Open Coworking Wednesdays

Groover Labs is inviting you to be our guest in the hotseat area each Wednesday for a limited time. You’ll have access to some of the best perks Groover Labs has to offer, including:

• Lightning fast, secure gigabit Wi-Fi network

• Bottomless custom-blend coffee from Local Roasters 

• First-come, first-served private call booths 

• Power outlets available at every workspace

• Community of highly motivated remote workers and entrepreneurs

If you get here early, you can check out 1 Million Cups, which takes place in our event venue every Wednesday from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Hear from Wichita’s newest entrepreneurs as they discuss their ventures and take questions from the audience.

Working at Groover Labs as a guest for the day is easy. When you arrive, talk to our community associate at the front desk. They’ll ask you to sign in and give you a passcode for the network. Conference rooms are available for a small fee. 

We hope you’ll enjoy working here so much that you’ll want to become part of our growing community. Fun, interesting things happen at Groover Labs almost everyday. We want you to be part of them!

Members in the News: QuickHire on Washington Post Live on 6/22

On Tuesday, June 21, Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, co-founders of QuickHire and Groover Labs members, were featured on Washington Post Live, the Post’s live journalism platform. Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall were interviewed by the Post’s technology policy reporter Cat Zakrzewski.

Here’s the Washington Post’s description of the event:

During the pandemic, millions of workers quit their jobs, spurring a flurry of entrepreneurial activity and small business creation across the United States. On Tuesday, June 21 at 4:00 pm ET, Steve Case, chair and CEO of Revolution, Heather Boushey, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, co-founders of QuickHire, join Washington Post Live for a series of conversations to discuss this surge in entrepreneurship, whether these trends can outlast the pandemic, the role of technology and the lasting impact on the economy.

Member Profile: Ryan DiBrito

Earlier this week, we sat down with Ryan DiBrito, a Groover Labs member since March 2021 and owner of the consulting firm, Dynamic Acumen (da7). Ryan shared his background in venture capital, finance and entrepreneurship. We also discussed da7, his first year in Wichita, and Stanley Tucci.

We have several early-stage tech startups at Groover Labs. Talk about your background working in the startup community.

Before launching da7, I spent 15 years with Technology Venture Partners, a Minneapolis-based venture capital firm.  I started as an intern and was fortunate to work in the many facets of venture capital and company development from founding through exit.  da7 has really been an extension of that experience set – helping companies on day-to-day operations, strategy and execution.

Fifteen years feels like a lifetime. You must have enjoyed it?

I really did. I had the opportunity to learn and work with tremendous individuals in participatory environments and develop professionally alongside a portfolio of companies. We went through business and economic cycles together with perseverance and partnership being constants.

Talk about your consulting firm, Dynamic Acumen (da7)

da7 provides financial and strategic consulting to companies of all stages – from start-up to large company.  Scope of engagements are tailored to specific company needs and include both tactical objectives and strategy execution.  It really comes down to being a value-add part of the team in a company’s development and success.

What are some of the most important things you learned along the way and how do you bring them to da7 and your (potential) clients?

I think it is a blend of grounded perspective, communication and aiming high.  Working through the business and economic cycles in the 2000s really cultivated my understanding of how companies successfully work through the ups and downs.  Open communication with stakeholders is also foundational no matter the task at hand.  Macroeconomic, industry and competitive forces create opportunity – aiming high and being flexible allows companies to capitalize.

Investors talk a lot about communication. So what happens if you have a communication breakdown?

It provides a great opportunity to positively engage.  Gaps close, relationships grow and synapses on company direction form by reaching out, asking questions and stimulating discussion.

Reading through your website, you list precepts that guide your consulting philosophy. First on the list is this: “Ambiguity creates innovation and value creation.” What do you mean?

Success is never a straight line up and to the right but that is the energizing and fun part.  It does not matter if you are launching a company, working through a strategic pivot or evaluating organic growth versus investment.  Be strong in your market perspective and product mission because that will drive revenue growth and gross margin expansion.  Embracing and working through that ambiguity is what leads to compelling business plans and complete financial models.

Be strong in your market perspective and product mission. Those are powerful words.

For sure – a consistent and thoughtful business model along with a sound financial plan are certainly essential. Ultimately, things change along the way and rarely go 100% to plan – just keep moving forward with those anchor tenets in place.

And that brings us back to working with people over working with companies?

Lean in on that interpersonal piece – I cannot emphasize this enough. Be a good partner. Whatever you’re working on or working through – be a good partner.

What’s your favorite part of working with early-stage companies?

Both the challenge and opportunity while making meaningful contributions along the way. Navigating the early-stage, executing on growth and positioning for exit are monumental tasks to say the least.  Being involved early and seeing teams succeed is simply awesome from my vantage.

“Meaningful” is another powerful word.

Be willing to wear multiple hats and take on a task outside of or adjacent to your background – it is all part of working with high character, high integrity individuals and succeeding as a team.

At what point should an early-stage startup reach out to you?

You have a sound idea. You think there’s an opportunity to be successful. You want to take the next step.  Congrats, Sky’s the Limit! Reach out and no strings – happy to schedule a call or grab a coffee. 

We talk a lot about execution at Groover Labs. It’s easy to have ideas. It’s harder to execute them. How do you execute?

It really goes back to that resolute market perspective, product mission and business model.  Let those elements define how to grow the team, what the capital needs are and 12-24 month deliverables.   Capital strategy – how much, when and structure – are a derivative of those elements.

What else should the community know about Dynamic Acumen?

I’ve talked a lot about start-ups, but you don’t have to be a start-up. Happy to connect, dialogue and support local leaders and companies of all backgrounds and stages.

 You’re not from Wichita. What brought you here?

My wife, Samantha, is from the area originally. We made the move at the right time and for all the right reasons – family, friends and community.  Learned a lot in this short time and have to say we could not be more enthusiastic about the Wichita area and are incredibly excited about our future here. 

What are you watching/reading right now?

Stanley Tucci’s cooking show and enjoying his book as well. I studied in Italy as a graduate student so fun to watch and love to cook. That and Obi-wan Kenobi.

You have young children. What local attractions have you been visiting?

Everything! The Zoo. Tanganyika. Exploration Place. Parks.  All the family-centric places around town are really excellent. It’s been great getting to know Wichita and staying active as a family.

 Please feel free to contact Ryan at rdibrito@dynamicacumen.com or via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ryan-dibrito-184448187

A Community of Common Interests

We’ve said since the beginning that community is at the heart of everything we do at Groover Labs. Our members receive plenty of benefits, from gigabit fiber internet access to bottomless coffee to 24/7 membership levels. But these are only amenities compared to the innovative and collaborative environment we’re building.

