm that works with universities to help them manage study abroad programs.
CEO Anthony Rotoli said it was a flashback to what happened in the early days of the pandemic when universities went into crisis mode.
“We had a lot of schools come to us and say, ‘where is everybody?’” Rotoli said.
The firm was proactive, putting together threat assessment reports for schools with students in Ukraine and Russia.
“Institutions we have been working with in the past two to three weeks have pulled their people back,” he said. “We got ahead of it.”
Rotoli said the situation is more proof that his company's business is needed – and part of why it plans to grow 25 percent this year. Right now, Terra Dotta is at about 75 employees. The plan is to hire across the board, particularly in technology roles.
Demand for the company's services has been growing. The pandemic had schools seeing “the power of what we do and how important it was for managing all of their programs,” Rotoli said.
Study abroad programs are bouncing back. Rotoli said upwards of 80 to 90 percent of Terra Dotta's partners will see their programs return later this year after being paused because of the pandemic. The company serves more than 600 colleges and universities.
A recent Terra Dotta survey of more than 140 college students showed 72 percent of them want to study abroad in 2022.
Rotoli said he realizes the tech talent market is tough. But he said the company’s exposure helps to differentiate it from other tech firms in the region.
