The Olympia University of Business and Technology (OUBT) has opened a new training session and location on .NET programming beginning Saturday November 4th. This culminates discussions and collaboration with the Tacoma Community House in Tacoma, WA. OUBT is a non-profit organization offering a training program to individuals who want to evolve their careers and grow as part of the high paying IT industry. The program is targeted to people who otherwise would not consider a career in the technology field. This is a quick way to gain entry to a technology career.
Tacoma Community House is a nationally-respected, community-based service center for immigrants, refugees, and long-time South Sound residents seeking enrichment and pathways to self-sufficiency. Since the early 1930’s, TCH has been offering employment assistance and job training with a goal to help job seekers in both attaining and retaining a job or new skills. Annually, TCH provides 3,800 program services to 3,500 individuals from over 103 countries through their four core programs and this is the first time the IT training is being introduced as a part of their program.
“Tacoma Community House has a long history of partnerships and collaborations and we are pleased to enter into a wonderful partnership with OUBT for tech industry training. At TCH, we are committed to working with immigrants, refugees and others seeking living wage jobs. This training is a great opportunity for those persons to get access to good jobs in a growing field,” says Liz Berget Dunbar, the Executive Director of the Tacoma Community House.
“We are excited to partner with OUBT and bring training for tech industry jobs to the Tacoma – Pierce County area. Providing training that leads to living wage jobs and increases the number of qualified tech workers for the area will make our community stronger on multiple levels. The focus on reaching out to non-traditional tech workers and those from marginalized communities is a great opportunity for our community to grow,” says Jason Scales, Client Services Director for the Tacoma Community House.
OUBT’s Bellevue campus was recently visited by Washington State Rep. Vandana Slatter and Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib. Both lawmakers spent their time interacting with students and instructors, and appreciated the initiatives taken by CodeSmart, Inc., one of the managing sponsors of learning programs at OUBT with support from Ramp Group, LLC and People Tech Group. The instructors and mentors are current employees of CodeSmart and their facilities (Olympia and Bellevue) are being used for the classes.
“Once the students matriculate from the class and achieve certification then they are considered for a 6-month Internship with CodeSmart or one of our customers. Should the candidate perform exceptionally well through internship, we have something well planned for that too,” says Mark Meyer, the President of CodeSmart and the founder of OUBT.
Meyer goes on to explain, “After much market research, our approach provides the three bases any employer looks for in technology-worker candidates. 1. Training, 2. Validation of that training (via independent certification), 3. Work experience (gained though our internship program). We have not seen many other programs that offer the same trifecta to students.”
Currently, OUBT also offers its learning and training programs in Olympia and Bellevue. The Seattle campus will be added to the list in the early next year. Please visit www.oubt.org for more details on the current and upcoming programs and campuses.
– Olympia University of Business and Technology (OUBT)
