Tech training nonprofit agency helps students access IT careers in WMass (2025)

SPRINGFIELD — Alexander Cruz-Marrero, 22, is exactly the kind of student that Tech Foundry in Springfield is guiding toward well-paying jobs in the local information technology sector.

“My background consists of not much,” he told The Republican. “I was working fresh out of high school, and now I’m fresh out of a job. Finding Tech Foundry has been beneficial, because I didn’t know what do with myself for a long time.”

On the fifth floor of an office building down the block from City Hall, more than a dozen students are learning in front of computers with a classroom instructor. They’re enrolled in the Tech Foundry’s IT workforce training program.

“Our mission is to connect low- to moderate-income people with digital skills and professional development training so they can access pathways to economic mobility and create thriving communities,” said Tricia Canavan, the organization’s chief executive officer.

Founded 10 years ago by a group of regional employers, the nonprofit group has graduated around 540 students from its 18-week program, which includes training for a broad range of roles, help searching for jobs and internships, creating resumes and role-playing in mock interviews.

Canavan said more than 70% of students are landing jobs that pay an average of more than $40,000, compared to around $25,000 if they were untrained and tried to find work on their own.

The majority of students come from one of the state’s Gateway Cities, where overall levels of income and education are low, according to Canavan. More than 60% of students are people of color.

“Our founders identified a need and opportunity to create stronger pathways to these entry-level tech jobs and at the same time connecting people who are underrepresented in tech,” said Canavan.

The job training center sets students up with co-op work at local businesses and has connected graduates with permanent jobs at more than 100 employers.

Christina Brown, 33, is a former aide, educating special-needs children. More recently, she was a dispatcher for Springfield Emergency Communications, but then she said she left the job for personal reasons.

Until she came across Tech Foundry, the only job training programs she could find cost $1,000, and she said there was no way she could have afforded that.

“I don’t come from money,” Brown said.

Brown has been a Tech Foundry student since February, with the goal of becoming a network engineer.

In an interview with The Republican, she discovered the training she is receiving for free actually costs $13,000.

“Wow! I didn’t know that, and I’m even more grateful,” she said. “Tech Foundry has changed my life, and because of it, I’m going to be able to get a job, and help my friends and family have a basic level of IT knowledge, because of the way the world is going.”

From campuses in Holyoke and Springfield, along with classes it offers in libraries and community centers in the hilltowns of Western Massachusetts, the Tech Foundry teaches everything from the basics of how to operate a mouse and get online, to working on an IT help desk and managing a network of computers.

Part of Tech Foundry’s funding comes from corporate donations, such as a $275,000 grant just received from the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation.

The bank’s foundation has awarded $4.9 million in grants to 51 nonprofit agencies across New England this year. Tech Foundry was the only organization in Western Massachusetts to receive money from the bank’s Amplify Fund, which has bestowed $25 million to organizations in the last three years.

“We wanted to highlight one specific organization that did unique work,” said Joel Jaquez, senior program officer for M&T Charitable Foundation.

“The Tech Foundry’s application spoke to us, because its students are diverse, and (the organization) is in an area that gets neglected by the philanthropic community,” Jaquez said. “When it comes to resources, you see gaps between Eastern and Western Massachusetts.”

The grant is helping the nonprofit group hire additional coaches and fortify an emergency fund that helps students financially in tough times outside the classroom.

“It’s going to allow us to provide stipends for our students if they encounter a barrier to completion. Financial emergencies can cause someone to leave the program. It’s also going to allow us to ensure we have the staff that we need,” Canavan said.

Tech Foundry student Cruz-Marrero said he’s been tinkering with computers all of his life, and while he has been self-taught so far, the formal education he’s getting now is the only way he’ll realize his dream of working in cybersecurity.

“At first, I wasn’t very confident, because that’s my personality, but since I joined the program, I am super confident,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to leave with a job where I can provide for myself and my family, and that’s all I wanted.”

Brown said she is happy to leave the world of 911 emergencies to answer calls for help as a computer network engineer.

“They have given me so much encouragement,” she said. “I believe a job is out there for me. I’m just in the midst of waiting for it. I’m so excited.”