Benefits of Membership

“Liquid Web Marketing Director Travis Stoliker interviews Sean Heiney of Barracuda Networks at a recent membership meeting as part of the IT Council’s “Innovative IT Entrepreneur” speaker series.”

DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS

Capital Area IT council members include both small and large IT companies as well as other “end user” organizations that employ a significant number of IT professionals—creating opportunities for you to connect with potential partners, suppliers, and customers.  Now with it’s “member discount” program there is additional incentive to do business with IT Council members and take advantage of their discounted products/services--or consider becoming a member and let the IT Council help your company generate referrals and new business.

“Since becoming involved with the IT Council I have been able to generate more than $80,000 in new business—including projects with other IT Council members, secondary referrals, and other leads resulting from my participation on the Marketing/Public Relations Committee and with IT Council sponsored public events.  The IT Council has also helped expose SPS to other technology providers that we have since contracted with to provide some of the services we are unable to do in-house.”
--Bil Moore
Technology Consultant, Strategic Products & Services

“I wanted to thank you for the help you have given to job seekers in the Lansing area, including me.  I participated in a couple of the Tech Tours (Okemos and Old Town) after I graduated from MSU and you helped me get in contact with various employers in the area for job shadowing and to discuss employment opportunities.  Through small steps building up my knowledge of the field and experience, I ended up getting a position in Lansing with Compuware as a QA Analyst testing software designed for the State.”
--David Black
QA Analyst, Compuware Corporation

NETWORKING

The Capital Area IT Council offers exceptional networking opportunities for its membership. Virtually connect with other employers from the local IT industry via the on-line membership directory, contribute articles to our monthly e-newsletter, and gain access to e-notices about education/training programs, job fairs, and other important events.

“I moved to Lansing about a year ago and was laid-off a few weeks later.  At the time I didn’t have local contacts, or knowledge of the IT companies in the area, but I quickly found Capital Area Michigan Works! and the Capital Area IT Council.  I attended a few meetings, took notes on local employers, and made several valuable contacts.  Ultimately, the knowledge I gained led me to Artemis and my current position as Vice President for eBusiness Operations.  I have no doubt that my search would have taken much longer without the opportunities provided by CAMW! and CAITC.  Now, as a member of the IT Council, I’m proud to be in a position to inform other job seekers about these valuable resources and help grow the IT sector in mid-Michigan.”
--Brian Azar
Vice President of EBusiness Operations, Artemis Solutions

MEMBER MEETINGS

Membership meetings are an excellent forum for members to learn about emerging technologies, take advantage of valuable presentations about issues relevant to our industry, and share “best practices” with one another. We encourage IT Council member employers to suggest any ideas for future speakers/topics, or sign up to be a presenter themselves.

“The Capital Area IT Council and Capital Area Manufacturing Council partnered to host a membership meeting featuring General Mark Lott from the Defense Contract Coordination Center who presented about federal procurement and the new Lansing PTAC.”

LEAD GENERATION

Members have direct access to applicants registered on the Michigan Talent Bank (MTB) system at Capital Area Michigan Works!  Members also have access to the IT Council’s “Share IT” member forum as well as candidate information generated through the “Career ExhibIT” program where IT Council representatives recruit talent from more than a dozen college career fairs throughout Michigan and the Midwest each year.

“As part of it’s “Career ExhibIT” program, IT Council Executive Director Chris Knapp talks with job seekers at the Capital Area Michigan Works! Spring Job Expo.”

“(The IT Council) on behalf of the local IT companies, attended a local career fair and collected information from job seekers and in turn distributed it to the companies.  The particular spreadsheet attached to the e-mail was specifically those interested in internships for the fall semester.  From the list, we contacted, interviewed and hired a great marketing intern!”  
--Becca Hafer
Human Resources Specialist, Sircon, a Vertafore business

“Students meet with exhibitors at the “Lansing Community College IT Career Day” co-hosted by the Capital Area IT Council.  More than just a career fair, the “LCC IT Career Day” provided students and job seekers with a wide variety of resources related to career, educational, and entrepreneurial opportunities available in IT.”

“The Capital Area IT Council staff helped promote jobs at our firm by distributing literature and collecting resumes and contact information from job seekers at job fairs and university-sponsored career office programs.  These activities helped our campaign attract talented software developers and network administrators.”
--Clarke Anderson
CEO, A.J. Boggs & Company

TRAINING

As a member of the Capital Area IT Council your company gains access to valuable training resources available through Capital Area Michigan Works!, including OJTs (on-the-job training) grants, “scholarships” (Individual Training Accounts) and incumbent worker training.  Utilize these resources seperately or in combination to develop a comprehensive hiring/training strategy to help grow your organization’s workforce.

