RELEASE: White House names Austin a TechHire Community

Microsoft, Google & IBM to provide paid tech internships in Austin for 200 veteran and low-income graduates from accelerated training programs at ACC, Texas State University, Zenith

In the run-up to the President’s trip to Austin to speak at SXSWi, the White House announced today that Austin had been designated a TechHire Community. The White House’s year-old TechHire Initiative is designed to develop homegrown information technology workforce.

“In my State of our City address last month, I promised to make workforce development in tech a special focus of this year. The White House designating Austin a TechHire Community reflects the real progress we are making. The TechHire Initiative will help us create the best, most-effective job training ecosystem in the country. Austin is good at creating jobs. This will make us better at getting our own people ready to take those jobs.”

Austin received this designation because Microsoft, Google Fiber, Google, and IBM are advising and working with the City of Austin to provide opportunities for up to 200 graduates from accelerated training programs for veterans and low-income residents at Austin Community College, Texas State University, and Zenith Education Group to interview for paid internships or similar offerings when they complete their programs.

Joining the Mayor at a press conference today were Drew Scheberle of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Mark Madrid of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Gerardo Interiano of Google, Sandy Dochen of IBM, Mike Midgley and Dr. Molly Beth Malcolm of ACC, Dr. Todd Sherron of Texas State University, Rudy Rodriguez of the International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners, Randy Steinle of Onsupport, a Microsoft Channel Partner, Eric Hungate of Exsquared, a Microsoft Channel Partner, Juanita Budd of Austin Free-Net, and officials from the City of Austin, among others.

Austin’s accelerated programmer training initiative fulfils the three requirements of the TechHire initiative: 1) using data and innovative hiring practices to expand openness to non-traditional hiring, 2) expanding accelerated tech training programs, and 3) getting local leadership to connect people to jobs with hiring on-ramp programs, such as paid internships with training components.

“We are the most economically segregated metropolitan area, and we have to do big things to address our affordability crisis,” said Mayor Adler. “Workforce development in the tech sector is a big way we can transform Austin into a great city by focusing on the flip side of affordability, and that’s helping people make more money.”

White House fact sheet on TechHire Initiative