InSight®, SkillSmart’s second major technology offering, allows projects of any size to dynamically capture and report on all workforce and business data in a single product – reducing costs, increasing reliability and improving outcomes.

SkillSmart, a growing software-as-a-service (SaaS) construction tech company, has introduced InSight®, an innovative platform that employs a dynamic, scalable, cloud-based solution for capturing both workforce and business data for construction and government projects. This is the first product on the market that allows general contractors and developers to capture workforce and business data on the same platform – reducing the cost of multiple platforms, removing time consuming duplication of data entry and increasing the reliability of the data.

The ability to capture all workforce and business data is critical to the compliance process. To date projects have had to rely on acquiring multiple software products and increasing labor costs to keep up – often creating unreliable data sets that impact project outcomes and reporting requirements resulting in fines and project delays.

Insight provides a scalable solution with a single, intuitive user interface and dashboards to track subcontractors and projects, regardless of size or scale. Further, InSight is customizable to adapt to different requirements in a market. In particular, new reports can be generated quickly to meet the reporting requirements of any project in days instead of weeks and months.

“We know that Owners, Developers and General Contractors want to demonstrate the positive economic impact their projects have on the communities in which they are working,” said Mike Knapp, CEO and co-founder of SkillSmart, “but current software products don’t allow for that to happen in real time and in a reliable manner. It is imperative to obtain data directly, quickly and accurately to use that data to better manage critical outcomes of the project.”

InSight is already being used on more than 20 projects nationally and by 7 of the top 20 ENR Top 400 Construction firms, including three of the largest economic development projects in the U.S.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a growing technology company that is transforming the markets in which we work by creating tools and services to build strong communities and clear paths to economic success. We support an array of projects, including some of the most significant economic development and construction projects in the U.S. with Fortune 500 clients. Our nimble technology can be easily deployed on projects in any community to identify, track and report vital information. It provides the data that allows communities and projects to improve outcomes and achieve their objectives. We have built a team with decades of experience working with projects and communities across the country. Together we have the experience and resources to help communities break new ground and reach new heights.

Public-Private Partnership Already Responsible for Hundreds of Job Placements with Hundreds More Expected in the Coming Months

Hudson Yards announced details about the creation of the Hudson Yards Hiring Network, an innovative public-private collaboration designed to identify and recruit talent from New York’s most in-need populations. The initiative has already placed hundreds of New Yorkers in new jobs and expects hundreds of more jobs to be filled over the next few months. Companies and buildings in Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group’s 28-acre development will bring more than 55,000 jobs to the west side neighborhood, and developers, along with their public partners will continue to recruit applicants from The New York City Housing Authority, as well as veterans, formerly incarcerated and homeless individuals, and people with disabilities.

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Jay Kriegel, Senior Advisor of Related, who joined Fred Knapp, Executive Director of Hudson Yards Manager, to bring this network to fruition, praised the unprecedented partnership, “We are grateful to our 22 public and private partners for joining us in the initiative, the Hudson Yards Hiring Network. Together, we have developed a customized screening system for all job applicants which instantly matches them to available jobs. We are especially grateful to SBS/Workforce1, which is providing a single intake and screening for all job applicants; to SEIU 32BJ, which will provide most of these new workers with high quality benefits, training, support services and representation; and to our private sector partners, SkillSmart, Canon, G4S, ThinkFood Group and Guardian.”

Hudson Yards estimates that, over the next six months, upwards of 600 new jobs will be filled to provide essential services at the development, plus hundreds of additional jobs at restaurants and other campus businesses. Recruits from the hiring network, referred by the 22 agencies participating in the Hiring Network, are being given priority in filling these new jobs, most of whom will be represented by SEIU 32BJ, one of the City’s leading unions.

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SkillSmart technology helps match candidates with positions; Detroit At Work to help prospective workers gain the skillset needed for future employment

The Detroit Pistons, The Platform and Christman-Brinker today launched a new partnership with SkillSmart to create a workforce development system for the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, helping not only connect Detroit residents with good-paying jobs, but also giving them valuable work skills.

Utilizing SkillSmart technology, Detroiters will have direct access to workforce opportunities created around construction of the new state-of-the art practice facility and team headquarters located in the New Center area. And, for Detroiters requiring additional training and skill development, the City of Detroit’s Workforce Development arm, Detroit At Work, will provide Detroiters free job skills training.