In 2020, we had no choice but to pause our efforts while we withstood the Covid-19 global pandemic. In 2021, the phones started to ring. Conference rooms were booked. Massive, multi-day events were held. Private offices filled up. Off-site meetings were scheduled. Dedicated desks were occupied. Our studios were transformed into customized office spaces.

In short, the community we envisioned began to take shape. And in 2022, it took off.

Last week, one of our members went looking for help with an engineering problem: He needed a mathematician. So, we dug up a member who’s a physicist. The engineer and physicist met at the front desk and bumped into an economist. Together, the three of them—three people working for different companies on different projects—worked together to do the math and compare notes.

And like that, the problem was solved.

This is but one example of several cases we see each week—members sharing their collective knowledge to solve problems. If we can define “community” as “a group of people having a common interest,” we’ve come to discover at Groover Labs that the common interest is the drive to share knowledge that produces better work and better products.

If you’re working at home, encounter a problem, and wish you had someone to talk it over with, come down to Groover Labs. Grab a Day Pass ($20/day) or a hotseat membership ($80/mo). Or, if you’re looking for something more permanent, ask about dedicated desks or private offices and studios.

We welcome everybody! Our background is in tech, and several local tech startups office here. But we also have business consultants, financial advisors, graphic designers, real estate teams, commercial construction managers, architects, venture capitalists, and more, all working out of Groover Labs. Add in Wichita State University’s student art gallery ShiftSpace and an event venue, and you have a wide diversity of creative people.

If you’re interested, schedule a tour. If you know someone who’s interested, send them our way!

Member Profile: Alyssa McGinn

You're originally from Houston. What brought you to Wichita?

Family. My husband’s family is from Halstead. And he always wanted to move back, so when the time was right, we made a move. We actually met in India.

How did you wind up in India?

When I graduated from college, I wanted to travel—to see the world. And I came across an opportunity in India to work for a sourcing company that also engaged heavily with the community. I took it. I figured I'd better do it while I could. 

Whereabouts in India?

Southern India. Bangalore. And, I might add, this was my first real introduction to startup communities. There were so many people starting their own companies there. Almost every person I interacted with wanted to do their own thing. But it was unstructured–not the venture capital-funded startups you see here. Everybody just really wanted to make it. 

We lived near a local coffee shop and became friends with the owners. By the time we left India, they had over sixty locations all over the country. They were everywhere. It was fun. I loved watching them hustle and succeed.

You have a startup to talk about, but before we go there, did you realize what you were seeing in India, and did you know then that the experience of being around all these startups would influence you today?

I didn't have the "I want to be like that" feeling until I moved back to the United States. But things started to click when I took the job as managing director of business development with infoFluency. I kept thinking that I wanted to have something–my own thing–but it had to be legit. It would need to fill a market gap. 

Being around all those people, did you see any traits or characteristics of a founder that stood out to you?

I don't think it's a secret that it takes a certain type of person to start a company. But they have to be more than motivated; they have to have an intrinsic passion for their idea. There are plenty of motivated people out there, lawyers, doctors, but there's that element of risk founders are willing to take. Not everyone can do that. Willingness to take that risk is part of what makes founders founders.

In your job at infoFluency, you're around fewer founders and more venture capital firms and family offices. High level: What does infoFluency do?

At its simplest, we provide data visualization. We take company data and transform it so decision-makers can see and understand it. Sometimes that means pulling analytic data out of Excel spreadsheets and hosting it in the cloud so our clients can see their data in real-time.

It sounds like a lot more than just charts and graphs. How would a VC, or for that matter, an SMB, use infoFluency?

We aggregate data sources–accounting, CRM, Excel, research, prospects, founders, VCs searching for limited partners, etc.—and transform them into visual stories that help our clients make better business decisions.

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VCs are always looking for new startups, but they're also looking for new investors. So, they're constantly selling to both sides—startups and investors. They capture data that helps them better understand their investors and startups, and that data then informs their strategy.

For example, maybe as a VC you want to store data about the characteristics your investors share to help you find new ones, or you want to examine the performance of your decision-making strategies. For founders, maybe you want to keep track of their experience, or what stage of development they’re in, or who their investors are. At infoFluency, we present this data to our clients in real-time so they can make informed decisions. 

And if you're an SMB, we offer to aggregate their sales and marketing data to find correlations between sales efforts and revenue. With the way we aggregate and present data, you'll always know what's happening in your business, which will allow you to earn more. 

Your new startup, Luminous, is also a tool for investors and founders. Talk a little about your plans for Luminous.

Luminous is an aggregate data source for founders and investors all over the U.S., with a deep emphasis on emerging ecosystems in the Midwest and off-coast states. If I can get more specific, we want to create a data source where founders of early-stage startups can learn about investors, and investors can learn about founders of early-stage startups.

To succeed, we want to connect with incubators, accelerators, universities, community groups, city groups—essentially any organization that’s in touch with startups and founders as well as investors. We want to work with organizations that share our vision of promoting the early visibility of early-stage startups.

Like Crunchbase, only not Crunchbase?

Sort of. If you're a startup in a major market, you probably have a developed ecosystem or investor connections. But VCs are always looking for new opportunities, new startups, and new founders. 

For example, a VC with a specific thesis can search the database to find startups matching their investing philosophy or objective. Or maybe a VC or investor is looking for startups that have reached a certain stage–through Luminous, they'll be able to search for this kind of information. 

Why start Luminous?

At infoFluency, we work with a variety of VCs, family offices, and investors. I know they're looking for data sources where they can learn about early-stage companies. And I know early-stage founders are always searching for connections in the VC world. We’ve uncovered a need, and so far, we’ve had great feedback.

What do you think about Wichita so far?

Wichita has been great. The community is so welcoming. This is exactly the kind of market Luminous is looking for—a city in the Midwest with a growing startup ecosystem.

You've spent a lot of time around VCs, many of them well-known. What's your advice for founders who are looking for funding?

Network. Find those personal connections, find those warm introductions, and use them. That's so much better than seeking them out yourself. Invest in a good pitch deck. Please. Oh, and of course, invest in good analytics for your company!

New American Renaissance Manufacturing Tour 2022 with Andrew Crowe

We recently had the opportunity to host Andrew Crowe, a manufacturing influencer, who came to Wichita to talk to students at USD259 and local leaders about advanced manufacturing careers.

