It’s been reported that over 400 people attended the grand opening event for The Forge, held earlier this month in Jefferson. 

Along with the crowds of people, there were speakers from local, state and national levels that praised the kinds of partnerships that were made to bring high paying software technology jobs to rural Iowa, and how it resembles places like Silicon Valley. One of the ways The Forge will bring tech jobs to Jefferson is through Pillar, a part of Accenture Industry X.0, and the training program of The Forge Academy. The initial plan is to select Des Moines Area Community College graduates, through their computer languages program for the training program, with an opportunity to work at The Forge making between $55,000-$75,000.

The Forge building owner Chris Deal has been one of the project leaders and he explains the next steps.

“The idea is that we are creating a training pipeline, not just for The Forge and not just for Accenture, but a training pipeline that can be replicated. There’s so many companies out there that want remote workers and we have such a unique package to offer to people, and now we’ve got a training pipeline. So can you take that and now all of a sudden we can give a very, very enticing story for why they should also come to Jefferson.”       

He encourages any entrepreneurs that want to start their own business to utilize what The Forge was able to accomplish and think outside the box to create even more ideas.