Internet & Technology

CentralApp apprentices earn in-demand coding certification

01.30.18

via CentralApp

BY CENTRALAPP TEAM FOR CENTRALAPP

For Beth Fanning Taylor, a mother and wife living in Raleigh County, the holidays were busier than usual. “I was wrapping presents while watching lectures online… I carried my laptop with me pretty much everywhere” Beth said. “It was all worth it, though, when I passed my certification test.”

Beth is one of seven individuals from throughout southern West Virginia who recently completed the first phase of the CentralApp apprenticeship program, a rigorous eight-month course of study focused on helping residents of coal-mining communities transition to careers in the tech industry.

The program, which is funded by grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board in Pennsylvania, is designed to help participants become experts in configuring and developing tools for the Salesforce platform — the fourth largest software system in the world…

Read the article on the CentralApp site »

CBS: Coding program targeted to out-of-work coal miners awarded 80 certificates in coding

12.04.17

BY WEIJIA JIANG FOR CBS NEWS

The coal industry has lost more than 40 percent of its workforce in recent years. Out-of-work miners have had to find jobs in other fields.

Former miners are heading to the classroom, using many of the same skills they used underground.

In Boone County, West Virginia, coal mining has provided work for seven generations of Billy Jack Buzzard’s family. He became a miner when he was 18, right after graduating high school.

Three years ago, Buzzard lost his job.

“It was horrible. I got laid off, lost my vehicle, lost my house,” he said. “There was no Plan B.”

But the 29-year-old found one in June, swapping his hard hat for a laptop.

He was accepted into a free training program called “Mined Minds” that teaches former coal miners to become computer coders, creating apps, websites, and games…

Read the full article on the CBS site »

Bluefield Daily Telegraph: Bluefield to develop app for Millennial Ambassador Program

10.03.17

FOR BLUEFIELD DAILY TELEGRAPH

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. announced Thursday that the Appalachian Regional Commission has awarded $15,000 to the city of Bluefield for the Bluefield Cool and Connected Broadband Program.

Manchin and Capito said the funding will support the development of a mobile app that will be used to promote the city of Bluefield. The app will support the Millennial Ambassador Program for high school and college students, link to the website promoting city activities, assist with tourist attractions and assist businesses with an inventory of available space to market.

“I’m excited to see initiatives like Bluefield Cool and Connected Broadband sprouting up across West Virginia,” Manchin said. “West Virginia has so much to offer and creative ideas like this will help us show the world just that. I applaud the city of Bluefield for having the foresight to develop a mobile app and ARC for supporting this local project…”

Read the full article on the Bluefield Daily Telegraph website »

Online News Association for West Virginia hosts event to teach Facebook Live best practices

09.19.17

The Online News Association’s West Virginia group is hosting an event to teach journalists and members of groups + organizations how to use Facebook Live. Learn why it’s important to use Facebook Live and how to do it well. Leading the session is Gina Martino Dahlia, a teaching associate professor, the Journalism chair at the WVU Reed College of Media and the GM for 100 Days in Appalachia. The registration cost of $5 includes food from Black Sheep Burrito and Brews.

The event is geared toward members of the media, but it’s open to the public and will teach best practices applicable to anyone managing a Facebook page for an organization or business.

The group asks for registration in advance to determine a headcount.

Event: ONA WV Facebook Live
Location: Black Sheep Burrito and Brews (Charleston, WV)
Tickets: $5, online and at the door

Learn more and register online »

Paid apprenticeship program will teach West Virginians how to code – app. due 9/22

09.14.17

Applications due 9/22 – Apply on the Central App website »

CentralApp, a West Virginia-based company, is offering job-seekers throughout Southern West Virginia the chance to learn high-tech skills — and get paid while doing it.

CentralApp is looking for candidates for apprenticeships that will teach participants to develop applications within Salesforce, a digital global business platform. The eight-month career training program will allow workers to develop computer coding skills and earn certifications needed for employment in the rapidly expanding tech industry.