We worked with a variety of local organizations to organize an event on Friday for Crowe to meet with community members who are interested in advancing careers in manufacturing. Crowe is an enthusiastic, passionate speaker who shared how advanced manufacturing provided him an avenue out of a difficult childhood and into the extraordinary life he lives today. Crowe talked to the attendees about what he’s trying to accomplish, and answered questions.

On Saturday, we hosted a second event with Crowe that was tailored to leaders in the manufacturing industry. Staff and volunteers from Groover Labs demonstrated the capabilities of the Maker Labs, while Crowe spoke more in depth about his mission to help students in underserved communities discover careers in manufacturing.

It was a pleasure to work with Crowe. And, we’re excited to share, he’s coming back to Wichita soon. We’ll provide more information when we have it.

Tornado Alley Press Steamroller Printmaking Event and Empty Bowls

Tornado Alley Press Steamroller Printmaking Event

Wichita State University’s student-led printmaking guild Tornado Alley Press took over our parking lot and lobby on Friday, April 29, for a special, annual event where they partnered with the City of Wichita to use a steamroller to make print images. This was one of the first events we hosted in 2019, and we loved it. So, we were excited to have Tornado Alley Press and the City of Wichita back to our space to create unique, powerful art by combining several different mediums. Artists inked carved wood blocks that they created, and a steamroller drove over them to press the images onto paper. They then hung them up for display in our lobby and in the ShiftSpace gallery.

Empty Bowls and the Kansas Food Bank

Of course, if you wanted to attend the Tornado Alley press Steamroller Event or the mixer with Andrew Crowe, you had to walk through our south-facing parking lot, in which case you would have bumped into Wichita State University’s Ceramics Guild’s annual “Empty Bowls Wichita'' event. Local and regional artists set up their work on tables all through the south parking lot, where patrons could browse or buy them. All proceeds went to the Kansas Food Bank.

Wichita Startup Week Returns in 2022

We’re thrilled to be the host location again this year for Wichita Startup Week. Read the press release below to gather an idea about last year’s successful event, and, if you’re already eager for this year’s event, register for Wichita Startup Week’s preview party on 5/18. Click here to register.

Wichita Startup Week Returns in 2022
The five-day event to announce key details on May 18

WICHITA — April 24, 2022 — Wichita Startup Week is returning in 2022 and will again be powered by Koch Industries. Taking place from October 10 to October 14 at Groover Labs located at 334 St. Francis, participants will join a network of more than 131,000 attendees through the Techstars-backed program. 

“Last year, Wichita Startup Week was supported by the biggest entrepreneurial players in the community,” said James Williams, event co-founder and senior community affairs manager for Black Hills Energy. “We can’t wait to unveil what’s in store for this year to capitalize on last year’s momentum.”

In 2021, the event hosted more than 40 events, registered more than 300 people, and distributed more than 2,300 tickets at the first-year event. For 2022, Wichita Startup Week will be hosting a preview party at 4:30 on May 18 at Jenny Dawn Cellars to release its schedule of events and key focus areas to continue its mission to celebrate and elevate Wichita’s entrepreneurial community. 

“Wichita Startup Week will connect first-time entrepreneurs to the resources needed to accelerate, help founders and independent businesses leap to their next milestone, and connect community leaders with Wichita’s brightest talent,” Williams added. “Our 100-percent volunteer-led team believes the next great Wichita company will walk through our doors, and we think the time is now to realize that opportunity.” 

About Wichita Startup Week

Wichita Startup Week is a grassroots effort by local volunteers who believe the time is now to help Wichita realize its entrepreneurial potential. The event was founded in 2021 and included speakers from across the country, pitch competitions, trade shows and more. Learn more at www.WichitaStartupWeek.com.

About Techstars

The Techstars worldwide network helps entrepreneurs succeed. Founded in 2006, Techstars began with three simple ideas — entrepreneurs create a better future for everyone, collaboration drives innovation, and great ideas can come from anywhere. Now we are on a mission to enable every person on the planet to contribute to, and benefit from, the success of entrepreneurs. In addition to operating accelerator programs and venture capital funds, we do this by connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to help build thriving startup communities. Techstars has invested in more than 2,500 companies with a combined market cap of more than $200B. www.techstars.com

About Koch Industries, Inc. 

Based in Wichita, Kansas, Koch Industries, Inc. is one of the largest private companies in America, with estimated annual revenues that have exceeded $125 billion. It owns a diverse group of companies involved in industrial manufacturing, agriculture, building materials, glass, automotive components, refining, renewable energy, chemicals and polymers, pulp and paper, packaging, consumer products, electronics, enterprise software, data analytics, medical products, engineered technology, project services, recycling, supply chain and logistics, global commodities trading, and investments. Since 2003, Koch companies have invested nearly $150 billion in growth and improvements. With a presence in more than 70 countries, Koch companies employ more than 120,000 people worldwide, with about half of those in the United States. For more news and information, visit www.KOCHind.com.

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Member Profile: Tate Hancock

Tate Hancock joined Groover Labs in April 2021 on the recommendation of one of our members. His startup, TMW Family Company, designs and manufactures the Wall Nanny, a patented baby gate wall protector. But that’s not his only project. We talked with Tate about his journey from chiropractor to entrepreneur, how he researched markets, how he almost didn’t go through with it, and how a pitch at Walmart’s Open Call landed the Wall Nanny into big box retailers.

The Wall Nanny has more than 20,000 reviews on Amazon.com. That’s a lot of reviews. How did you get started?

Back in 2016, I took some classes on how to conduct product research. I wanted to introduce new products into markets with high demand. That eliminates spending all your time and money on products that nobody wants.

At the time, you were a chiropractor, correct?

Yes. I had my own practice here in Wichita. I studied finance in college, but I also come from a family of chiropractors, so after I graduated (and with a little prodding from my family), I earned my Doctor of Chiropractic degree, and opened my practice.

So you were already an entrepreneur with a successful business, but you decided you wanted to start a new business line?

It’s more complicated than that. I played football at the University of Montana, and along the way, I injured my shoulder. I even took a medical redshirt for a year. But after several years as a chiropractor, I started to feel some pain in my shoulder.

And this affected how you treated your patients?

Exactly. Everything was fine for a while. Then, slowly, I started to notice some pain now and then. Over time, I started to feel it in every adjustment, so I looked into it. I was supposed to have surgery, but I couldn’t just close my business down for 3 to 4 months. 

Instead, I just pushed through the pain until I started to see a loss of strength emanating from the shoulder, and I didn’t know how long I could sustain the high quality of care I gave my patients. 

You know, I could’ve changed some of the techniques I used, but if I had done that, I wouldn’t have lived up to my high standard of care. Overall, as my condition worsened, I started looking for secondary sources of income in case I needed to make a change.

