INDIANAPOLIS – June 20, 2019 – As employers across the country struggle to find and keep employees, TechPoint has a simple message for Hoosiers who’ve gone out of state to ply their tech talents: “Come home.”
The state’s tech ecosystem growth accelerator isn’t stopping with those two words. Using its deep reach into Indiana’s tech community and partnering with a company breaking new ground in talent recruitment, TechPoint is scouring the country to find former Hoosiers who are currently working in tech across state lines. The organization is asking interested prospects to explore job options via the TechPoint Job Board and to apply for a special weekend of networking for the 25 top applicants.
TechPoint will choose the top 25 applicants based largely on those that match the most pressing needs of the tech community. They and their guests will be invited to a Red Carpet Weekend in October. That weekend will offer unique networking experiences including meetings with potential employers and a series of events showcasing the recreational, entertainment and other quality of life benefits in Indiana.
To extend its reach, TechPoint is partnering with TMap, which launched in 2018 to bring talent to the state. TMap’s proprietary talent pipelines contain thousands of people, including Indiana natives, and alumni from Indiana universities who have said they are interested in returning for the right job offer.
“TMap has developed a new tool that is revolutionizing talent recruitment across all industries, and we’re thrilled to be putting it to good use for the tech community,” said TechPoint President and CEO Mike Langellier. “We’re also very excited at the level of support from leaders like Cummins, Eli Lilly & Company, GEICO, Raytheon and Salesforce.”
The arrangement is a reunion of sorts for Langellier and Bill Oesterle, who founded TMap after seeing studies that outline the state’s potentially dire employment situation. Oesterle founded the Orr Foundation in 2001 as a means to retain talented Indiana college graduates. Langellier is a 2004 Orr Fellow.
“Few people understand the importance of talent recruitment and how the entire community needs to work together better than Mike and his team,” Oesterle said. “We need to make sure our best and brightest know they’re wanted and needed here at home.”
TechPoint has long focused on talent recruitment.
“We know from experience that when non-Hoosiers visit Indiana and spend any time at all here, they want to be here,” Langellier said. “Former Hoosiers who already have an affinity for their home state just need a reason to come back, and we have hundreds of good-paying reasons.”
Among those reasons for Hoosiers to come home and others to make Indiana their home:
● Dozens of high-paying jobs at start-up, scale-up, tech and tech-enabled businesses
● An expedited path to securing those jobs; and
● A cost of living far more affordable than bigger cities.
“It’s entirely possible that some of the people we will attract won’t recognize Indianapolis when they come back to visit,” Langellier said. “We’re consistently rated as a great place to eat, to live and to play, and our tech community is a nationally recognized success story.”
Among recognition Indiana earned in the past several months:
● Top City for Women in Tech;
● Best City for First Time Homeowners;
● Best Place to Start a Career;
● Best Tech City; and
● One of the 30 Most Fun Places to Live in the U.S.
The highly personalized talent recruitment effort will include on-the-ground visits to areas of the U.S. where large groups of Hoosiers currently live. Indiana tech champions will take their case directly to prospects at these gatherings.
“Anyone with a lead on a great talent prospect can get involved in this effort. If we are to overcome our talent challenges, everyone is going to have to be involved,” Langellier said. “Look for our “Wish you were here” social campaign and share the messaging.”
TechPoint’s effort is additionally supported by Cummins, Eli Lilly & Company, GEICO, Raytheon and Salesforce as pillar sponsors. The talent recruitment effort is a response to Indiana tech and tech-enabled companies’ difficulties with filling open jobs — a situation many industries are facing as the number of available workers shrinks due to Baby Boomer retirement and a slowdown in population growth.
For those ready to move now, or those already in Indiana looking for opportunities, a quick scan of the TechPoint Job Board could jump start their return. The Red Carpet Weekend will be limited, but Langellier expects to make additional employment matches through the process.
About TechPoint
TechPoint is the nonprofit, industry-led growth accelerator for Indiana’s technology companies and overall tech ecosystem. The team is focused on attracting talent, accelerating scale-up companies, activating the community, and amplifying stories of success. For more, visit www.techpoint.org.
About TMap
TMap is the first talent recruiter to – at scale – blend technology, civic engagement and targeted marketing to make connections between employers and employees at an unprecedented level of specificity and speed. Headquartered in Indianapolis, TMap uses proprietary data to match great Indiana companies with exceptional employees.