The first event will take place in the morning on Thursday, April 19, and will feature speaker Marco Floreani with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
The quarterly meetup will focus on bringing job seekers and employers together in an environment that is less formal than a career fair, but more personal than a job application.
“I meet brilliant people every day who are struggling to find a job, I meet employers who are struggling to find amazing people, and a lot of times, they don’t get connected, and this will help them do that,” said AIM Tech Talent director Jonathon White, who is organizing the meetup.
Floreani is the Omaha Chamber’s Manager of Business Development. His presentation will focus on the opportunities and challenges of expanding Omaha’s tech base.
“Marco does amazing work in attracting tech companies and retaining the ones that are here, which is so important,” said White. “The information he’ll be sharing is a great fit for everything that we are trying to do here at AIM with Tech Concierge.”
White joined AIM as Tech Talent Director in February and brings around 14 years of staffing and recruiting experience to the role. He says he wants the Tech Concierge service to be a bridge between employers and job seekers that helps them connect more quickly.
“By the time a job is posted, [the employer] is already behind the eight ball,” said White. “The longer the job posting is out there, the more painful it is for the business. And the longer it’s open, it makes it more difficult to consider people who have the ability, but don’t have five years’ experience doing whatever it is they need to do.”
The main goal of AIM’s Tech Concierge program is to keep the tech talent pipeline flowing. White says the new meetups will help with that goal for people on both sides of the job search.
“A lot of times, job seekers have made the right steps [in] getting their skills up, and some of them need help with connections, some need help with resumes and LinkedIn, [or] where to spend their energy,” said White. “Our whole mission here is to keep that pipeline going and serve our AIM partner members, and the Omaha community.”
The Tech Talent Meetup will take place Thursday morning at the AIM Exchange Building on the 7th floor, starting at 8 a.m. Click here for more information.
For more information about AIM’s Tech Concierge program, click here.
A lot has changed for Appsky in the last six months––including their name.
Formerly known as Appsky Labs, the Omaha-based development company has also moved into a larger office to accommodate their expanding team, launched a rebranded website, focused their service offerings, and further positioned themselves as a partner for affordable software solutions for community initiatives.
Appsky founder Tayor Korensky said it’s all been done for their clients.
“We really try to help them through their business model, not just developing their product,” said Korensky. “We want to help guide them to success at the end of the day, not just deliver a piece of software.”
Korensky and his team of seven on-staff design professionals, developers and consultants believe they take a more personalized approach to project management than large corporations.
That take on client experience has led them down a path of rapid success.
“If everything goes as planned, we’re looking at hiring another three people in the next six months,” said Korensky.
Korensky said Appsky is staffed with graduates of local colleges like UNO and Metro, as well as new tech professionals from Interface: The Web School and grant recipients.
“So far everyone we’ve hired has been junior by title, some have more experience than others, of course,” said Korensky. “We have one [Interface] graduate on our team, we have one on the Connect Grant, and pretty much everyone has been fresh out of local institutions.”
Korensky takes pride in hiring locally educated, junior developers.
“It’s cool to see people building their skills and taking on projects, to the point where we have projects go through now that I don’t even interact with, which is amazing.”
Keeping it local is a major part of Appsky’s focus, even when it comes to their clients and projects.
“I focus a lot of my sales and networking effort on Omaha,” said Korensky. “Pretty much all of our business has been from the Omaha area and we think that there’s still plenty of work here so why would we try and go get West Coast projects?”
Local initiatives that Appsky has worked on include Highlander, the Great Plains Black History Museum in partnership with AIM, and Chariots of Hope, a nonprofit that helps get people cars and rides who generally can’t afford them.
“We’re just about to finish up the Great Plains Black History Museum website,” said Korensky. “That was our first partner project, and we’re starting to work on an app for Chariots for Hope. […] The app will generally be a scheduler for Chariots for Hope to be able to go pick people up and assign drivers. Eventually they want to be able to use it to call for an emergency ride.”
Appsky is also finishing up an app for the Omaha Food Truck Association that will allow users to locate all the food trucks in Omaha.
“Ideally this is the direction we want to go, very community focused projects that have impact,” said Korensky. “Every project we do has an impact on our side as well, by training junior devs, working on community initiatives and sponsoring events.”
The program is geared toward information technology professionals interested in transitioning into leadership roles. Classes within the program offer the real-world experience of existing IT leaders to help participants gain a better understanding of the issues, challenges and skills needed to advance in their careers.
“It’s targeted at people who have been good technical employees, whether that’s been a programmer or network engineer or a business analyst or project manager,” said AIM Events Director Dave Vankat. “Whatever the role might be, there’s a number of people who are good in their technical skills who are thinking, do they want to make a transition into more of a leadership or management role within their organization?”
The program runs from April 26 through June 21. The group meets for one afternoon every other Thursday, with the exception of the last session, which is a full day. Topics include communication skills, resource optimization, performance improvement and relationship building.
“When you move up within an organization, a lot of the success is based on the relationships that you build, and understanding that organization, and how you develop those relationships so you can be successful,” said Vankat.
The conversations draw on real-life examples to illustrate the demands and decision-making involved in leading teams.
“One of the things we do in the program is that we have ‘day in the life of’ scenarios,” said Vankat. “We start each session with a real-life scenario or issue, which some of the existing leaders have had to deal with. They ask the class, here is the scenario, how would you deal with this?”
Another goal is to help organizations identify and grow future leaders.