“Our goal is to increase construction workforce opportunities for Detroit residents now and in the future,” said Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem. “Using SkillSmart will not only align Detroit job seekers with available positions at the new performance center site, but create a more qualified pipeline of potential employees that will be mutually beneficial for job seekers and employers throughout the coming years as additional construction projects begin throughout the city of Detroit.”

The SkillSmart system is available at www.buildppc.com and will serve as a valuable resource for both job seekers and employers. The site categorizes available positions by using necessary skills and prerequisites, while inviting job seekers to build an individual profile based on their work experience, training and education, and other life experiences. The tool will then provide them with a score for each available position showing how well their skill set and qualifications align with the job, while also suggesting resources – such as the free training programs through Detroit At Work – that help potential employees become stronger candidates for available positions through additional training opportunities.

The Detroit Pistons partnership with Detroit At Work is already supporting Detroit’s future workforce as the organization has contributed $100,000 to the Randolph Career Technical Center through the Detroit Employment Solutions Corp.   “We are grateful for the Detroit Pistons’ commitment to help build a construction skill trades pipeline for both students and adults at Randolph Career Tech Center,” said Jeff Donofrio, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Workforce Development Team.

Job seekers at any stage of their search will benefit from the SkillSmart platform whether they’re searching for a job that matches their current skill set; looking to expand their qualifications; or simply starting their search and learning about the types of positions that will be available and how to begin preparing for future opportunities. By building a SkillSmart profile, prospective employees will learn how to become better-prepared for future opportunities and take a step toward developing a stronger and more prepared workforce that will benefit the entire city of Detroit.

SkillSmart’s technology and programming provides a multi-faceted approach aimed at helping construction of the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center achieve the decades-old challenge of meeting a 51 percent Detroit-based workforce on construction projects.

“For many years, large-scale development projects have fallen short of reaching the city’s 51 percent Detroit-based workforce requirement because there simply hasn’t been enough skilled-trade workers in the city.  And, this benchmark becomes increasingly more difficult to reach today with so many projects currently competing for the same workforce,” said Pat Devlin, Secretary Treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. “The Detroit Pistons are being proactive in their approach to implement a workforce development platform that encourages immediate participation from qualified candidates interested in construction skilled trades apprenticeships, while also enhancing Detroit’s future workforce potential by directing other applicants to additional training programs.”

“Increasing Detroit’s skilled labor force by bringing those who seek to enter the workforce together with employers who are offering jobs is an important goal in our developments,” said Dietrich Knoer, President and CEO of The Platform. “We believe that the new affiliation with SkillSmart will increase The Platform’s impact on work force development in Detroit.”

The Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center will create construction-related jobs in the short-term while increasing city income tax and property tax revenue generated by the organization’s relocation to the city. The building is slated to open next summer. The first phase of construction has begun as foundation work, concrete basement walls and underground utilities have been completed. Structural steel work has commenced on the site with concrete floor pours expected to begin in late September.

“It’s clear the Detroit Pistons, The Platform and Christman-Brinker are committed to using local workforce development as an opportunity to drive regional economic growth,” said SkillSmart co-founder Jason Green. “This project will provide the Detroit community with both the near-term benefits and job creation around construction of the new Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, as well as the long-term benefits of understanding and building a talent pipeline for the future of the city.”

Last year, The Platform LLC was selected as developer and owner’s representative for the new Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center and Christman-Brinker was selected to be the construction manager for all components of the development. Detroit architecture firm Rossetti is the architect. These Detroit-based businesses have formed a powerful and experienced team to develop this new world-class facility. The development will include a parking garage to be shared with Henry Ford Health System and utilize public spaces to allow for community activities, networking receptions and other team-hosted events.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a for-purpose tech company that is reshaping how employers identify and hire talent. Its employer-driven hiring platform helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills rather than traditional proxies like a degree. SkillSmart has empowered employers and job seekers to make the right match in states across the country—from constructing the nation’s largest rapid transit train service project and a new arena for an NBA team, to staffing large gaming resorts, growing a state’s cybersecurity industry and building regional talent pipelines. SkillSmart’s strategy is revolutionizing data-driven approaches to hiring—closing skill gaps, increasing diversity, and improving social and economic outcomes for job seekers, employers and communities.

About Detroit Pistons

Since their arrival in 1957, the Detroit Pistons have become one of the most storied franchises in the NBA. With over 2,300 regular-season and playoff victories, the club has celebrated three NBA Championships (1989, 1990, 2004), five NBA Finals appearances (1988, 1989, 1990, 2004, 2005) and 11 Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Last season the club made its historic return to Detroit, playing games at the new state-of-the-art Little Caesars Arena. The club also broke ground on the new Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center located in the New Center area, which will serve as the organization’s practice facility and corporate headquarters. Since its purchase by Michigan native Tom Gores in 2011, the organization has focused on operating as a community asset while promoting a culture of innovation and industry-leading thought.

