INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 5, 2023) — This Thursday, TechPoint, Indiana’s industry-led growth initiative for the state’s digital innovation economy, will host a summit to kick off the second phase of its Mission41K initiative, a collaborative effort to inclusively grow the Hoosier tech workforce by 41,000 people by 2030.
The half-day gathering of hundreds of Mission41K participants and supporters will include a keynote address from Cordell Carter, Esq., executive director of the Aspen Institute Socrates Program, a global education forum and the founding director of the Aspen Institute’s Project on Belonging. An industry panel of experts who have been implementing work-based learning strategies will discuss what they’ve gleaned over the year, and participants will take that information into breakout sessions designed to help develop action steps.
Launched in September 2022, Mission41K is a state-wide, cross-sector effort with more than 100 companies and organizations working collaboratively to create workforce opportunities. In determining next steps, part of the year of study included seeking input from Hoosiers who have been held back from tech careers to learn about their obstacles, goals and ways to effectively encourage entry into tech positions.
TechPoint recently reported significant progress in the first year of Mission41K as the Indiana tech workforce has grown more than 5.6 percent in 2023 – twice that of 2022 and one percent growth in the number of women and people of color. The report also found that 92 percent of all jobs in Indiana currently require some level of tech skill and that 9,299 tech businesses currently operate in the state. The current tech workforce includes 118,872 Hoosiers.
TechPoint Senior Vice President, Talent, Strategy, and Partnership Dennis Trinkle said he hopes to double participation in year two and eventually have every company and tech and tech-enabled organization to be involved in Mission41K in some way.
“We have started to prove what can be achieved through innovation and collaboration, but we have a lot of challenges yet to solve and work to be done,” he said. “Employers have long said that talent is the No. 1 issue before them, and we need them to put effort behind that priority.”
Incorporating the MetaImpact (formerly MetaCX) platform is key to Mission41K’s next steps, Trinkle said. The digital platform enables multiple stakeholders to drive collective impact by acting on shared goals through active and measurable collaboration. In the case of Mission41K, that means participating organizations will have a co-owned, persistent space to monitor and share progress on Mission41K’s initiatives and objectives through key performance indicators like number of hires, types of hires and employee demographics.
“There is not a single solution to solve Indiana’s tech workforce needs, but rather an ecosystem of interconnected solutions where employers, universities, training providers and community organizations need to work together as a system,” said MetaImpact CEO Scott McCorkle. “TechPoint’s Mission41K is an essential catalyst to bring these multiple stakeholders together, and MetaImpact is the digital infrastructure needed to align stakeholders to amplify their collective impact.”
The number of students who graduate each year from Indiana colleges and universities is carefully tracked, but no one organization currently tracks the cumulative number of tech-related certifications earned across Indiana at various organizations and educational institutions. Mission41K counts certifications as an important part of skills-based hiring.
“We are excited about the adoption of MetaImpact as an engagement platform,” Trinkle said. “It will allow us to pull in more organizations and partners, and it will help us spot gaps, needs and successes so we will be better able to scale the impact of Mission41K.”
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About TechPoint
TechPoint is the industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s digital innovation economy and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on working with public, private and industry partners to expand tech talent pipeline, enhance resource connectivity for enterprise organizations and startups alike, and elevate the industry by activating the community and amplifying stories of success. For more information, please visit www.techpoint.org.
