A problem plaguing East Central Indiana today, is the retention of it’s educated talent base. The trend is for graduates to move on to larger urban areas such as Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Chicago. ECI is not unique to this phenomenon, as the trend over the last several decades has created a population boom in metropolitan areas all over the US. Initiatives such as Innovation Connector, and Forge Your Path, have been established to create opportunity in the area to address the issue. Now, there is a new “push” in the endeavor, the Xtern program.
The TechPoint Xtern program has become increasingly popular with college students across the U.S. Applicants have far out-paced the number of positions available from Indianapolis tech companies each year. A survey of the applicant pool showed that nearly 78 percent of the students were as happy to be placed in Muncie as Indianapolis. The result is that a portion of the 2021 Xtern class will be working and living in Muncie, if the pandemic allows.
Indianapolis, IN—For seven years now, the TechPoint Xtern program has become increasingly popular with college students across the U.S. Applicants have far out-paced the number of positions available from Indianapolis tech companies each year, even as companies outside the capital city wanted and needed young talent.
More than 2,000 students from 222 universities and 43 home states applied to be in the summer 2021 Xtern class, a high-engagement, 10-week, summer internship program that provides participants housing, access to numerous tech and governmental leaders and a huge step forward into tech careers. Total available hiring spots for those Xterns: 150.
“The answer was obvious and had been for a while but it wasn’t until Casey Stanley, Vice President at Ontario Systems, and our Relationship Manager Jennifer Merrell got together this year that we came up with what we think could be a model for additional expansion,” said Merillat Flowers, Senior Director of TechPoint’s College to Career Talent programs.