Tech-training center opens doors
Technology-training firm General Assembly has launched its local center in the Comradity coworking complex at 845 Canal St. in Stamford’s South End.
The opening follows General Assembly’s announcement last December that this year it would start running full-time courses in web development and data science at a site within walking distance of the main Metro-North train station in Stamford. Comradity operates about 1 mile from the downtown transportation center.
“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Comradity as we work together to build a highly skilled and inclusive talent pipeline that can support Connecticut’s economic development in the years ahead,” Lizzie Livingston, General Assembly’s manager of instruction and education programs, said in a statement. “Their unique and state-ofthe-art space is the ideal location for our Stamford campus, and will help foster an environment tailored toward creative learning and instruction.”
Opened in 2015 by husband-andwife team Jim and Katherine Kern, Comradity has established itself as a hub for startups in a range of industries, including consumer goods, media and information technology. Multinational companies such as GE and Spotify also hold meetings there.
“It is a compliment that General Assembly chose Comradity to deliver their exceptional learning experience,” Jim Kern said in a statement. Katherine Kern cited Comradity’s belief that “businesses flourish when they are open minded, collaborative, and provide opportunities for growth.”
Comradity and General Assembly said they will offer businesses a “24/7 open-studio membership” plan, which includes a 50 percent discount on General Assembly workshops and “boot camps.”
A state-funded allocation of $1.25 million to General Assembly is supporting the new center. The state is providing the same amount of funding to an equivalent program, run by Tech Talent South, in Hartford.
Combined, General Assembly and Tech Talent South are expected to enroll about 400 students by 2020.
Manhattan-based General Assemly runs campuses in many cities, including New York, Boston, Providence, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Denver and Washington.
“With our Manhattan campus, we saw a lot of demand from people in Connecticut,” General Assembly President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Kirkpatrick said in a recent interview. “Given that there are so many tech jobs now, we said, ‘Why don’t we run a campus right here in Connecticut?’”
Demand for tech professionals continues to grow, as several companies have announced major expansions in Connecticut.
Last December, job-search firm Indeed pledged to add another 500 jobs at its downtown Stamford offices, where about 900 now work. The announcement followed a separate plan rolled out last year to create 500 jobs.
Indeed aims to raise its Stamford contingent to about 1,700 by the end of 2031.
Last September, IT consulting and research firm Gartner announced it would add 400 jobs during the next five years at its headquarters in Stamford’s Waterside neighborhood. The company employs about 1,200 at the main offices and about 100 elsewhere in the state.
Another IT firm, Infosys, announced in March 2018 that it would open a center in Hartford, aiming to employ about 1,000 there within the next four years.
More than $50 million in state subsidies are cumulatively supporting the projects at Indeed, Gartner and Infosys.