So, you took classes on product research, and, based on what you learned, you chose the child safety industry as your market. Why?

The Wall Nanny.

It makes a great deal of sense. The child safety market is, obviously, a passionate market. But there’s another level. The Wall Nanny functions bi-categorically because it works for parents with small children, but it also works for pet owners. If I can develop a product that’s safe enough for a baby, then it’s likely safe enough for people’s pets. This increased my total addressable market.  

You studied finance and have a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Do you also have manufacturing experience?

I’m not a manufacturer. In the product research classes I took, I learned how to research and source information. I also knew I needed something simple, something small that was injection molded or plastic or maybe even rubber. 

When the data came back, and I saw the sale of baby gates, I wagered that if I could bring an accessory to this market that pairs well with the gates, I’d have a massive target market. All that said, I had no idea how big it would be.

So you came up with the Wall Nanny. What does it do?

It protects your walls, stabilizes your baby gates, and the extender feature makes the gate compatible with a variety of different widths of doorways and hallways. The first version extended the gate reach by up to four inches. Our most recent models go up to six inches or half a foot. 

How did you come up with the design?

It’s funny now that I think about it. I sketched the first draft on the back of a yellow sticky note. But I didn’t know anything about design or manufacturing or injection molding. In fact, I almost didn’t do it.

Why?

Not only did I not know anything about design, but I also didn’t know anyone with a background in design. Someone recommended an expert on the injection molding process, so I drove out to see him. He looked at my sketch and told me not to do it. He thought it would have a high tooling cost, and based on that, he didn’t see how I could make any money. 

I left the meeting so dejected. I was so frustrated that I almost scrapped the project.

But you didn’t.

No, I didn’t. My dad reminded me that my brother-in-law specialized in CAD (computer-aided design), so I sent it to him and asked what he thought. A week later, he comes back to me and says not only should I go forward with the product but that I should also call it the Wall Nanny. I put the design online and asked for manufacturing bids in the U.S. I wanted it made in the United States.

What a great story. So now you have a product design and a manufacturer. But the first person you spoke with - the one who said you wouldn’t make any money on it - his concern had to do with manufacturing cost, too. How did you overcome that hurdle?

The Wall Nanny stabilizing a baby gate.

I took out a loan to pay for the injection molding. Here’s the thing: My research, my data–it all said the product would sell, so I thought it was worth the risk. I didn’t know much about injection molding, but I knew enough about business and finance to know the product had a lot of potential.

Idea, design, financing - next, you needed sales channels. 

Yes. Enter Amazon. One of the product research classes I took taught how to do private label. Honestly, I thought there were a lot of flaws with the idea. So I took what I learned from the other classes and then sort of did the exact opposite of what the private label concept recommended. I just felt I could do a better job. 

How long did it take after you put the Wall Nanny on Amazon did you realize you had a hot product on the market?

I had a few days with no reviews, and with Amazon, reviews are everything–sales grow as reviews grow. But as soon as a few reviews came in, and I issued a few press releases, it started selling right away. Things happened fast. Fast. We’ve grown steadily at least 50 percent over the past four years.

But not long after I had the Wall Nanny on the market, I started to design the next version, the Mini. I knew I’d have to improve on the original product–probably something smaller and with as low of a profile as I could make it. I worried someone might beat me to it, so I got out ahead of them and patented a new design.

The Wall Nanny is now available on Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and BuyBuyBaby. How did you land the big box retailers?

I have a colleague who lives in Bentonville, Ark., and he suggested I come down to Walmart Open Call for products made in the United States. There are several things you need to do to qualify, but the product has to be made in the U.S.

[Note to readers: Walmart Open Call is the company’s largest sourcing event for Walmart and Sam’s Club. Applicants pitch their product to Walmart sourcing agents and merchants.]

The first time I applied for Walmart Open Call, I was denied. But the second year, I was invited. I had higher sales to show in my pitch–it’s another one of those Shark Tank-style pitch events. 

We went down and they gave us 20 minutes with a buyer. Apparently, we did well because they gave us a golden ticket (and not a proverbial golden ticket, the ticket was actually gold colored). That golden ticket opened up so many conversations. Before I knew it, we were in 1,500 stores. 

Amazing. Having a product in Walmart must do wonders for the brand.

It builds trust, and trust creates value. If someone sees or hears about the product and then searches for it, they’ll see that it’s sold in the big box retailers, and that lends us credibility.

And now you have a new product that’s about to hit the market.

Yes, that’s right. It’s another child safety device called the BlockItSocket. Most outlet covers are single units, meaning in a package, you get several units for each independent plug. But when you need to use an outlet that has a protective cover over it, and you remove the cover, anything can happen to it. 

I’ve heard stories where people have forgotten to put them back on, or their children pick them up and put them in their mouths – essentially, the stories I’ve heard are single-unit socket cover failure stories. We can do better.

The BlockItSocket is an outlet panel whose covers stay connected to the panel even when you unplug them from the socket. So, if you want to charge your phone, you unplug the socket cover and fold it up or down (depending on which outlet you use), but it stays attached to the outlet panel. You don’t lose them. 

We’ve made it incredibly difficult for you to forget to plug the covers back into their respective sockets. Your kids aren’t going to roam around the house with them in their mouths. The BlockItSocket solves a problem that parents want solved for the safety of their children and families. 

When will the BlockItSocket be available?

Soon. Very soon. We just got our first batch back. It’s working really well. We’re excited for it to go to market.

What else are you working on?

I’ve put together a new brand called Pivott. The Wall Nanny and BlockItSocket are distinct for the child safety market. Pivott has a wider range of product opportunities. We’re working on products for bathrooms, kitchens, the garage–useful everyday household items. That’s one category. There are a lot of options for us.

And that’s it?

Okay, one more. Some business partners and I are working on a coffee replacement drink called Monkey Brew. It’s a delicate mushroom-coffee blend that’s full of health benefits. There’s hardly any caffeine. And studies have shown incredible benefits for memory and immunity. We’re in the early stages, but it’s a great product.

One more thing: You’ve obviously spent a lot of time learning how to market and sell products on Amazon. Will you give a lunchtime talk at Groover Labs about that sometime soon?

Name the date.

1 Million Cups

1 Million Cups takes place at Groover Labs every Wednesday in our event venue! The doors open at 8:30 a.m. for networking, and presentations begin at 9 a.m.

To find each week’s presenters, check their Instagram page here or their Wichita website here.

Based on the notion that entrepreneurs discover solutions and engage with their communities over a million cups of coffee, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation developed 1 Million Cups in 2012—a free program designed to educate, engage and inspire entrepreneurs around the country. Through the power of volunteers, 1 Million Cups has grown to more than 160 communities.

