An Akron startup is looking to boost the skills of local tech employees.
DriveIT co-founder Ian Schwarber says the company will offer face-to-face courses ranging from data science and programming to classes on team management and business intelligence taught by local professionals.
Schwarber likens it to a full-circuit workout that can help employees broaden their skill sets. He refers to the workspace as a "gym" and calls the individual sessions "workouts."
A lot of these people would prefer to move through the IT network space and go from a developer of software today to a database administrator tomorrow or move into being a data scientist. What we offer at our gym are these pathways where people can move much more horizontally, and they can build cybersecurity, data science, business intelligence into their skillset.
Just like a gym membership, companies can pay a yearly fee to access updated training courses.
Schwarber says the program is trying to fill a widening IT skills gap in Ohio. He says workers can oftentimes plateau because training methods such as hiring consultants or attending large-scale conferences may not help employees retain skills.