“Every organization has a need to develop future leaders, whether it’s from attrition, retirement, people leaving the organization––they need to have a ready slate of candidates who might be able to fill those roles now, so that’s what the program is targeted to help,” said Vankat.
Registration for the Emerging Leaders program is open from now until through April 20. For more information, go to http://careerlink.com/lp/emerging-leaders-program/
Hayneedle hosted their first ever Girls Who Code event on Friday, focused on encouraging young women within the local community to get involved with technology.
Over 60 girls from six Omaha-area high schools attended the event at Hayneedle’s corporate headquarters in West Omaha.
Tech jobs are among the fastest growing in the country, yet women only make up 24% of the technology workforce. Girls Who Code works to support and increase the number of women in computer science, close the gender gap in technology, and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does.
LaShonna Dorsey, AIM’s Vice President of Business Development and Tech Talent served as the event’s keynote speaker. Dorsey is also a founding member of Girls Who Code in Omaha, and founded Interface: The Web School.
“Failure and mistakes are inevitable, so take the lessons and leave the rest,” said Dorsey. “You are here for a reason, don’t let missteps define you or take you off your path.”
Dorsey said that at the beginning of her career, she was almost entirely surrounded by Caucasian men and saw little diversity. She wants to change the industry landscape for young women who are starting their careers.
“We found ways to collaborate […] but I didn’t have peers to talk to,” said Dorsey. “That’s why it’s really important to be supportive of each other.”
Dorsey said that providing a more diverse future for the field of technology matters not only in terms of empowerment for women, but also in terms of community and economic development.
“STEM careers are some of the highest paying jobs out there, particularly web development,” said Dorsey.
Dorsey told the group of young women that tech is hard and they may make mistakes and might even fail at times, but a mistake isn’t the end of the road. Tech is a field all about solving problems, so there’s always opportunities to learn and grow.
The Girls Who Code event also featured discussion panel led by Rachel Fox, the owner of Catapult Consulting Solutions and an instructor at Interface: The Web School, discussing the challenges and rewards women face in their tech careers. Panelists included:
Tara Nordquist – Director of Product & Customer Experience at Hayneedle, recognized by Walmart as a Leading Women in Technology
Eris Koleszar – Senior Developer at SkyVu Entertainment, previous instructor at Girls Who Code, current instructor for Mystery Code Society
Grace Erixon – High School Student at Omaha North, Intern at Gallup, winner of numerous IT awards
Left to right: Rachel Fox, Tara Nordquist, Eris Koleszar, Grace Erixon
When asked what women need to do to stand out in the tech world, Nordquist said that women shouldn’t be afraid to sell themselves and their skills.
“Go in and say, ‘This is what I can bring to the table’,” said Nordquist. “Have a portfolio of problems you’ve solved, apps you’ve developed, and output you’ve generated. […] Don’t be bashful. Be proud, be confident, be inquisitive.”
Koleszar said the best way for women to stand out in tech is the same for anyone, no matter their gender.
“Find opportunities to get plugged into something [whether that’s classes, internship or events],” said Koleszar. “Going in and showing initiative is one of the best ways to get noticed by a company. […] Companies want people who don’t need to be told what to do all the time.”
Koleszar added that women should be aware of the culture their entering into, and the initiatives the company is taking to make sure they have equal representation and diversity.
“I don’t want to sugar coat it. There’s still a lot of sexism and sexist ideas about what women can do in the tech field,” said Koleszar. “There are some really great companies that are doing [good things] out there and want you.”
Catch up on regional tech news with these recent top stories from Silicon Prairie News. Click the headlines to read more.
The American Express 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses report states that there are an estimated 11.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States which employ almost 9 million people and generate more than $1.7 trillion in revenues.
Additionally, the U.S. economy nets 849 new women-owned businesses a day, with over 600 of those being minority-owned.
Those numbers sound impressive but for certain states, the data shows a lack of women-founded high-growth businesses in tech, IT and finance
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Lincoln Cybersecurity firm Infogressive announced the expansion of their team on Monday with ten new team members including Chris Currin as Vice President of Sales.
“After 11 years of success, it’s time to take Infogressive to the next level,” said founder Justin Kallhoff. “We’ve been around a long time, and we know there’s a huge demand globally for cybersecurity. Our platform is proven over and over; we just need more people out there to tell the story.”
Currin is a 17-year managed security industry veteran and previously served in a variety of leadership roles for Solutionary (NTTSecurity).
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Lincoln’s FUSE has come a long way in five years.
Initially conceived as a coworking space by Bob Hinrichs, Andy Beecham and Matt Westenburg, the space has evolved into a hub of corporate and startup innovation that is feeding one of the Silicon Prairie’s most vibrant ecosystems.
“Everything that makes up a quick-growing startup or entrepreneurial ecosystem is all right here,” said Rena Valentino, Executive Director of FUSE. “It’s exciting to be a resource and a space for that dense activity to be happening.”
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Ali Schwanke burst onto Lincoln’s startup scene by winning Startup Weekend in 2013 with Exercise My Schedule, a tool to manage group fitness schedules. Today she is in her third year as Founder, CEO and Marketing Strategist for Simple Strat, a Lincoln marketing strategy startup.
“I initially wanted to pour all my time into growing the Exercise My Schedule app, and did consulting to fund the work toward that,” Schwanke said. “I saw a lot more success on the consulting side, so I leaned into that instead.”
That success led Schwanke to consider expanding.
