A new way for Delaware residents to connect with career advancement opportunities
At Tech Impact, launch day is always something our team looks forward to, whether it’s a website, a digital campaign, or a new platform or Cloud migration. Now, we’re celebrating our latest launch: a new app that will make it easier for job seekers in Delaware to find the training programs they need to advance their careers.
Video Caption: The Career Mobility App currently lists 250+ training programs from more than 40 partners that train and/or certify participants in fields such as nursing, technology, and construction. The app is funded through the American Rescue Plan. The State of Delaware, led by the Office of Governor John Carney, is actively investing over $1B of one-time funding projects to support community initiatives statewide. Through a partnership with the Delaware Workforce Development Board, this app supports the overarching goal of building a well-educated and highly skilled workforce in Delaware, a key goal of Governor Carney’s administration.
We celebrated the release of the Delaware Career Mobility App on Oct. 10, in Wilmington, Delaware’s the Warehouse, the WRK Group’s teen-focused center, surrounded by the community it took to make this vision a reality.
At the event, the presence of the Tech Impact team alongside local leaders, members of the press, community members, and our partners —the Delaware Workforce Development Board, the Delaware Department of Labor, Goodwill of Delaware and Delaware County, and the WRK Group— made it clear that a key thread in our story is the power of partnership.
This work is bigger than any one of our organizations, and to effectively address the unemployment crisis, we have to work together. There are 33,000 open positions in Delaware, yet the unemployment rate in the state—4.5%— is higher than the national average. This is why it’s critical for us and our partners to come together and build community around our common goal: better serving Delaware residents on their path toward more prosperous careers. The resources and support in Delaware are plentiful, and now with this app, they will be just a few clicks away on their cellphone, a device nearly every resident can access.
Patrick Callihan, our CEO here at Tech Impact, opened the event up by sharing that this app is going to change the workforce development landscape in Delaware, and it’s going to change lives.
The Chair of the Delaware Workforce Development Board, Scott Malfitano agrees. He talked about the historic federal and state investment in workforce development and how this app is going to help people connect to opportunities in ways they haven’t been able to before.
“We invest funding across the state, and we ask people how they are doing. How many people did you train? How are you marketing your program?” says Malfitano. “The response is ‘word of mouth’. It’s 2024. We need to do things differently.”
It’s moments like this where the impact of our work settles in. For months, there has been collaboration and coordination among our teams at Tech Impact, particularly The Data Innovation Lab and Message Agency, Tech Impact’s Digital Services Division.
As we worked toward launch, we had the opportunity to test the app MVP directly with community members at the WRK Group, and now we’re now shifting our focus to obtaining input from the community about future directions. We’re excited to go back to job seekers and providers now that the app is live so we can keep learning and enhancing the product. As we move from one phase to another, we also plan to expand our collaboration with different partners. It’s an app, yes, but it also represents an opportunity to forge a real path forward for Delaware’s workforce.
Tiana Morris, EMPOWER Lead Navigational Coach at Kingswood Community Center, said it well.
“One major barrier people experience is the inability to find resources. Our coaches work tirelessly to find resources and partnerships to connect people with,” Morris said. “The app gives families in the community a way to search programs that will help them fulfill their hopes and dreams, assist them on their quest for economic mobility and independence.”
While it’s always important to acknowledge the hard work and contributions that each and every person involved with this project has made, it’s also important to note that this work isn’t about us or any of our organizations. It’s about Delaware.
There was a lot of teamwork (and hard work!) to get to this launch, and we’re going to keep pushing forward. This is only the beginning of a new landscape for Delaware’s workforce.
What’s next?
We want to know what you think! Download the app, which is available for iOS and Android devices, and share your thoughts with our team via our feedback form.
The Tech Impact team is moving forward with research to learn more about the needs of job seekers and providers to inform future updates and new features for the app, as well as to develop a relatable brand.
Our goal is to have as many Delaware-based programs as possible available in the app, which means we will be partnering with more organizations across the entire state. If you are interested in getting involved or having your program listed, please contact us!
