Washington D.C. – The Intelligence Community Inc. announced today that it is increasing its support for a cybersecurity jobs program to train and place U.S. tech talent in the American heartland.
The Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), a Grassroots Partner of SOAR, and FOUR18 Intelligence Corp. have launched one of the country’s first programs that trains, certifies, rates and performs job placement for new computer networking and cybersecurity teleworkers from rural U.S. populations starting in Eastern Kentucky with a vision to grow nationally. The program is supported by a grant from the U.S. Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), making the entire program available at no cost to the student.
In the first 12 days from launch, more than 170 people in the region have applied to the program, including sponsored applicants from six leading employers within the region. The novel program involves both traditional certification-based training in the basics of computer networking and cybersecurity with a heavy dose of practical skills-oriented exercises, a gamified collaborative simulation experience, advanced analytics tools and community engagement platforms and a work-study internship program designed to prepare new cyber analysts for entry level remote work opportunities from hubs based in Eastern Kentucky that are operated through EKCEP’s Teleworks USA initiative, a Grassroots Partner of SOAR.
The program seeks qualified residents of Eastern Kentucky to apply this week and employers to contact EKCEP who are interested in recruiting a high-skilled, low-cost, highly committed cyber workforce to intern and work for them remotely from the hubs in Eastern Kentucky. The Intelligence Community Inc. is working with the program to identify U.S. companies that will utilize this new talent pipeline to assist with critical national defense missions. For more information go to https://cybersecurity.ekcep.org.
Additionally, forward-thinking investors interested in Opportunity Zones are encouraged to contact Mark Jaster, CEO, FOUR18 Intelligence, at mark@418intelligence.com for information on investment opportunities to address the national cyber talent crisis and unmet needs through a scalable model of technology-enabled, cost-effective rural and urban operations which will offer investors substantial tax incentives on their gains.