THE PROGRAMS: WHAT AND
WHY?
The INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati was formed in 2005 as
a non-profit collaboration of Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky
regional businesses and educators. The collaborative effort was
launched to create such a rich, stimulating technology environment
here in the region that we give our local young IT talent a compelling
reason to stay in southwest Ohio both for college and their careers.
Since the first IT Careers Camp was piloted in 2006, we have
been shattering students' biases and opening their eyes to the
possibilities of IT-related careers with behind-the-scenes summer
interventions and paid high school internships, individual high
school chapters, career-spawning college co-ops and collaboration
programs. All programs are geared toward solving two pervasive
and debilitating problems that are haunting local businesses
in virtually every sector:
1. Despite the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics continues
to place 7 of the 10 top, fastest growing careers with the fastest
salary growth in the high-tech and computer-technology sectors,
US students are turning their heads. Our brightest young
talent are increasingly not selecting technology careers, particularly
information technology, nor the college and graduate school programs
that prepare them for these fields. This has left the USA with
a paltry ranking of 25th in the world when it comes to technology
education, innovation, and a technology-savvy workforce.
2. Even though there are more Fortune 500 firms per capita in
the Greater Cincinnati region than anywhere in the nation, the
exodus of 19- to 30-year-olds continues
to be worse in southwest Ohio than just about anywhere. We generally lose that critical
workforce tier of bright, young professionals who contribute
so vibrantly to the entrepreneurial advancement of any company.
They are convinced that – compared to the other major urban
centers around the country -- there is nothing for them here
in the Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region... nothing,
that is, until they turn 35, are ready to raise a family, and
discover that $500,000 doesn't buy what it used to in Chicago,
San Francisco, or D.C. But those young, upwardly-mobile career
professionals who are at that point in their lives where they
willingly devote endless hours to career advancement are, more
times than not, gone from this region as soon as they graduate
high school. We have clearly not done enough to engage them and
create a compelling reason for them to stay, invest here, or
come back to the region after graduate school. Generally speaking,
we export our best-and-brightest to other regions. |