As a program of the Kauffman Foundation, 1 Million Cups works with entrepreneurs, empowering them with the tools and resources to break down barriers that stand in the way of starting and growing their businesses. Mr. Kauffman believed it was a fundamental right for anyone who had a big idea to be able to bring it to life—and we're here to fulfill that mission.

Members in the News: QuickHire

QuickHire is in the news again. CNBC recently wrote an article about them for CNBC.com. And Wired, the magazine that analyzes how tech influences society, published a story about them at the end of January.

CNBC: Covid proved service workers deserve better. These sisters launched an app to help them find good jobs

Wired: Everyone Wants to Be an Entrepreneur

A Conversation with JogAlong Stroller Founder and CEO Mike Dresher

Mike Dresher, the founder of JogAlong Stroller, LLC, is a recent recipient of a Kansas Department of Commerce Proof of Concept (POC) grant, which provides funding from $5,000 to $25,000 to support technology-based entrepreneurial ventures in the state of Kansas. We spoke with Dresher about the POC grant, why he applied for it, and how he plans to use the funds to get JogAlong Strollers into the hands of consumers. Below is our lightly edited conversation.

How did you learn about the Proof of Concept Grant?

Mike: Groover Labs had recently been approved as a partner for the POC program, so Tracy emailed to let me know about it, and she provided some general info about the program and how to apply.

And you thought this sounded like an interesting opportunity?

Yes, I did. I’d been looking at different ways to manufacture some parts for the JogAlong Stroller that would lower the capital required for production tooling, one of our biggest hurdles to get to market. But building another prototype with major design changes is expensive. When I heard from Tracy, I saw an opportunity.

Why? Tell us more.

This is the kind of program we need in Kansas. I’m thrilled with it. The Department of Commerce is providing amounts significant enough for entrepreneurs to act. These types of grants will advance projects in major ways. They help entrepreneurs keep moving without losing time trying to find investors or capital at a critical stage.

For many entrepreneurs, the early stage is tough, so you may not be far enough along to attract investor interest (revenue generating in many cases), though your platform and progress is solid. You may have exhausted personal finances or the collateral to secure loans but can now advance your concept. This type of grant can be a bridge to either revenue generation, investor interest or both.

Starting a company involves a lot of risk. This program reduces the risk?

It does. But it does more than that. Being announced as a recipient provides the founder with two things: funds to advance your project; but, also, it provides an opportunity for the founder and project to earn credibility. Someone has looked into them, they’ve been vetted. And at the end of the program the results will be visible. If you complete what you said you would do, that will give confidence to investors at the next stage, if that’s the route you take.

In a general way, how do you plan to use the funds?

Our original business plan was to raise capital upfront to pay for the production tooling required for manufacturing. One caveat for us is the certification requirement for a baby product.  Certification can only be done on production parts, so a production design has to be completed and tooled up before you can be certified. We planned to use injection molding for several parts, which comes with high tooling costs but generates (in most cases) the lowest manufacturing cost.

Most of the manufacturing work is done overseas where the supplies are more readily available. But we have many local partners for accounting, web design, prototyping, video production, legal services. We have plans for a local parts center postproduction as well.

With a high upfront cost and the complications that have emerged from Covid-19 around the supply chain and labor shortages, we wanted to see if we could find new ways - ways outside injection molding - that would reduce the capital required for production tooling and enable us to proceed to the certification process and then on to production. If we can do that, then we can get the JogAlong Stroller into the hands of consumers faster.

By going this route, we may lose some of the manufacturing efficiencies we prepared for in the original plan, but I’ve got an email list of over 12,000 subscribers that are waiting for updates. A lower volume run will be more expensive, but the quality will still be very high, and it will allow us to finance growth as we go.

But to get there, first, you needed to identify ways to lower the capital requirements needed to manufacture the stroller without losing any quality.

That’s right. That’s how we’re using the POC grant money. We’re testing part styles that are more in-line with traditional metal manufacturing methods - aluminum castings, sheet metal forms, CNC machining, and die casting to name a few - that can replace as many injection-molded style parts as make sense for us.

We steered away from sheet metal mainly because customers are used to seeing those smooth, free-flowing lines and soft corners in their products, in their strollers. And, of course, we want to deliver a product whose aesthetic matches its cost.

What did you discover?

So, we looked at machining, die casting, extrusion, and machined extrusion. Of these, die casting, extrusions, and light machining show the most potential. Again, in a traditional model, you invest in the kind of tools that build the lowest-priced part and spread out the cost of the tooling over time. But what we’re doing now is finding a balance between how much we spend on tooling to keep the overall early capital requirement down while also bringing the JogAlong to market. 

In numerical terms, our original model spread the cost of tooling out over thousands of units. A common approach, and one I’m familiar with because I’ve been part of design teams that have produced products that are sold all over the world. But our initial fundraising campaign didn’t generate enough capital to advance that program, so that capital was returned because we couldn’t deploy it in a way that would get JogAlong to production. 

So instead of spending more time trying to attract investors, this approach gets us a step closer to production with lower upfront capital costs. It’s a tradeoff; our manufacturing cost will be higher, but we have to get something to market.   

How far along are you?

We’re about 50 percent of the way through the process. One of our biggest challenges has been trying to find domestic partners for machining and extrusion. I thought I would just assemble them here since the first production order would be lower. But our early low-volume production runs are not attractive to a domestic supply chain that is facing challenges to fill the orders they already have on the books.

We also have to stay cost competitive with our competitor’s products. We will focus our efforts on finding partners already involved in supply chains similar to ours, most of which are overseas. Once we’re producing thousands or tens of thousands of units, we’ll revisit a blend of supply chains that may result in a U.S. final assembly.  

One of the reasons we’ve been working overseas is because of the bicycle supply chain. Some manufacturing and assembling of a JogAlong Stroller aren’t much different than a bike. And, since there are so many factories producing bikes overseas, that’s where the supplies are. Here, we have to get the supplies to the location, and then we have to cover the cost of production for lower runs.

Most firms we’ve spoken with won’t take us because they’re getting larger orders from bigger customers - and that’s if they have staff. Most manufacturing service providers are struggling to maintain or increase their staffing due to wage pressure and the challenges we have all faced with Covid.

Overseas, they have the product, the expertise, and the material - they’ll take it and run with it. For example, fabrics typical for our sewn goods, brake cables, tires, brakes, wheels, grips and more already have mature supply chains. And we can leverage those to our advantage the closer we are to them. So many of the parts and materials for bikes crossover to the JogAlong - it just makes the most sense.