About The Platform

The Platform launched in February 2016, focused on becoming a driving force in the rebuilding of Detroit. We are committed to inclusive development, working solely within the city of Detroit across neighborhoods from center city to the westside and eastside. Our experienced team has decades of experience and a legacy of successful developments in Detroit. Our vision includes quality residential, commercial, and retail opportunities. We develop in ways that honor and contribute to Detroit’s existing social and physical fabric with the goal of creating places and spaces in Detroit that bring people together. Our mission embraces revitalizing neighborhoods, inspiring the next generation, and using design as a tool to make Detroit a great place to live.

About Christman-Brinker

The Christman Company, a Detroit-Based Business who has an office in the Christman-built Fisher Building, was founded in 1894, and has been building in Detroit for 100 years. L.S. Brinker Company, a certified Detroit Headquartered Business and certified Minority Business Enterprise, was founded in 1993 and specializes in providing construction and management related services. Projects together have included the Little Caesars World Headquarters Campus Expansion, Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business, multiple Detroit Public Schools, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan BLUnite, and the Detroit Cornice and Slate building renovation.

The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAMI) announced today the launch of a state-of-the-art online jobs platform in partnership with Maryland-based firm SkillSmart. Maryland Cyber Jobs (MCJ) addresses the chronic shortage across all industry sectors in finding qualified candidates for Maryland cybersecurity positions. Using a skills-based methodology tailored to each hiring entity, MCJ reduces the time, effort and expense for Maryland employers to find qualified candidates for cyber-related positions. MCJ also helps candidates identify jobs that match their experience and current skills, as well as the skills they need to acquire for the jobs they want. Additionally, the platform identifies Maryland education, training, certification, internship and apprenticeship resources where job seekers can get the skills and experience needed for jobs of interest. The jobs platform can be found at http://www.mdcyberjobs.com

“This platform dramatically reduces the time a hiring organization will have to invest to find best-fit candidates,” notes CAMI Executive Director Stacey Smith. She continues, “Numerous commercial businesses and cybersecurity companies have told us that using standard job boards is laborious because they have to sift through too much information to find the few gems they might actually want to hire. MCJ directly addresses this shortcoming. Additionally, it’s a platform that connects all three of the critical elements for a successful workforce program: employers, job seekers and entities that provide the education, skills, training and experience for job seekers.”

Founder & CEO of Point3 Security, Evan Dornbush, notes, “We found 4 excellent-fit candidates within 3 days of posting several of our jobs and the required skills. We worked closely with a member of the SkillSmart team to optimize our job postings to attract the right candidates. That personalized service was a unique benefit for us in the job posting process and it’s already paying off with the quality of candidates we’ve received. For us, it’s not about the number of applicants; it’s about the quality. I’d rather have 4 good ones to review versus having to sift through 400.”

MCJ is not just for cybersecurity companies; it’s for all businesses, government entities and non-profit organizations looking to fill their cyber hiring needs.

“As we grow and market the platform, I expect we’ll be attracting candidates from across the nation and internationally. This will serve as a great workforce attraction tool for our state,” adds Smith.

Convenience is paramount in today’s fast-moving economy and with the launch of MCJ combined with its online directory of 350+ MD cybersecurity product and service providers, CAMI has made www.MDcyber.com the one-stop shop for cybersecurity solutions and workforce within the state of Maryland and accessible globally. “This is a highly valuable competitive advantage for our State, and we’re excited and proud to offer it,” says Smith.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, technology platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. Where gaps exist, SkillSmart partners with local training resources to provide skill-building opportunities. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles.

SkillSmart has been selected as a finalist in the 2017 MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, sponsored by MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, which is awarding over $1 million to tech-driven organizations that are reinventing the future of work.

This year’s award categories are Skills Development & Opportunity Matching, Income Growth & Job Creation, Technology Access, and Financial Inclusion. Nearly 160 expert Core Judges scored and commented on each completed application assigned to them. The 16 top scoring Finalists will advance to the Champion Committee, who will select four Grand Prize Winners to each receive $150,000. The remaining 12 Finalists will each receive $35,000. On October 12, 2017, the IIC will announce and celebrate the Winners at a gala event at HUBweek.

