New Mentor Center to offer mentorship, resources, and education to develop local tech talent and grow businesses
JEFFERSON CITY – Continuing Missouri’s leadership in new business formation, Gov. Jay Nixon today announced St. Louis-based startup, LaunchCode, is opening its new collaborative tech training space in North St. Louis City on Delmar. The LaunchCode Mentor Center will house the organization’s technology education and training program and serve as the hub for collaborative initiatives with several other like-minded partners.
“The LaunchCode Mentor Center illustrates what can be accomplished when we work together to improve our communities, our economy and our state,” said Gov. Nixon. “LaunchCode is building a bridge for members of the community to access next-generation tech training, and for growing businesses to access a pipeline of trained workers.”
LaunchCode partners with educators and employers in 10 states to offer high-quality pathways to education and jobs in technology through paid apprenticeships and job placement. Over 90 percent of LaunchCode apprentices are converted to permanent hires within 90 days. Earlier this year, President Obama recognized the St. Louis-based program as a national model for bridging the talent gap in high tech industries.
The Mentor Center now serves as the physical location of LaunchCode’s administrative office where it employs a staff of 28. Renovations of the new 10,000 sq. ft. space took place over the summer and fall.
Today celebrates the opening of the center’s communal space as well as access to its educational programs and services. LaunchCode assembled a number of local partners including Blue1647, a coding education program based in Chicago that LaunchCode brought to St. Louis, The Roy Clay Sr. Technology Institute, CoderGirl, and CS50x, among others, to develop a local pipeline of tech talent to meet the demands of growing companies. Those enrolled in the program can access classes, workshops, and on-on-one mentorship for free or reduced costs.
According to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center, the demand for information technology occupations continues to grow with nearly nine in 10 industries in Missouri employ information technology workers.
The state of Missouri is partnering with LaunchCode, offering support through the Youth Opportunities Program ($250,000 tax credit), the Missouri Works Program ($354,600 in tax credits) for creating 20 new full-time jobs at the center, and the Community Development Block Grant program ($1 million) to help expand job placement programs. In addition to these programs administered by the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the state’s Division of Workforce Development is also partnering with LaunchCode on providing entry-level tech training residents from the community. This summer, Missouri also provided support for the organization to expand its apprenticeship and job-placement program to Kansas City.
Earlier this week, newly released census data showed Missouri leading the nation in new business creation. While the vast majority of states saw a drop in the number of new firms created, new business creation in Missouri surged by 16 percent in 2013, more than any other state in the nation.