What’s next?

We like what we’ve seen with extrusion and machined extrusion in combination with some die casting. We think we can convert as many as half of the injection-molded parts using these processes.

And from there?

We get the JogAlong certified and then into the hands of the consumers who’ve been waiting for it. We get it on the street. We get it into races. We listen to what users say, we adjust where we need to, and hopefully, by getting the product on the market, we’ll have the revenue to show investors as well as cover the cost of a more complex manufacturing process.  Revenue will also help us bring other new innovative products to market that are already on the drawing board.

What was the spark for JogAlong? How did you uncover the need?

I saw someone who was running literally push a baby stroller ahead of them and then run to catch up to it. That’s how they did it. Our elliptical stroller does several things: it’s about comfort, it’s about moving naturally; and it’s about safety - the default operation is with both hands on the stroller. Jogging with the JogAlong creates a sense of freedom and balance for your body. And the natural movement of the vehicle means you don’t have to push it forward and catch up to it. You run with it, not behind it.

Campfire Registrations Open

Do you have an idea for a tech company but don’t know where to start? Maybe you just want to understand the tech industry? CAMPFIRE is the answer for you. CAMPFIRE is a 12-week course based on the Stanford University / YCombinator startup course taught every year. Top-notch local mentors participate in each class matching their skills to the course curriculum.  These mentors include CPAs and lawyers that will teach the accounting and legal aspects of startups, Venture Capital fund and Angel investors; experts who have raised millions in funding for startups; entrepreneurs who have created and exited their own businesses; and industry experts in HR, Software and Hardware development

The Spring CAMPFIRE at Groover Labs is scheduled to start on Thursday evening March 3 - May 19 from 5 pm - 6 pm spanning 12 weeks. This class of 20 is filling up quickly. The cost is $250 with an opportunity for a $150 EARLY BIRD special or $150 if you are a member of FlagshipKansas.Tech or Groover Labs. You can learn more and register for Campfire here - https://www.grooverlabs.org/campfire

SnapIT’s new office in Wichita is the next step

From Startland News.

Overland Park-based SnapIT Solutions has expanded its promise to deliver high-quality technology job training and educational services into Wichita, Neelima Parasker said, detailing a new partnership between the information technology firm and Wichita State University. 

“The IT side of the tech industry is now more in demand than ever. … I want to maximize Kansas’ [potential],” said Parasker, founder of SnapIT Solutions, detailing her goal to help develop the region into a hub of skilled tech workers, especially in regard to IT careers. 

Beginning Jan. 31, that mission will begin to take root in Wichita when the university’s technical campus, WSU Tech, launches its first 16-week cloud computing program in partnership with SnapIT, Groover Labs and Keycentrix.

The associates degree program was specifically designed to meet a rising demand for software developers in and around Wichita. Its curriculum was developed in direct partnership with SnapIT, which is certified as a post-secondary training institution through the Kansas Board of Regents. 

Students who graduate the program are expected to reach proficiency in major programming languages that include Python and C# and be ready to enter the job market at the level of junior developer. 

“A lot of this talent is right away rejected because they don’t have a four-year bachelor’s degree in engineering. Most employers are afraid of giving an opportunity to somebody that’s not able to provide the soft skills and added competencies that we as employers look for,” Parasker explained. 

“This is a [great opportunity] for students to not only train in skill but to think about how to get an employer to give them an opportunity.”

SnapIT hopes to be among such employers, she noted, adding the company has opened an office within the Groover Labs, production development lab, makerspace, and coworking community — where onsite meetings for the largely online program will be held — in hopes of helping students succeed beyond the classroom. 

“We not only train students, we are standing first in line to hire them. We know what we are training is valuable in the market — all they need is time [to learn.]”

Keycentrix has also pledged to offer guaranteed interviews to program graduates. 

“WSU Tech’s Cloud Computing and Cloud Application Development program takes the lead in carving a pathway to the software development jobs of the future,” said Luis Rodriguez, president of Keycentrix. 

“If you are a prospective student looking for a new opportunity in software or cloud computing, or if you are a business breaking open new capabilities or offerings powered by software or cloud computing, then I encourage you to engage with WSU Tech on this program.”

As the program gets off the ground, Parasker is already eager to see offerings expand to meet more of the region’s demands, she said. 

“I sit on the Kansas State Workforce board. There is such a great opportunity for the state of Kansas — and Missouri too — to look at and maximize what we can bring [online] in the current economy,” Parasker said, noting that if the state takes a hard look at what it can do to better equip its workforce, the better its odds are of attracting attention from east and west coast-based companies looking to expand and hire remotely. 

“There is so much more potential for partnerships like this to happen. We couldn’t have been successful without Wichita State University and Groover Labs. The intent of a few people will be the cause of change in many people’s jobs, careers and even lives.”

Click here to read more about Wichita’s emerging startup community.

Wichita Startups Are Hiring

A recent Wichita Business Journal feature listed six area startups to watch in 2022, three of which are members at Groover Labs: PLOT Construction Communications; QuickHire; and Knowledge as a Service, Inc., or KaaS. We’re fortunate to have them as part of our community.

PLOT Construction Communications’ founder and CEO Chris Callen joined Groover Labs as an early adopter in 2019. QuickHire’s co-founders Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall joined in 2020. And KaaS’ co-founders Robert Feeney and BW Barkley joined in the summer of 2021. 

What do all three of these startups have in common, other than being Groover Labs members?

They added new employees in 2021 and 2022.

PLOT

Founder and CEO Chris Callen launched PLOT Construction Communications not long after Wichita’s inaugural Startup Week. No stranger to the startup scene, Callen connected with High Alpha, a venture studio that creates and builds B2B SaaS companies, and multinational corporation Koch Industries. 

Callen then hired entrepreneur Chad Cox, another Groover Labs early adopter, as head of engineering. Cox has extensive experience in the tech startup world. In early 2022, Nick Dreiling joined PLOT as a senior software engineer. Dreiling most recently worked for Applianz Technologies, which was acquired by UV&S. Callen says another software engineer will join the team on Monday, January 17.

Since Callen helped open our doors, it’s been a thrill to watch him launch a new startup. 

QUICKHIRE

Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall, who need no introduction—we can barely keep up with their media mentions—hired Caleb Swank as Chief Technology Officer in early 2021. Swank’s background includes time as a software developer at Koch Industries and High Touch Technologies.