Finalists are using technology today that reinvents work and creates economic opportunity for people below the top rung of the economic ladder; these finalists are currently enhancing shared prosperity through their product or service. Both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations have been chosen for the 2017 MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge.

SkillSmart is competing in the category of Income Growth & Job Creation. Read more from MIT Inclusive Innovation or contact Jason Green at 240-498-4492 or jgreen@skillsmart.us.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles. 

SkillSmart has been selected to participate in Village Capital’s Education: US 2017 program focused on helping higher education providers, private companies and other initiatives invested in workforce development initiatives.

According to a 2013 Gallup report, only 11% of employers think that graduating students have skills that fit their needs, and studies find that up to 96% of employers are unhappy with their labor pools and new hires. Comparatively, job seekers and employees want to build the right skills for the job, but struggle to identify the skills they already have, where to go to fill in the gaps with the ones they need and how to prove mastery to employers.

Village Capital and Lumina Foundation, along with an ecosystem of partners, will support each Education: US 2017 participant by:

– Supporting and investing through its collaborative venture development program
– Facilitating partnerships between startups and strategic partners
– Providing analytics, financial and technology resources

Companies selected as Education: US 2017 cohorts are focused on career skills building and validation, or intend to expand their services to fill those gaps, specifically companies that:

– Bridge the gap on credentialing and skills-based learning for students in higher education and adult education
– Focus on rethinking credentials and qualifications in order to better match careers and build skills
– Provide innovative solutions to skills and training for workers in order to help them get their first job, move up in their career, or start a second career

For further information, read more from Village Capital or contact Jason Green at 240-498-4492 or jgreen@skillsmart.us.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles. 

Image Credit: The Pierite Group

SkillSmart, a for-purpose technology company with a skills-matching platform, announced a partnership at the National Reservation Economic Summit with The Pierite Group, a strategic economic development tribal advisor, to deliver workforce solutions to Indian Country with the overall goal of overcoming significant barriers to meaningful employment.

The native employment rate is nearly 14% lower than the national average. High school graduation rates are among the lowest in the nation, and the odds of Native Americans being employed are 31% lower than whites. Using the SkillSmart platform for skills-based training and hiring, combined with the economic development expertise of The Pierite Group, can help to reverse these declining employment statistics.

“This partnership is important to implement our mission of mobilizing community resources for major economic impact across the country. Marshall Pierite, CEO of The Pierite Group, along with his team, have demonstrated their commitment to diverse economic strategies to rejuvenate tribes. With SkillSmart’s success at increasing employment outcomes and retention, this unique partnership will create a workforce solution in Indian Country. Key deliverables will include meeting the specific needs of Tribes, expanding on skill levels of tribal members, and allowing for Tribal Councils to diversify through economic development,” said Jason Green, SkillSmart SVP Business Development. These initiatives will serve as valuable resources to expand economic development beyond gaming.

The Pierite Group was founded by CEO Marshall Pierite with the express goal of providing guidance to businesses, Tribal governments, local governments, and non-profit entities in their pursuit of financial independence. “We are excited to join forces with SkillSmart to create workforce opportunities for Native Americans. This partnership will allow us to identify individual job skills to match with potential employers, with the goal of aiding economic diversity across Indian Country,” said Marshall Pierite.

The Pierite Group offers access to a broad range of professional resources and provides the necessary tools and expertise to ensure long-term success and sustainability. Located in Central Louisiana, the TPG’s philosophy is to build locally, while thinking globally.

Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need.

Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, the SkillSmart platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce via employers, job seekers and educators; thus, creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.

Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.

For further information about SkillSmart, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or contact Jason Green at 240-498-4492 or jgreen@skillsmart.us.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles. 

About The Pierite Group

Established in 2015 in Marksville, LA., The Pierite Group specializes in advisory and strategic consulting, project management, governmental and political relationship building, organizational and structural development, and community outreach.

The Pierite Group is Native American owned and operated by CEO and founder, Marshall Pierite. With more than 30 years of governmental experience in Indian Country in public and private sectors, TPG is committed to providing its clients the necessary resources to achieve financial and socioeconomic independence through economic development.

For more information about The Pierite Group, please visit www.thepieritegroup.com.

319 Center St, Marksville, LA 71355, 318-597-8981. 

Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) is partnering with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to connect local job seekers to the Purple Line job opportunities for which they are the best match. The SkillSmart platform also identifies the skills job seekers need to acquire in order to apply for available Purple Line job opportunities.

