STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) - Connecticut can compete economically with the Silicon Valley, according to Gov. Ned Lamont. And a new state-backed career-development program aims to help the state fulfill that potential.
Lamont was joined by other state and local officials Monday to announce details of the Governor’s Innovation Fellowship, an initiative in which recent college graduates will work for one year at some of the state’s most-promising companies.
Scheduled to launch in a pilot phase this spring in Stamford and eventually roll out across the state, the program will choose 15 to 20 fellows this year to each receive a $5,000 grant to help cover housing and other living expenses and also receive mentorships and other support services.
“We’ve got some of the greatest talent in the world,” Lamont said during the announcement at the offices of media data-analytics firm Tru Optik, at 750 E. Main St. “Part of what we’re trying to do with the Innovation Fellows is keep the innovation talent right here.”
The nine Stamford-based companies that have signed up so far to participate in the pilot encompass the biotechnology, information technology, consumer goods, marketing and media sectors. They are Arccos Golf, Curacity, Henkel, ISG, Octagon, Sema4, Synchrony, Trebel and Tru Optik.
“If you spend a year investing and training up talent, you don’t want them to leave,” said Andre Swanston, co-founder and CEO of Tru Optik, which plans to hire one or two fellows this year. “It’s not like, ‘The year’s up, and we start over again.’ I think most people will want to retain their talent.”
Colleges and universities in the state will identify high-achieving students as potential fellows. Candidates will then be invited to apply for suitable positions, and the participating companies would hire them through their regular hiring processes.
“I think it’s fantastic to have this sense of collaboration and coordination,” said Martha Crawford, dean of Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. “Talent retention is completely key. Kids want to stay here.”
Several college students and recent graduates who attended the event said they were interested in applying.
“When I heard about the Governor’s Innovation Fellowship, I was really excited because it sounded like a really great opportunity for people like myself who are graduating and didn’t really have a plan about what to do afterward,” said Dana Wachsmuth, a senior at the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus. “This definitely provides some sort of security for myself, especially with learning about how I would pay for rent for an apartment here in Stamford because apartments can get kind of pricey.”
CTNext, an entrepreneurship-focused subsidiary of the state-chartered venture capital organization Connecticut Innovations, will fund and oversee GIF.
“We recognize that we are in a knowledge corridor, and our state has over 40 higher education institutions and produces a wealth of human capital,” CTNext Executive Director Glendowlyn Thames said. “How do we ensure that we have our fair share of capital that stays here and recognize that there are places like Stamford, Hartford and New Haven and other communities in our state that are primed for them to be able to find awesome opportunities and have places to play and recreate?”
The pilot will also be supervised by StamfordNext, a nonprofit collaborative that funds projects and events aimed at boosting Stamford’s economy and overall quality of life.
“It started with conversations around the community … with the business leaders around the city of Stamford,” said Wesley Bemus, executive director of StamfordNext. “We really started asking, ‘What do you need with talent? What makes it hard for you to compete in this national talent marketplace?’”
After its launch in Stamford - which has the largest workforce among Connecticut’s cities - GIF will roll out across other parts of the state by 2022.
New groups of fellows would be chosen each year. About 40 could join next year.
GIF is based on a similar initiative that was launched in 2002 in Indianapolis.
“If we can make it work here in Stamford, we can make it work in New Haven, Hartford and New London and rebuild those cities and ecosystems,” Lamont said.
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