Cedar Rapids, IA, April 22, 2019 – Iowa is facing a workforce shortage. In February 2019, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.4 percent; there are only 41,200 unemployed Iowans. The Corridor is no exception to this shortage.
The Regional Vision, developed by the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) and other stakeholders, placed the Corridor’s workforce woes front and center: aging workforce (weakness), inclusion of race/culture (weakness), attracting young talent (weakness), competition within the global economy (threat), workforce retirement (threat), and losing young professionals (threat).
DeltaV Code School was created to address part of this workforce shortage: the lack of available tech talent in Iowa. There is an average of 4,000 open computing jobs in Iowa, but Iowa’s universities only had 459 computer science graduates in 2017. To fill the open computing jobs in Iowa alone, 10 percent of unemployed Iowans would need to be trained today.
“Iowa has a very real tech talent supply problem and it is something that affects all industries across our state. As we have long recognized with Future Ready Iowa, closing the skills gap will take multiple approaches,” Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend said. “We are fortunate to have a resource like DeltaV Code School as part of the solution to help ensure Iowans have an additional pathway for IT training that can get them into high demand careers like software development.”
DeltaV Code School is a relatively new concept for Iowa, which has a strong higher education system featuring nationally-recognized private colleges, community colleges, and public universities. DeltaV is a $20,000, full-time, 20-week program (about five months) that trains students to be JavaScript developers. Following the completion of the first two DeltaV cohorts, 100% of reporting graduates were employed within four months with an average starting salary of $58,400.
After two years, DeltaV Code School is making a small dent in Iowa’s tech talent shortage. With a new batch of graduates and application developer apprentices in the workforce, DeltaV wants to make it more accessible for adult career switchers to learn how to code.
In 2019, DeltaV Code School has new financing options in place, including being a GI Bill approved school, having a Quality Pre-Apprenticeship Program and an established US Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship, and is increasing its diversity tuition awards. DeltaV is also developing an entirely new program for Iowa using income share agreements as an alternative financing option.
“Home Base Iowa helps veterans and transitioning service members find careers in Iowa, but sometimes those veterans need training for skilled jobs such as application developers. The fact that DeltaV Code School is now GI Bill approved is a great opportunity for veterans who want to learn how to code and join one of the many companies in Iowa searching for developers,” Home Base Iowa Program Manager Jason Kemp said.
While DeltaV Code School already offers a 20 percent discount for veterans and recent college graduates, with GI Bill approval, qualifying veterans could have up to 100 percent of their tuition covered.
NewBoCo, the parent nonprofit of DeltaV Code School, created Eastern Iowa’s first US Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship for Application Developers in 2018. There are currently 6 active Registered Apprentices that NewBoCo is sponsoring. For 2019, NewBoCo worked with IowaWORKS to create a Quality Pre-Apprenticeship Program for students interested in Apprenticeships. For any company interested in hiring an Application Developer Apprentice, NewBoCo is also able to serve as the sponsor.
The diversity tuition award fund was set up last year to make it easier for women, low income, and populations underrepresented in technology (African American, Hispanic, and Native American, including Alaskan and Hawaiian, and people with disabilities) to start a new career in coding. DeltaV Code School encourages anyone in these groups to apply for tuition assistance. Traditional student loans continue to be available in 2019 as well.
DeltaV Code 101 courses are available for students of any experience level to learn more about building a website, what software development careers are like, and whether DeltaV Code 201-401 would be a good fit for them. Classes are held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and prospective students can view the upcoming schedule and enroll at www.deltavcodeschool.com/course-catalog.
About DeltaV Code School
DeltaV, Iowa’s premier adult code school, believes in life improvement through technical education and is addressing the lack of software developers in Iowa. At DeltaV Code School, adults take classes to become full stack JavaScript developers in 20 weeks. DeltaV Code School is powered by NewBoCo and Code Fellows.
About NewBoCo
The New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative, Inc. (NewBoCo) is a 501(c)(3) organization located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. NewBoCo’s programming supports entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech education to help Iowans become more resilient and thrive in a changing economy.
Media contact: Jessalyn Holdcraft, jessalyn@newbo.co