LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - A group of business, education and government leaders has launched an initiative to grow Nebraska’s pool of tech workers.
CQuence Health CEO Mike Cassling, who chairs the newly formed Nebraska Tech Collaborate, said the state is losing jobs at an alarming rate because Nebraska companies are choosing to expand elsewhere or not at all due to a lack of qualified workers.
He said there isn’t enough awareness in Nebraska of the tech jobs available, that more tech education is needed, especially in K-12 schools, and that more women and minority workers need to be recruited and developed.
“This is an issue where failure is not an option,” Cassling told the Omaha World-Herald. “We are definitely behind other states, other cities, all around us.”
Cassling called on others from business, education, philanthropy and government to come to the collaborative’s next working meeting, which is set for Nov. 1 at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland. Nearly 100 representatives are already part of the effort.
Jona Van Deun, the group’s president, said Nebraska needs to create its own tech worker pipeline by looking at K-12 curriculum changes, creating more coding and mentoring programs, and enrolling more college students in tech fields. She said the state also needs to provide more student internships and help people make career changes to better jobs.
There also needs to be an effort to recruit tech entrepreneurs, startup companies and others to the area, she said.
“We need to attract talent … and retain that talent,” Van Deun told the Lincoln Journal Star.
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