Tech Foundry’s mission is to support the region’s growing need for a qualified technology workforce What We Do: Tech Foundry is turning workforce development on its head by taking a top-down approach to IT training. We begin with a groundbreaking employer partner program that translates all open IT positions into specific lists of quantifiable skills that can be taught and measured. Next, we partner with those same employers to volunteer the time of their existing employees to help teach the specific skills that matter most to them. Then, through a combination of hands-on training, mentoring, soft skills development and internships, Tech Foundry is able to take a group of students who had little to no IT experience when they started and mold them into the entry level employees that these specific employers are looking to hire. Call it common sense, call it stacking the deck, but Tech Foundry ensures that its students learn the skills and training that is most in demand at that moment in the local economy.Who We Serve: Individuals in the region who are looking for an entry level position in IT and are able to commit to our 14-week (FREE!) program. Many of the individuals we serve are unemployed or underemployed.Why Fund Us: The success of Tech Foundry is the success of our region. Not only are we tapping into the talent that is currently sitting on the sidelines and helping them to enter a fast growing high paid career track, we are also creating a resource that is in high demand across the entire country. As Tech Foundry scales, its ability to train a customized workforce, from low-income populations, tailored to an individual employer's needs will allow Springfield to market itself as the ideal location for recruiting IT jobs and growing the regional economy. Funding Tech Foundry provides opportunities to many underserved individuals for a chance at a brighter future for both them and our local employers and economy.