Last month, Timirie Shibley, Bill Bolte, and Michael Rico also joined QuickHire. You may recognize Shibley, who took on the role of partnership manager, as the owner of Wichita’s legendary Doo-Dah Diner. An entrepreneur and former chairperson of the Kansas Hospitality and Restaurant Association, Shibley is especially qualified for the position because she uses the QuickHire app to find new employees. Bolte, who has more than 16 years of software development experience with firms like High Touch Technologies, joined the startup as a senior software developer. Rico joined QuickHire to develop partnerships, marketing, and other facets of business development. He has a wide-range of experience in business development as a former Vice President at King of Freight.

Including Gladney and Muhwezi-Hall, QuickHire has gone from 2 to 6 employees in one year. And if you’re wondering, the answer is “yes,” they’re hiring. Read their job board here.

KaaS

KaaS co-founders Robert Feeney and BW Barkley joined Groover Labs last summer. Feeney and Barkley made a splash in the press when they announced their decision to scale in Wichita. Shortly thereafter, KaaS hired Shae Blevins as the new director of marketing. Blevins has myriad experience with Textron, Newman University, Copps Media, and, most recently, Greteman Group. Read our interview with Feeney, Barkley, and Blevins here.

At the end of the summer, KaaS announced a partnership with Wichita State University’s Shocker Career Accelerator. The program—the largest cooperative education and internship program in Kansas—helps students gain professional skills through real-world experience. Students earn work experience and a paycheck, all while bolstering their resumes.

Feeney and Barkley hired three inside sales representatives and two customer success coaches. Around the same time, KaaS brought on Niti Singh, Ph.D., as director of customer success. Dr. Singh has worked as a consultant and with organizations like the University of Notre Dame and Foley Equipment. She was most recently a member of the faculty at Indiana University.

KaaS came to Groover Labs with two employees; now, they have nine. For hiring inquiries, email hr@kaas.guru.

Despite the ups and downs of the global pandemic, Wichita founders are on the march. They’re hiring. They’re networking. They’re collaborating. As integral parts of Wichita's burgeoning startup ecosystem, we’re excited to follow along with QuickHire, KaaS, and PLOT in 2022.

Congrats to the Proof of Concept Grant Recipients!

Last July, we were approved as a partner by the Kansas Department of Commerce for the Proof of Concept grant program. Entrepreneurs can submit their applications through Groover Labs; grant applications are reviewed at the end of each quarter. Two applicants who submitted their applications through us received grants.

Congratulations to JogALong Stroller founder and Groover Labs member Mike Dresher, and Michele Valadez, a recent recipient of Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship Women in Women’s Innovation Award.

Dresher’s JogALong Stroller is three stroller activities in one vehicle: an elliptical jogging stroller, a bicycle trailer, and a standard stroller. Valadez’s Anonymous Tech, LLC is developing the 360 Car Cam, an application that offers a 360-degree view of a car’s environment.

The due date for the next application for the third quarter of FY22 is March 31, 2022.

If you’d like to apply, please contact Tracy Hoover. And if you receive the grant, consider working at Groover Labs in order to take advantage of the knowledge and experience in our community!

Read the original post about the POC program here.

Groover Labs Co-founders on ICT Podcast

Successful Tech Entrepreneurs Curt Gridley and Tracy Hoover created Groover Labs, and the accelerator is pressed firmly to the floor in the startup/entrepreneurial space in Wichita, Kansas. Wichita must compete as a community for the best, brightest people in the world— Groover Labs is the conduit for collaboration and connections. Tracy’s and Curt’s vision felt the proverbial pause as the world wrangled with a pandemic, but Groover Labs is stronger than ever.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Six Wichita Startups to Watch in 2022

The below feature in this week’s Wichita Business Journal lists six local startups to watch in 2022. Three of those six are members at Groover Labs. Read about our members below, and read the entire article at the business journal by clicking here.

Six Wichita Startups to Watch in 2022

Entrepreneurial stakeholders say 2021 helped streamline and bolster local resources that could make Wichita a startup hub.

And while Wichita-based startups are increasingly taking advantage of the local scene, the bigger future could be now for several young companies.

From hiring and training to construction and financial literacy, technology and the world’s adaptation to life in a pandemic are driving ideas and operations into a new year and priming several local entrepreneurs for major potential growth in the year ahead.

Here are six Wichita startups to watch in 2022:

PLOT

Founder: Chris Callen

Website: www.getplot.com

Differentiator: A technology platform billed as boosting simplifying and enhancing the communication process on construction projects.  

Any startup idea that grows out of Koch Industries Inc. is bound to raise eyebrows.

That was case for PLOT, a construction communication platform that in November announced that Wichita-based Koch had joined Indianapolis-based High Alpha Innovation as pre-seed investors in the company.

“It’s all about elevating the industry to be a little bit more efficient and collaborative and accepting of new technology tools,” PLOT’s co-founder and construction-industry veteran, Chris Callen, said last fall.

Similar collaboration between Koch and High Alpha helped define the early concept of PLOT last year, priming the company for growth in 2022.

Plans this year include hiring for engineering talent and engaging a client base to provide feedback on the platform.

The business could provide remote work opportunities for those engineers, while construction contractors, which can connect with PLOT via its website, will help build out a product Callen sees has having industry-changing potential.

“Construction technologies … have often focused too much on documents and processes rather than the teams and people in them,” Callen said. “In building PLOT, we’ve expanded our focus to the lifeblood of a construction site — the workers and their teams — who have never had a software built to fully address their communication needs.”

Knowledge As A Service

Founders: Robert Feeney and B.W. Barkley  

Website: www.ringorang.com

Differentiator: KAAS’ Ringorang app is a training platform that allows employers to continually boost employee proficiency. 

Knowledge As A Service (KAAS) has put itself on a path to be a company helping build Wichita’s technology workforce by helping all industries build up employee skills.

After landing its operations in Wichita in 2021, the company expects its Ringorang human behavioral training app to help power it to continued growth in 2022.

“When we came here from Silicon Valley, we made a commitment to be all-in on Wichita, growing our company, our product and making a difference in the startup community here,” COO B.W. Barkley said.

KAAS announced plans in June 2021 to move its operations to Wichita and hire around 40 workers over the next 12 months.

The company ended 2021 by signing a lease for its headquarters in Garvey Center and continue to interface with potential customers for whom KAAS leaders think their training app will boost everything from worker efficiency to workplace safety.

It has also helped pioneer crowd-funding for a startup locally — possibly helping craft a financing blueprint other Wichita companies can use — as its Wefunder campaign is helping raise the capital to create the new jobs.

Quick Hire

Founders: Angela Muhwezi-Hall and Deborah Gladney

Website: www.getquickhire.com

Differentiator: A hiring app uses swipe technology to quickly match employers and job seekers.