“We believe Appalachia is fertile ground for growing the digital development industry in the United States,” Patrick Farrell, co-founder of CentralApp said. “We have talented people who are ready to work — and the old obstacles of location and geography don’t apply for digital jobs.”

Weekly stipends are available for highly qualified candidates participating in the training, and CentralApp plans to offer job opportunities to workers who earn certifications through the program.

No prior computer programming experience is required and qualifications will be determined based on organizational skills, a willingness to learn and the ability to work independently.

Unlocking the Tech Potential of Appalachia: The CentralApp Apprenticeship Program from CentralApp on Vimeo.

Andrew Rieser, President of Mountain Point, a digital transformation consulting firm based in Charlotte, North Carolina, said certified and experienced Salesforce developers are in high-demand.

“As Mountain Point grew, so did the need for qualified workers,” Rieser said. “We initially turned to off-shore developers and then quickly realized we should be tapping the potential of people here in our backyard. By partnering with CentralApp, we’re able to bring those jobs back home.”

Apprenticeships will be held in four locations:

Huntington (Cabell County) Tech Apprenticeship
Cabell County Career Tech Center
Huntington (Wayne County) Tech Apprenticeship
Spring Valley High School
Oak Hill (Fayette County) Tech Apprenticeship
Fayette Institute of Technology
Pineville (Wyoming County) Tech Apprenticeship
Wyoming County Career and Technical Center

Applications due 9/22 – Apply on the Central App website »

Vice: Rural America is building its own Internet because no one else will

09.11.17

By Kaleigh Rogers for Vice

Dane Shryock walked over to a map hanging on the wall of the county commissioners’ office in downtown Coshocton. He ran his finger along a highway to point out directions to a family farm, where he told me I’d find an antenna placed atop a tall blue silo.

“You’re going to want to go straight down 36, turn left on this county road,” Shryock, one of three county commissioners in Coshocton, Ohio, said. “There’s a cemetery on the left, and then you’ll see a big red barn.”

I snapped a photo of the map. The old-school directions were necessary because the address doesn’t exactly show up on Google Maps and, besides, my phone lost all signal after about the third hill on that county road. It was a blistering hot July day in Appalachian Ohio and I was on a mission to see firsthand how rural communities have stopped waiting for Big Telecom to bring high-speed internet to them and have started to build it themselves.

About 19 million Americans still don’t have access to broadband internet, which the Federal Communication Commission defines as offering a minimum of 25 megabits per second download speeds and 3mbps upload speeds. Those who do have broadband access often find it’s too expensive, unreliable, or has prohibitive data caps that make it unusable for modern needs…

Read the complete article on the Vice website »

Williamson Daily News: Public Wifi coming to Williamson, WV

09.11.17

From the Williamson Daily News

U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.) reported this week that the Downtown Wifi Access in Williamson project has received a $15,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

The grant will help establish two free wifi hotspots in downtown Williamson. The initial hotspot will be at the Williamson Health and Wellness Center, and the second hotspot will be installed at the Mingo County Courthouse. The free wifi will be used not only by local residents who come to the downtown area for business and shopping, but also by visitors to the city.

“Internet access is a critical component for economic development and diversification. I commend Williamson Health and Wellness for giving access to free Wi-Fi to areas of downtown Williamson where people will be able to enjoy this key resource,” Jenkins said.

“This is a great first step in developing reliable broadband networks all across Mingo County that are essential to our economic diversification efforts,” said Leasha Johnson, executive director of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority…

Read the full article on the Williamson Daily News website »

The Clock is Ticking, West Virginia. Are You Registered and Ready?

06.13.17

If you are one of the more than 300 people that have already registered for New Story this Friday and Saturday, kudos to you. Put your feet up.

(Of course, if you’re not one of the more than 300 people already registered for New Story, you better get on that.)

Here’s some last minute info about parking, food and directions etc, to make sure you’re good to go.

WHERE TO GO

WVU’s Reed College of Media Innovation Center is on the 4th Floor of the Evansdale Crossings building, next to the Rec’ Center off Patteson Drive. Here’s the link to google maps directions to the building.