”Staff from several local IT companies participate with a “Beginner Java Development” training program offered through Lansing Community College’s Business and Community Institute.”

“We were able to send one of our staff through a MCSE “boot-camp” coordinated by the IT Council through it’s incumbent worker training program—presenting us with an opportunity to take an employee with great potential and provide them with skills and training to advance them within our organization.”
--Brian Dumont
Vice President of Professional Services, Dewpoint

EVENTS

The Capital Area IT Council hosts several events each year where members can participate for free. As an incentive to join the IT Council, non-member employers can apply any registration/exhibition fees toward their annual membership dues if they eventually decide to join the organization. The IT Council also hosts several informational seminars and workshops where members can gain valuable knowledge about developing the IT workforce they need to prosper.

“The Capital Area IT Council can leverage the collective expertise and resources of its membership to present special topic seminars for the general business community.  “Google 101: Using Search Engines to Market Your Business” and “7 Technology Tips to Save You Money” are examples of events made possible through a partnership with the Greater Lansing Business Monthly.”

PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Capital Area IT Council is dedicated to raising awareness about the local IT industry and promoting the diverse employers in this area. For this reason, the IT Council provides a “news” section on its web site which employers can utilize to promote news about their businesses. IT Council members also have access to our “IT Tips” media service which is available to help them get their “good news” stories out through local media outlets.

“IT Council Executive Director Chris Knapp speaks with a local television station at a recent career event.  Through it’s “IT Tips” media service, the IT Council is able to garner extensive coverage for the various events it coordinates.”

“To help local IT employers recruit/retain more young talent, the IT Council developed the ‘You Are Here’ community branding booklet which was presented with a PACE Pinnacle award by the Central Michigan chapter of the PRSA.”

OUTREACH PROGRAMS

The IT Council has developed a number of successful outreach programs designed to engage students, job seekers, and businesses with the local IT industry.  Whether its partnering with a local K12 school on a “Adopt-A-School” experience, helping vets transition the skills acquired through their military service into civilian employment as part of the “Project MilITary” initiative, or exposing IT start-ups to successful business leaders through its “Innovative Entrepreneur Speaker Series”—the IT Council provides a wealth of valuable knowledge and resources for its members and partners.

“The Capital Area IT Council has partnered with the LEDC’s “Linking Lansing and U” initiative and MSU Career Services Network to present “Tech Tours”—a unique “live, work, play” experience promoting our area’s vast career and community offerings to the next generation of IT professionals.  A group of MSU students visit Sircon, a Vertafore Business in Okemos as part of a special GLITR edition “Tech Tour”.”

“Employers and students casually conversed about IT careers over some Friday night baseball at Oldsmobile Park to wrap up the West Lansing “Tech Tour.”

"I found the tour informative and helpful - I'm going to be looking to apply for a summer position with Liquid Web or DIT. The Lugnuts game was a great way to end the night."
--Eric Hinojosa
Political Science / Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media

“Attending the tech tours was an amazing opportunity. I was shown that there are plenty of IT jobs available in Michigan and especially within the Lansing area.”
--Darshan Soni
Telecommunication, Information Studies & Media, Specialization in IT Management, Cognate in Business

“Liquid Web hosts a group of students from the Programming and Web Design class at the Capital Area Career Center in Mason.  The field trip was part of the IT Council’s  “Adopt-A-School” program and started with  a visit to the CSE lab at MSU where students completed a hands on exercise with Unix then traveled across town to Liquid Web where they toured the facility to see first-hand how the technology supports their massive data center operations.”

Special Projects

It’s diverse membership and strong partnerships have presented the IT Council with many opportunities to champion innovative projects such as helping introduce “RSS Feed”
Technology to the Michigan Talent Bank system, administering a comprehensive “employer workforce development survey” and developing a regional “education and training resource inventory.”

“The IT Council partnered with MDIT and DELEG to introduce “RSS Feed” technology to the Michigan Talent Bank system.  Now visitors to the IT Council web site can view region specific and industry specific career information from the MTB—all updated in real time.”

Community Involvement/Partnerships

The IT Council represents its members on several local advisory committees/boards including the Lansing ITEC (Information Technology Empowerment Center), Career Connections “Work Based Learning” group, East Lansing Technology Innovation Center, LCC Apprenticeship program and NSF funded CPACE (Collaborative Process to Align Computing Education with Engineering Workforce Needs) project at MSU.