QuickHire rolls in 2022 in a growth mode, on the back of exploding demand from the skilled trade and service sectors for which its hiring app is catered.

The company was founded in 2020 by Wichita sisters Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall who, last year, became the first Black women entrepreneurs in Kansas to raise more than $1 million in seed funding.

By the end of last year, QuickHire had amassed more than 60 company customers and had reached more than 11,000 job seekers on its platform.

Eyeing continued demand for labor, particularly within the restaurant industry, the company in 2022 expects continued growth that will target Wichita and Kansas City, though regional growth throughout the Midwest is also expected.

That growth will also include a new scheduling feature for customers and the recent addition to the QuickHire team of Doo-Dah Diner co-owner Timirie Shibley as the company’s partnership manager.

The QuickHire story has also been highlighted by media outlets ranging from The Guardian to Forbes, raising the profile of a business that became as an early pandemic pivot by its founding sisters.

“QuickHire is bigger than just an HR technology company,” Gladney says. “We’re underserved founders helping underserved workers in an underserved market.”

Groover Labs in the News

Here’s another story that came out of our press conference yesterday with WSU Tech, SnapIT, and Keycentrix about the new Cloud Computing program. The program was developed by WSU Tech in partnership with SnaptIT. Keycentrix has committed to interviewing graduates of the program. We will host flexible lab hours twice per week where students can meet in person with their instructors and fellow classmates to develop their skills. Read the story below or click on this link.

WSU Tech launches program to quickly get students high-paying jobs

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — People searching for a first career or a new career have a new option through WSU Tech.

The school announced Thursday it is launching a cloud computing program designed to fast-track students straight into a high-demand, high-wage career in as little as 16 weeks. Classes begin on Jan. 31.

WSU Tech said there is a need in the Wichita metro area for educated software developers with an emphasis in cloud computing.

“This is due to the growing number of employers who have come to us expressing a need for an educated workforce in IT,” Dr. Sheree Utash, WSU Tech president, said.

She said the need is even more significant because of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Microsoft, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet, or “the cloud,” to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.

Experts believe cloud services will grow three times more than overall IT services this year.

The initial 16-weeks, one semester, of the Cloud Computing and Cloud Application Development Associates Degree program at WSU Tech is offered in a boot camp-style or accelerated hybrid format.

The boot camp is designed for people who may have no background or understanding of programming. Students will complete most of their coursework online and attend four hours of flexible, facilitated lab time at Groover Labs in Wichita’s historic Old Town.

Groover Labs is a collaborative working environment where entrepreneurs and tech pros can get support and share ideas.

“This partnership with WSU Tech, Kansas startup SnapIT and key industry employers will be a significant and tangible spark,” said Curt Gridley, co-founder of Groover Labs. “We can’t wait to engage with this new generation of technology professionals.”

The curriculum for the boot camp was developed in partnership with SnapIT Solutions, a tech solutions company.

Students who complete the boot camp will become certified in several programming languages, including Python, C#, and others, and will be job-ready for a position in IT – for example, a junior software developer.

Local IT companies, such as Keycentrix, have already pledged to offer guaranteed job interviews to the students.

“If you are a prospective student looking for a new opportunity in software or cloud computing, or if you are a business breaking open new capabilities or offerings powered by software or cloud computing, then I encourage you to engage with WSU Tech on this program,” Luis Rodriguez, president of Keycentrix, said.

Students can complete the remaining classes to earn an associates degree, fully online or hybrid, in just a few more semesters.

Classes for the Cloud Computing and Cloud Application Development program begin January 31. Click here to learn more or to sign up for the program.

Groover Labs in the News

Yesterday, we hosted a press conference in our event venue with WSU Tech, SnapIT, and Keycentrix. WSU Tech announced a new cloud computing program designed to train students in under 16 weeks to fast-track them into high-demand, high-paying jobs. The program will be run boot camp-style. Groover Labs will host flexible lab hours in the classrooms where students can interact with teachers and their fellow students. We’re excited to be part of this program to help train the next generation of software developers. Read an article in the Wichita Eagle below.

WSU Tech’s $6,000 IT training boot camp aims to put students in jobs after 16 weeks

BY MATTHEW KELLY

WSU Tech is announcing the launch of a new cloud computing and application development program that promises to train students for in-demand IT jobs in just four months.

Jennifer Seymour, WSU Tech vice president of general education and applied technologies, said that as businesses have been forced to rethink their operations during the pandemic, the technical college has identified a need for dynamic IT training in Wichita.

“Employers are experiencing a higher demand for developers and individuals knowledgeable in cloud computing,” Seymour said at a Thursday news conference.

Microsoft defines cloud computing as “the delivery of computing services — including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the Internet.”

“We’ve witnessed this increase in demand right here in Wichita,” Seymour said.

“The number of businesses and industry partners coming to us asking for individuals to fill their workforce needs in IT has not only increased, it’s almost doubled.”

A program description on the WSU Tech website says the cloud computing and application development program is “a sequence of boot camp-style courses designed to produce a junior software developer that is fluent in C#, Python, and JavaScript coding languages.”

Seymour said the program will propel students “straight into a high-demand, high-wage career” in as little as 16 weeks.

“If you have no experience in IT, don’t let that stop you from exploring this opportunity,” she said. “We’re going to meet you where you are and help you be successful and find a job at the end of these 16 weeks.”

After the boot camp, students will have the option to complete a two-year, 65-credit-hour associate’s degree that costs $14,180.

WSU Tech spokesperson Mandy Fouse said the cost of the initial four-month training is $6,000.

During the boot camp, students will complete most of their coursework online while attending four hours of “flexible, facilitated lab time” at Groover Labs, the product development lab and coworking center that launched in 2019.

“My experience in the industry is, it’s better to learn enough, get started, and then you learn more, move up the ladder,” said Groover Labs co-founder Curt Gridley. “I think this kind of quick entry into the industry will really jazz up that kind of path.”

Neelima Parasker is president of SnapIT Solutions, the Overland Park-based technology and training solutions company that partnered with WSU Tech to develop its cloud computing curriculum.

Parasker said prospective students will have to learn to adapt and stay flexible in a rapidly expanding IT field.

“What we do in our training is provide the first few steps for the students. We provide the ability to self-learn, give them the ability to understand what they’re learning and really give them exposure to what opportunities the IT industry really has,” Parasker said. “The knowledge that you bring in and your passion to learn more are the only two things that you need to unlock.”

Fouse, the WSU Tech spokesperson, said the first cloud computing boot camp will start on Jan. 31.

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/education/article257101182.html#storylink=cpy