At the February 20 meeting of the WV Coding Club, we had a wonderful guest speaker! He is the CEO of CentralApp (www.centralapp.us) and his name is Todd Cope, a West Virginian and Winfrield High School graduate.
Todd introduced the students to CentralApp. CentralApp (www.centralapp.us) is a West Virginia-based firm (founded by West Virginians) connecting companies with certified, affordable tech workers in Appalachia. Central App’s Talent Exchange mobilizes tech talent and cultivates opportunities in high-tech fields within rural communities. CentralApp was born out of the belief that talent, ingenuity and work ethic are equally distributed - and economic opportunity should be, too.
Todd was asked if he was back in high school / middle school now, what insights he would have. Todd shared that there is no limit to what students can do! He went from a West Virginia school to within 10 years leading a technology group in Malaysia. He emphasized to the students that they should not self-limit themselves. Todd told them, "Figure out how to dent the Universe!"
An amazingly positive statistic is that 50% of the CentralApp talent pool are women (versus the Industry standard which in closer to 10%), with many opportunities that have flexibility of work schedules, to accommodate family life.
Todd recently visited Tulsa Remote - a program that provides Tech Workers $10,000 to move to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with free co-working space for a year. Approximately 350-500 people are selected each year, with about 93% of them staying. Thousands apply each year. Events are held to build up this community. The initiative is supported by a private Institution, similar to the Benedum Foundation. Seems to be a program worth initiating in West Virginia. In the meantime, Todd’s work through CentralApp helps to provide high-tech work opportunities to people in Appalachia.
Certifications were discussed and Todd shared that Salesforce has a free online training with path progress tracking. Todd emphasized that gaining certifications and experience are valuable in the Tech world. A college education is good, but many students are getting very good jobs just out of high school with the right certifications and experience.
When asked about areas that the students could focus on to prepare themselves, Todd emphasized Mobile App development is in high demand. He also shared that Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning would be valuable to gain at least a conceptual understanding.
Dan McElroy, one of the Founders of the West Virginia Coding Club, expressed that having speakers like Todd provide West Virginia students with key insights and create awareness of opportunities they would not get anywhere else. The West Virginia Coding Club thanks Todd Cope, CEO of CentralApp for taking time and sharing his experience! We look forward to some of our students joining CentralApp’s Talent Exchange in the future to help them find well-paying remote high-tech work opportunities that allow them to remain in West Virginia!