CHARLESTON — Earlier this month, West Virginia became the fourth state to join Amazon Web Services Skills to Job Tech Alliance and the only state so far to focus its development on the tech pipeline to rural communities.
Valerie Singer, general manager of AWS Worldwide Public Sector Global Education, said the program will help West Virginians gain new skills.
"The new AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance in West Virginia will help students develop the technical skills needed to qualify for good-paying and in-demand tech jobs in the state, while also developing the early career talent pool that reflects what West Virginia businesses need in the next generation of workers," Singer told The West Virginia Record. "This is also the first Tech Alliance to focus specifically on developing a tech pipeline to rural communities."
Singer said AWS is working to ensure the skills needed by employers for tech jobs in the state are mapped back into course curricula at schools like Marshall University, West Virginia University, West Virginia State University and the Community and Technical College System of West Virginia.
"The initiative brings together a coalition of Fortune 500 companies and other employers, government agencies, workforce development organizations, and education leaders across the state to better prepare learners for entry-level tech careers," Singer said. "The employer community in West Virginia has told us they want to ensure candidates are aware of the skill sets they are seeking, and the job opportunities available with their companies."
Singer said businesses that have already committed to the Tech Alliance include IBM, Trilogy Innovations and NextGen Federal, along with collaborating organizations such as the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the West Virginia Bankers Association.
"This initiative is focused on three different job categories including cloud support associate, software development engineer and data analyst roles," Singer said. "We see these as job categories that also offer high growth for early career learners. These are jobs that people can grow into, expand and explore as they move forward in their careers."
Singer said the Tech Alliance will work with a wide range of organizations in the public and private sectors to create – and keep – good-paying and high-growth jobs in West Virginia.
Singer said the AWS West Virginia Tech Alliance aims to connect more than 750 learners to cloud employers throughout the 2024-2025 academic year.
"Focusing on these types of jobs also aligns with the state government and universities’ efforts to grow nationally-recognized training in 21st-century tech careers, particularly cybersecurity," Singer said. "For example, Marshall University recently established a National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence for Critical Infrastructure. In collaboration with AWS, West Virginia University recently established a cybersecurity education and training facility. West Virginia State University recently established a Cybersecurity Innovation Center."
Singer said this is an investment AWS is making in the state, to close the employment gap in an area with under-served communities.
"Across the world, employers are looking for a better and more consistent pipeline of in-house talent to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace," Singer said. "The Tech Alliance was formed in response to a demonstrated need for help filling the skills gap and recruiting essential, in-demand tech jobs: from software developers and cloud engineers to data analysts and IT generalists."
Singer said each Tech Alliance works with specific regional partners to prepare learners, increase employability, and modernize tech programs in areas poised to grow and become centers of a 21st-century tech economy.