Last week, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon joined Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Metro United Way President & CEO Theresa Reno-Weber and other local leaders at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage to announce that Louisville was selected as one of five cities nationally to receive a $3 million AdvancingCities grant.
Among other things, this grant will fund the creation of Tech Louisville, a new program to be operated by KentuckianaWorks that will train around 300 people to become IT Support professionals over the next three years. Participants will get the training and credentials they need to start an entry-level job in IT support by earning their Google IT Support Professional Certificate.
IT support jobs are in high demand across the country as well as in the Louisville region, with nearly 400 job postings in the last 90 days. IT support jobs have a median salary of over $43,000 locally, 20% higher than the median for all occupations.
Training will take place online as well as in the classroom with the help of experienced mentors. This model is based on the Code Louisville program, which now has over 1,000 graduates and over 350 job placements While Code Louisville is focused primarily on computer coding, Tech Louisville has a broader focus on the many professions within the IT field.
Tech Louisville is free for participants and will place a special emphasis on recruitment and training in West Louisville. Tech Louisville staff will work closely with fellow grant recipients and community leaders like Dave Christopher at AMPED - whose Family Learning Program is already helping low-income residents learn valuable tech skills - to help bridge the digital divide. To be notified once registration for Tech Louisville opens, complete the form at TechLouisville.org.
See more media coverage of the announcement below:
Video interview: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the Advancing Cities Challenge
Insider Lou: Louisville nonprofits to get $3M grant from JPMorgan for high-tech skills training