PLTP, a consortium of three experienced and successful public-private partnership (P3) developers and equity investors, was selected by the state last year to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Purple Line. In an effort to increase local hiring, PLTP will use the SkillSmart platform so job seekers can explore the various opportunities, build a profile to better understand how their education and work experiences meet the skills needed for various open positions, link individuals to education and training resources to help them build required skills, and apply for open positions.

“The Purple Line is Maryland’s first P3 transit project and its construction has been eagerly anticipated by businesses and residents all along the route. We are very excited to work with PLTP to help local residents acquire the skills they need to be hired for the construction and operation of this project,” said Mike Knapp, CEO of SkillSmart. “It is great to implement our mission of mobilizing community resources for major economic impact on another significant project in the DC metro region.”

Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, the SkillSmart platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.

The Purple Line, a 21 station, 16-mile light rail line extending from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, has been selected to receive a $900 million grant under the Federal Transit Administration’s competitive New Starts program. When completed, it will provide a direct connection to Metrorail’s Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, AMTRAK, and local bus services.

Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.

For further information about SkillSmart, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or contact Michael Knapp at 301-980-4095 or mknapp@skillsmart.us.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles. 

JOINT RELEASE WITH

The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is working with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to increase efforts to address the gross underrepresentation of women and minorities in the Cybersecurity industry.  Cybersecurity is a serious economic and national security challenge, yet tens of thousands of critical jobs in this field are unfilled due to a lack of qualified applicants. This new partnership will allow qualified women and minority candidates to more readily display their skills to get hired today and will help to create a pipeline of prospective candidates to fill the backlog of open jobs.

Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, particularly for technical and STEM positions, this platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.

Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.

“We are very excited to work with ICMCP during this growth phase of their organization,” said Mike Knapp CEO of SkillSmart. “As ICMCP develops, it’s being recognized as leading voice and destination for issues related to Cybersecurity career and industry developments impacting minority Cybersecurity professionals. We are ecstatic about this engagement, and are looking forward to working with the ICMCP team!”

SkillSmart’s user-friendly interface enables candidates to build a skills profile identifying the proficiencies and qualifications they have, regardless of where they were developed. SkillSmart’s proprietary algorithm then calculates a fit score for each candidate, and the skills profile then helps an organization filter a candidate pool down to the top qualified candidates and demonstrates which are the best fit.

“ICMCP’s mission is to promote public awareness of cybersecurity and opportunities for minorities within the profession.  Our partnership with SkillSmart provides a strong foundation to gather and disseminate job openings within the cybersecurity industry,” says Aric K. Perminter, President at ICMCP.  “This partnership directly supports ICMCP’s expressed purpose of “Bridging The Great Minority Cybersecurity Divide.” Launched in 2014, ICMCP is based in North Haledon, NJ. The mission of ICMCP targets minority cyber security professionals worldwide and promotes academic and technical excellence in the industry.

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About SkillSmart

SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles.

About ICMCP

The International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It began official operations in September 2014 and is organized exclusively for charitable purposes, to provide members with educational/technical scholarships, mentoring opportunities, professional development and networking opportunities. For more information or to become a sponsor, please visit https://icmcp.org, follow @ICMCP_ORG on Twitter or visit the ICMCP LinkedIn page.

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As 2016 draws to a close it is good to reflect on those things that worked well, and those that didn’t achieve all that you’d hoped in an effort to improve on them in the coming year. We were pleased to to be able to support our clients in their pursuit of hiring a diverse, talented and qualified workforce, and to support thousands of job seekers in their pursuit of new growth opportunities. We saw the results of this effort with the opening of MGM National Harbor on December 8. An amazing new facility bringing economic growth to Prince Georges County, MD and the Washington, DC region and more than 4,000 outstanding new employees meeting the exciting challenges of a new job opportunity.  This is just one example of how SkillSmart’s skills-based hiring platform and community building skills can really make a difference in increasing economic opportunity.

Candidly, as we look at things that haven’t worked as well, we struggle to understand why so many organizations continue to beat their head against the wall by pursuing the same hiring strategies that haven’t worked for decades rather than explore new approaches to build a more qualified workforce. We will be working very hard in 2017 to share the results of our efforts with our growing client base to help organizations overcome their fear of change and minimize their frustration with the skills gap to increase opportunities for growth.

We at SkillSmart want to thank you for your continued support and wish you peace and prosperity during this holiday season and the coming year.

Best wishes,
Mike, Jason and the SkillSmart Team

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