GROUP BRINGS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRAINING TO COUNTRY CLUB HILLS

Country Club Hills Alderman Ricardo Spivey (pictured) helped Krimson Technology Group obtain the location for its facility in Heritage Plaza. Photo credit: Tia Carol Jones
Country Club Hills Alderman Ricardo Spivey (pictured) helped Krimson Technology Group obtain the location for its facility in Heritage Plaza. Photo credit: Tia Carol Jones

Group brings information technology training to Country Club Hills

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Krimson Technology Group, LLC, is training residents in the South Suburbs in information technology with the hope that people will be exposed to lucrative STEM jobs.

The program began in 2016, when Bill Owens and his partner met with Country Club Hills Alderman Ricardo Spivey.

Spivey and Owens identified an area where the program could have a greater impact. Spivey located a space in the Heritage Plaza where the program could be housed and helped secure the facility.

“We thought Country Club Hills demographics met our target market,” Spivey said. He added what made the suburb a target market was the racial makeup and the median household income.

The program provides coding and programming training, cybersecurity, IT specialist and IT Project Management training. People involved in the program include career changers and unemployed residents who live in Country Club Hills. Training is also available to other residents living in the rest of the South Suburbs.

“We hope the Katalyst Cohort program becomes an anchor on the south side of Chicago and south suburbs to provide a way to bridge the technology gap that exist for urban communities,” Spivey said. “The program has already certified a handful of Country Club Hills residents who have also found gainful employment. We believe the program is and will continue to be a catalyst for new entrepreneurs and new technology professionals in Country Club Hills.”

There is also the Katalyst Kohort Program, which is a partnership with the Safer Foundation. It focuses on returning citizens who were formerly incarcerated.

“We’ve had people ages 21-62 in our program who have no college education, they have gone through our program, started their own businesses and gotten gainfully employed,” Owens said.

He added seven people who have completed the program at the Country Club Hills facility work as trainers. Someone from Spivey’s ward helped build Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry’s website.

There are currently 16 people in the program. Trainees are able to participate in on-site hack-a-thons, as well as mock Ransomware attacks. Students are also able to run their businesses from the site.

With cybersecurity and Cloud + training set to begin soon, Owens said there is something that distinguishes the program.

“What makes us different is the students go through the training and do a capstone, where we bring out African-American and Latinx professionals,” he said. “At the end of each cohort session, students are given a mock situation.”

Students cannot complete the program without doing a presentation and answering questions from the executive. Owens said it is imperative to the program that trainees also have good communication skills.

Owens said the group is looking for a much larger site but would still like to keep the Heritage Plaza facility.

“We really want to have a facility with four classrooms and have more community interactions,” he said.

Owens said while the group has worked with a lot of political servants, he counts Spivey and Lowry as great supporters.

“Country Club Hills and the 3rd District of Cook County have been true partners. They’ve invested their time. To have political leaders who truly care is great,” he said.

There is also a training facility on 99th and Halsted and the ability to do pop-up sites for training.

“Students are not just coming here and learning, they’re getting a shot,” Owens said.

For more information about Krimson Technology Group, LLC, visit www.krimsongroup.com

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