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From the Jacksonville Business Journal
:http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/04/16/story3.html
Programmed to succeed
Exmilitary trained for technology jobs
SUBSCRIBER CONTENT: Apr 16, 2007, 12:00am EDT Updated: Apr 11, 2007, 8:16pm EDT
Tony Quesada
Staff Writer
A worldwide information technology industry association has picked Jacksonville to administer a
pilot program that provides free training to people leaving the military.
The pilot, launched in March, is part of the Computing Technology Industry Association's
Creating Futures program, aimed at increasing the size, quality and diversity of the IT
industry's work force. The pilot aims to help transitioning service members in the Jacksonville
area achieve those goals by helping them obtain the association's A+ certification.
A+ certification is a vendorneutral validation of skills that can lead to wellpaying, entrylevel
jobs and to higherlevel certifications used to advance in the industry.
"When they complete that certification, it shows they have knowledge and skills in entrylevel
hardware and software that are beneficial to the workplace," said Amy Alexander, pilot
program manager for the CompTIA Educational Foundation.
So far, 13 people have gone through the twoweek training program. A class that included five
grant recipients began April 9. Illinoisbased CompTIA, as the association is commonly known,
hopes to expand the Jacksonville program to train 200 or more transitioning military personnel
a year and duplicate the program in other cities with large military presences, provided it can
get additional funding.
HewlettPackard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is the major sponsor for the pilot, which pays for
participants' tuition for the CompTIA A+ course taught by New Horizons Computer Learning
Center of Jacksonville, a franchise of a national company.
The A+ certification class meets for four hours every weeknight and on Saturday for two
weeks. Those who complete it are ready to take the certification exam.
The program includes free tutoring, practice tests and the certification exam. In all, the
package is worth more than $4,500 per trainee, Alexander said.
The program was a godsend for Richard Pereyda, a former petty officer second class in
aviation warfare who left the Navy July 31, 2006. He heard about New Horizons' course while
in the Transition Assistance Program, which sailors must complete before leaving the Navy to
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prepare for civilian life.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to pay for the A+ certification class. So he was
excited when Robert Wilson, government liaison for New Horizons, told him about the pilot
program.
Pereyda, an El Paso, Texas, native who hopes to stay in Jacksonville, said he's been telling
other former sailors about the program and believes it will be a big hit if it expands.
"There's a lot of people in the military who would like to go to the school," he said. "If
[Creating Futures] had been available while I was going through TAP, I would have gone
through [the A+ certification class] immediately."
That CompTIA would pick Jacksonville for this pilot makes sense to Candace Moody, vice
president of communications for WorkSource. Employers invariably rank work habits at or near
the top of their list of concerns.
Many employers seek former service members whenever possible because they've become
accustomed to them demonstrating a strong work ethic.
Much of that is because many corporate leaders are themselves former service members. Also,
exmilitary people often have qualified for highlevel security clearances that make them even
more attractive to defense contractors, Wilson said. "It just increases their value."
Many employers also have problems finding people who display leadership.
"The military does a great job developing leadership even among the very young," Moody said.
"Many of these young people are handling millions of dollars of equipment and making big
decisions."
The Creating Futures pilot also can help bridge the gap between military and civilian computer
skills, Moody said. Although the Navy spends a lot to train sailors in hightech, computer
related specialties, military systems are sufficiently different from applications and equipment
used in industry that such skills don't translate directly to privatesector employment.
Besides Jacksonville's military talent pool, the city is seen as having a growing concentration of
IT employers.
Alexander, who counsels each pilot participant, said Florida is considered one of the top five
states for IT. Jacksonville is gaining ground on areas such as Orlando.
"Jacksonville could catch them with all the growth it's seeing in the number of companies
there," Alexander said, referring both to ITheavy companies based here, such as Fidelity
National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS), and those with large presences, such as Bank
of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).
"My sense is that we could do a couple of hundred [A+ certifications] a year," provided there is
funding, said Dennis Zimmerman, director of the CompTIA Educational Foundation.
At any time, there are 250 or more IT jobs to fill in the area, Wilson said. "It's an excellent
![9/3/2015 Programmed to succeed Jacksonville Business Journal
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prepare for civilian life.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough money to pay for the A+ certification class. So he was
excited when Robert Wilson, government liaison for New Horizons, told him about the pilot
program.
Pereyda, an El Paso, Texas, native who hopes to stay in Jacksonville, said he's been telling
other former sailors about the program and believes it will be a big hit if it expands.
"There's a lot of people in the military who would like to go to the school," he said. "If
[Creating Futures] had been available while I was going through TAP, I would have gone
through [the A+ certification class] immediately."
That CompTIA would pick Jacksonville for this pilot makes sense to Candace Moody, vice
president of communications for WorkSource. Employers invariably rank work habits at or near
the top of their list of concerns.
Many employers seek former service members whenever possible because they've become
accustomed to them demonstrating a strong work ethic.
Much of that is because many corporate leaders are themselves former service members. Also,
exmilitary people often have qualified for highlevel security clearances that make them even
more attractive to defense contractors, Wilson said. "It just increases their value."
Many employers also have problems finding people who display leadership.
"The military does a great job developing leadership even among the very young," Moody said.
"Many of these young people are handling millions of dollars of equipment and making big
decisions."
The Creating Futures pilot also can help bridge the gap between military and civilian computer
skills, Moody said. Although the Navy spends a lot to train sailors in hightech, computer
related specialties, military systems are sufficiently different from applications and equipment
used in industry that such skills don't translate directly to privatesector employment.
Besides Jacksonville's military talent pool, the city is seen as having a growing concentration of
IT employers.
Alexander, who counsels each pilot participant, said Florida is considered one of the top five
states for IT. Jacksonville is gaining ground on areas such as Orlando.
"Jacksonville could catch them with all the growth it's seeing in the number of companies
there," Alexander said, referring both to ITheavy companies based here, such as Fidelity
National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS), and those with large presences, such as Bank
of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).
"My sense is that we could do a couple of hundred [A+ certifications] a year," provided there is
funding, said Dennis Zimmerman, director of the CompTIA Educational Foundation.
At any time, there are 250 or more IT jobs to fill in the area, Wilson said. "It's an excellent](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)