Recognizing the importance of digital skills education to drive positive socio-economic change, the Antone and Marie Raymus Foundation is partnering with Bay Valley Tech to expand its tuition-free code academy – adding training capacity at a crucial time as companies in the Central Valley and elsewhere continue to experience severe tech worker shortages. The accelerating pace of technology adoption by leading companies in traditionally non-tech industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, construction, logistics, healthcare and finance, is creating tremendous opportunities for workers willing to learn new digital-based skills.
The Raymus Foundation has a strong tradition of innovation, generously supporting many of the Central Valley’s most effective and crucial community programs for more than 25 years. The foundation awarded millions in grants to organizations benefiting the region last year alone.
“We are thrilled to partner with Bay Valley Tech to benefit Central Valley residents. Technology jobs are some of the highest paying across the country and can be transformative for local families,” explained Alex Sugar, Chief Foundation Coordinator for the Raymus Foundation. “Bay Valley Tech’s highly effective program not only equips local residents with new in-demand tech skills, the organization works to further ensure students’ success by connecting them with a supportive tech community, software internships, interview preparation workshops and networking opportunities with employers.”
Bay Valley Tech has begun training hundreds of students in Manteca, Tracy, Stockton, Modesto, Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Many Bay Valley Tech alumni are now working at leading companies such as E&J Gallo and publicly traded Tyler Technologies (NYSE: TYL). The expanding tech workforce is already attracting more tech companies to the Central Valley. Studies show that adding just 100 tech workers to a city will result in billions of new economic activity for that region. In addition to stimulating the local economy, Bay Valley Tech’s free training program is also helping under-represented groups participate in the lucrative tech economy. Currently, more than 40 percent of the code academy students are Latino and one third are women, and 50 percent of students come from households earning less than $40,000 annually.
“While other code academies charge as much as $15,000 for their programs, Bay Valley Tech continues to offer our training tuition free thanks to the vision and generosity of supporters like the Antone and Marie Raymus Foundation. This partnership is coming at a crucial time as we build a job-creating tech ecosystem and as demand for the code academy is surging,” stated Bay Valley Tech founder Phillip Lan. “More people are realizing the life-changing impact that tech salaries can have on their families.”
Interest in expanding transformative tech education initiatives such as coding boot camps and software developer internships is growing. The Raymus Foundation joins other Bay Valley Tech partners Stanislaus County Office of Education, Stanislaus State University, Oak Valley Community Bank, Takapa Media, County Workforce Development, Modesto City Schools and many others working to leverage technology to improve the region’s prospects.
According to Alex Sugar, “We believe our partnership with Bay Valley Tech will significantly improve the futures of the youth in our community. It is our belief that these tools of knowledge provided by Bay Valley Tech will catapult these students to greater heights and allow them to reinvest locally.”
The Raymus Foundation was established in 1989 with the goal of enacting positive social change in the fields of education, healthcare and cultural enrichment in San Joaquin County. Today, the Foundation has extended its grant funding and now awards grants throughout the entire Central Valley of California. Last year alone, the Foundation funded millions of dollars in grants. More information is available at www.raymusfoundation.org.
Bay Valley Tech is a technology incubator and fast-growing free code academy and coding bootcamp, training students in modern programming skills and connecting them with prospective employers in Bay Area/Central Valley cities such as Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, San Francisco and Pleasanton. Bay Valley Tech also supports tech initiatives such as Women Techmakers, Valley Hackathon, Tech Connect, Valley Agtech and numerous software developer meetups and K-12 coding programs. More information is available at www.bayvalleytech.com.