PARKING

There’s a few options.

Parking at the Coliseum (basketball stadium) at 3450 Monongahela Blvd is free. It is about a 400 meter walk from the Coliseum parking lot to the Evansdale Crossings building.

Parking in the 2 Short Term (ST) lots closest to the Evansdale Crossings building (ST 4 and ST 9) is $1.25/hour.

Parking in ST 1, about 100 yards closer to Patteson Drive, is 50c/hour.

Here’s WVU’s map of parking options.

And here’s information about accessibility parking at WVU.

FOOD

You’re responsible for keeping yourself sufficiently fed and happy in the belly during New Story.

The restaurants on the ground floor of Evansdale Crossings will be open from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Friday, and will be closed on Saturday.

So we’re bringing in some local mobile food businesses to give you some options before and during the Happy Hour.

On Friday from 4:30 – 7:30, Cody Thrasher’s Hash Browns & New Grounds and Clarksburg’s own My Little Cupcake (also serving pepperoni rolls, cookies and some gluten-free options) will be parked outside the center.

We are working on bringing in other food trucks for Saturday lunch. Stay tuned to our facebook and twitter feeds between now and Friday for updates.

From Evansdale Crossings you are a short walk (or very short drive) from a number of food options including Black Bear Burritos (yay!), Beanery American Grill and the standard chain options (booo!).

Repeating the key point: we won’t be feeding you at New Story, but we will provide some options to buy food on site. Please plan your tucker accordingly.

UPDATES

We’ll be emailing everyone who has registered tomorrow morning with this info.

But we’ll also be using The Hub’s facebook and twitter feeds to share New Story info in the next few days. So make sure you like and follow us (links in previous sentence) so you don’t miss any important updates.

If you haven’t registered yet, time is running out. We’ll have to close the (virtual) doors on Wednesday night.

New Story is free.

For more information about the sessions, and to register now, visit: newstory17.splashthat.com/

In Morgantown, Meet The Minds Behind Pittsburgh’s Creative Revolution

06.05.17

Photo: www.facebook.com/groups/artandtech/

This is the latest post about the myriad of people you’ll meet at New Story in Morgantown, June 16 & 17.

It’s a free event hosted by the West Virginia Community Development Hub and our friends at WVU’s Reed College of Media.

Space is limited. Register now at newstory17.splashthat.com

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

This saying was coined by comedians and satirists in order to make them feel okay about doing (not very flattering) impersonations of people. Or by plagiarists.

But to builders, makers, entrepreneurs and people who like to make good things happens, it is a reminder to pay attention to what has worked elsewhere, learn from it, copy what you can, reinvent what you need.

The reality is that Pittsburgh has well and truly rebounded from its industrial doldrums, and is now widely regarded as one of the best places to live and work in America.

In the practice of our work helping some of West Virginia’s most struggling communities find new hope, theft is one of our most powerful strategies – stealing good ideas and implanting them in new places. We actively coordinate and encourage that whenever we can.

And more often than not, the victims of the crime are more than happy to be willing participants.

For example, it’s why our friends behind the remarkable resurgence of an arts and culture community in Princeton, West Virginia, have made trips to their compadres in Welch and Grafton recently, freely passing around the secrets to their success and sprouting new imitators across the state.

And it’s why the folks behind the nationally-renowned creative industries and maker-culture in Pittsburgh are coming down to Morgantown later this month to spearhead one of the feature sessions at this year’s New Story event.

Learn more about New Story, and register now (it’s free) at: newstory17.splashthat.com

Largely thanks to a college football rivalry, many people in West Virginia have an unflattering nickname for this once downtrodden steel city to the north.

But the reality is that Pittsburgh has well and truly rebounded from its industrial doldrums, and is now widely regarded as one of the best places to live and work in America.

It has done this in no small part by focusing on arts innovation and creative tech.

And so we will welcome to New Story on Friday, June 16, the architects of Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network and the locals behind many of the city’s coolest and most engaging creative spaces and maker initiatives.

Here’s some info about the Pittsburgh contingent that will be sharing ideas with their West Virginia counterparts at New Story.

