Local firms partner in launch of ‘Skillful’ job-search platform

A pair of Boulder-based companies — web and mobile software developer Techtonic Group and custom medical-device manufacturer Mountainside Medical — are among several in Colorado that are partnering in the launch of an online platform that aims to help improve the skills and marketability of job seekers without college degrees.

The “Skillful” platform went live on Thursday morning in Colorado, the first state to have access to it, and Gov. John Hickenlooper joined Markle Foundation president and chief executive Zoë Baird and LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue to mark the occasion with a ceremony at Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver. Job seekers, employers and educators from around the state also were on hand for the rollout.

The organizers of Skillful “actually found us,” said Heather Terenzio, founder and chief executive of the 13-year-old Techtonic Group. “We’ve had an apprenticeship program for the past two years that’s pretty much what they’re doing. We have the only federal Department of Labor-certified IT apprenticeship program in the state, which allows us to give college credit. So we partnered with Skillful to help take our message and way of doing business and try to promote it among other companies.”

Techtonic has 25 employees at its 1900 Folsom St. facility, Terenzio said, including about 12 through the apprenticeship program. “We’re growing our business by growing the program,” she said.

“It’s great to have the governor behind it, and the co-founder of LinkedIn. It’s nice to know we have all this support for what we’re doing.”

Ten-year-old Mountainside Medical, 6165 Lookout Road, also will use the platform for hiring as it builds devices including laparoscopes and endoscopes, as well and orthopedic and neurosurgical components.

The platform attempts to connect job seekers by their specific skills and training, rather than by their college degrees. According to the New York City-based Markel Foundation, which developed the platform, it’s aimed at individuals with high school diplomas and some college experience, but not four-year degrees. It’s designed to meet job seekers where they are — online or in their communities — through career navigators who can help guide them through their job search.

Skillful also offers tools and advisers to broaden employers’ talent pools by helping them create skills-based job descriptions and to hire workers based on the core skills needed for the job.

According to research conducted by the state, 40 percent of “top jobs” in Colorado — those with high annual openings and above-average growth rates — do not require a four-year degree. Many of those jobs offer a median salary above $50,000 a year. By working with employers to clearly define the skills needed for these jobs and by making it easier for job seekers to learn or demonstrate them, Skillful aims to create more career paths for those without college degrees while helping businesses fill open positions.

“Sixty-two percent of Coloradans don’t have a college degree, but they have great skills,” Baird said. “Jobs are changing so dramatically because of technology and globalization. People need to be able to learn new skills over the course of a lifetime and to retool throughout their career.”

Partners in the rollout include LinkedIn, the state of Colorado, the Colorado Workforce Development Council and workforce centers, the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, the Colorado Technology Association and Goodwill Industries of Denver,

“Colorado has long been committed to ensuring our workers have access to the skills they need to get ahead, and Skillful provides a powerful new tool for job seekers to do that,” Hickenlooper said in a prepared statement. “We are honored to be the first state to gain access to Skillful, which builds on our efforts to promote skills-based training and hiring in Colorado. It will help keep our state competitive both nationally and globally.”

Skillful also will go live in early April in Phoenix.

“Forty-four percent of Colorado and Phoenix employers say it’s hard to find people with the right technical skills,” said Blue, who now is vice president for product management at LinkedIn, “and 54 percent of U.S. workers who have a high school diploma and some or no college education say they don’t know what jobs are available, and if they have the skills needed for those jobs. We’re excited to help overcome this disconnect by partnering with Skillful and providing employers and educators with economic graph insights that spur collaboration on curriculum, and to empower job seekers to find training programs that will teach them the skills they need to get the jobs they want.”

LinkedIn also is working with Skillful to help develop more skills-based job descriptions.

The platform shows job-seekers companies that are hiring, what kinds of jobs are available, the skills required and where to find the training to get those jobs. Its navigators — experienced advisers and career coaches — are being placed in local nonprofits such as Goodwill Industries and the Larimer County Workforce Center.

For employers, the platform is designed to provide data and templates for crafting job descriptions based on skills versus using degrees as a default.

Skillful will concentrate opportunities on advanced manufacturing and information technology.

For educators, Skillful is designed to provide data about the employment picture in the regions they are serving and help them develop curricula to better prepare workers for the labor landscape.

More information is online at www.skillful.com or on Facebook at Facebook.com/JoinSkillful.

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