Nina Barbuto, Founder and Executive Director
ASSEMBLE – a community space for arts + technology

Nina’s passion for art, new media and social learning led her to found Assemble in 2011.

Nina works in a variety of media including architecture, film, sound, and installation.

She also co-founded I Made It! Market in 2007. An idea based on urban acupuncture, (using small-scale interventions to transform the larger urban context) this nomadic market partners with community, arts and nonprofit organizations to raise funds and awareness to improve their communities while allowing local artists and crafters to sell their wares.

Nina holds degrees in architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture and Carnegie Mellon University, where she is also adjunct faculty.

Ashley Cecil
Artist and Creative Entrepreneur

Ashley is an artist and illustrator, and part of the pilot-year cohort of the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program.

She’s a working artist who has grown her passion for art into a thriving entrepreneurial creative business. Before moving to the Pittsburgh region, Ashley studied with accomplished master painters in London while earning her master’s degree at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art.

Kim Chestney, Founding Director
Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Creative Industries Network

Over the past 10 years, Kim Chestney has built Pittsburgh’s Creative Industries Network to a nationally-benchmarked initiative.

Kim has been establishing programs to support creatives at the intersection of creativity and innovation, including: the annual CREATE Festival in Pittsburgh; the Co-CREATE Business Ignition Program for Creative Entrepreneurs; Creative Clash, Design Matters, DIY Creative Business and CMO Insights event series; Innovation City, creative tech party at SXSW Interactive; Inclusion, Innovation and Integrative Design, 2014 & 2016 Creative Industries Research Studies with Carnegie Mellon University and Richard Florida’s research team at the University of Toronto.

Jim Denova, Vice President
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Jim Denova is Vice President of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, and directs economic development projects in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Jim has been part of the Creative Industries Network’s leadership team since its inception in 2009, and has been instrumental to the network’s establishment as a national leader in the creative industries. Jim holds a Ph. D. from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in social research, and has over 35 years of experience in nonprofit administration and philanthropy.

Ryan Lammie, Founder
Radiant Hall Studio Environments for Working Creatives

Radiant Hall founder Ryan Lammie was born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 2011 he was selected for the Yale / Norfolk Summer Residency in Connecticut and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

As an entrepreneur, Lammie has built Radiant Hall into a nonprofit venture that supports over 50 Pittsburgh artists at three locations city-wide. Radiant Hall has become a framework for creative community building, and has served as a host for school tours, arts patrons, film/photo location scouts, corporate events, interns, nonprofit leaders, and neighbors.

“The Pittsburgh Session” will take place on New Story Friday at 12:40 p.m.

To learn more about this, and all the other sessions happening at New Story, visit newstory17.splashthat.com

Cool Stuff Made By Local Folks – Hello, Experience West Virginia

05.12.17

Photo by The Hub

In August of 2016, Brittany Anderson and Amanda Cunningham launched a group called Create Bridgeport/Clarksburg.

The two community organizers spent months in weekly “open to all” community meetings, speaking with residents from North Central West Virginia.

Among the many ideas and issues being shared, they noticed one consistent theme. Residents, business owners, and event organizers felt it was a challenge to reach their audience while the audience expressed they were having a difficulty finding them.

Amanda says word of mouth was how they got their insider tips on good things to do, and places to stay.

“Now we rely on local and state news sites, Facebook, and much more” she says. “By the time we piece together all the events happening around our state and local communities it’s usually after the events have taken place.”

And so these two ambitious young locals launched Experience West Virginia, an online platform that aims to connect and engage residents and state visitors with fun local & statewide events, community meetings and special business offerings.

The statewide community calendar focuses on big and small events in each region. If you have an event, special promotion or non-profit meeting, you can post it there.

“There is no lack of creative business owners in our state,” Brittany says. “However, there is a lack of consistent, easy-to-use centralized communication that promotes the efforts of these individuals and what they have to offer on a local scale.”

Learn more about Experience West Virginia at www.experiencewestvirginia.com, or email info.expwv@gmail.com for more information.