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Bitwise’s Buffalo leader looks to build a path to tech jobs for underserved youths – Buffalo News



CJ Banks has spent his life helping youth. 

Growing up in the Bronx, his family struggled with poverty and drug abuse, Banks said. As a child, he frequently ran away from home and spent days living on the streets. 

As he got older, those experiences fueled his passion for helping kids facing similar struggles. When he was 16, he started a youth basketball program. At 18, he was leading an anti-violence program.

In Buffalo, he’s worked as a youth and education programs coordinator with Buffalo Urban League and the director of parenting and youth services at EPIC – Every Person Influences Children. Banks also runs his own music studio where students can get free recording time if they keep their grades up and have a good attendance record. 

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Now, as the newly hired vice president of Bitwise Buffalo, a diversity-focused technology training firm, Banks will be helping the youth of Western New York in a different way: by facilitating opportunities for people from underserved and marginalized communities to learn in-demand tech skills that will lead to well-paying, family-supporting jobs. 

“There was no way I could turn (the position) down because it’s the next step in my stage of life and my mission,” Banks said. “My goal is to reach every single person that feels like they have a little mustard seed of desire to get into technology and show them it’s possible.”



CJ Banks is the new vice president at Bitwise Buffalo, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022.




Bitwise is a ‘turning point’ for marginalized Western New Yorkers 

In his role leading Bitwise Buffalo, Banks sees himself as the “evangelist” of the organization, bringing people to Bitwise by sharing what it’s about and the impact it will have on the community.  

“This is a turning point in our community,” Banks said. “I really do believe this is going to be a great thing.”

Bitwise announced in March it would be bringing its scalable, venture capital-funded approach to increasing diversity in tech to the Buffalo Niagara region.

Students from any background can join Bitwise classes – no technology experience required, Banks said. Classes cost $250, but financial and equipment assistance are available for those who cannot afford the costs. 

After completing the classes, students are often hired to work for Bitwise’s in-house technology consulting firm. They also have the option to join a paid apprenticeship program through Bitwise. Some students will seek work with a local company. 

Since its founding in 2013, Bitwise has trained more than 8,000 people across the country. The average Bitwise student’s annual salary after training is between $60,000 and $80,000.

This type of training is much needed in Buffalo and leaders in the region’s tech and startup space have worked in recent years to create accessible training opportunities for tech workers through initiatives like TechBuffalo and M&T Bank’s Tech Academy. 

Bitwise will build off of what these organizations have already done. 

Banks will leverage community connections to grow Bitwise Buffalo 

Banks never saw himself leading a technology training company. 

While his education is in psychology and mental health, Banks has also been a lifelong entrepreneur – for the past 12 years, he’s run his own marketing business, he’s owned nightclubs, an ice cream parlor and a recording studio.



CJ Banks is the new vice president at Bitwise Buffalo, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. 




But his interest in the position at Bitwise stemmed from his lifelong passion to help children and families. Training opportunities provided by Bitwise will enable families to gain financial freedom, spark the local economy and create generational wealth, Banks said.  

One of the biggest strengths Banks is bringing to Bitwise is his connection to the communities the organization is looking to serve – people of color, low-income populations, women, LGBTQ+ people, the formerly incarcerated. Through his previous work, volunteering and personal connections, he’s built relationships and trust that will help him spread the word of these new opportunities. 

“I don’t think it’s going to take much for people to latch on,” Banks said. “Buffalo has been waiting for this. Individuals in underserved communities that have lived lives of poverty, they’ve been looking for this.”

No update on Bitwise office space 

When Bitwise comes into a city, it transforms a blighted historical building into a technology hub, where classes are held, its operations are housed and other tech companies can rent space.

Banks did not have any updates to share on where the office will be located or when it will open, but said it will be an “amazing space” for people in the community. 

Though there is still no Buffalo office, learning is already underway. Several groups of students in Western New York have taken Bitwise classes online. The latest group started earlier this week. 

Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up:


Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy – from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.


THE LATEST, IN CONTEXT 

What: Capti, an education technology company that moved its headquarters from Long Island to Buffalo in 2019, won a $1 million grant from the Department of Education to develop a suite of diagnostic reading assessments for use in schools.

Tell me more: This is the second time in two years Capti has won a federal $1 million Small Business Innovation Research grant. Capti is working on developing the assessment with a literacy research team from ETS, or Educational Testing Service, an educational testing and assessment organization.

Capti recieved a $200,000 award in 2021 to develop a prototype the reading assessments.



Yevgen Borodin, CEO of Capti, makes his pitch to the judges during the 43North qualifying round in 2019.




Why it matters: Due to learning interruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, many students are not reading at a proficient level, CEO Dr. Yevgen Borodin said. Capti’s suite of tools will provide a comprehensive assessment of a student’s reading abilities, help determine the cause of a student’s reading difficulty and also provide teachers with information they need to make the best instructional decisions for the student. 

The grant funding and an ongoing $1.75 million fundraising effort with investors will support the expansion of Capti’s sales and customer support teams in Western New York. Capti has four full-time employees and Borodin said he expects to hire 10 new employees in the coming months.


THE LATEST

Catch up on the latest news from Buffalo Next:

Amazon is getting $124 million in tax breaks for its big Niagara County distribution facility, but when will work begin?

An Ellicottville food products company is expanding to grow more fresh greens – and looking for tax breaks to help pay for it.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is holding a hearing in Buffalo on racial and economic justice issues later this month.

Mindy Rich is taking over as chair of Rich Products Corp. Her husband, Robert Rich Jr., has shifted into the role on senior chairman

A Town of Tonawanda nursing home has been fined $53,000 by federal regulators after a resident fell to her death from a third-floor window earlier this year.

Plans for a big pot-growing business along the Lake Erie shoreline are moving forward again.

More upgrades are coming to the area around the Bell Slip at Buffalo’s Outer Harbor.

What’s going on at the completed Amazon warehouse in Hamburg? A whole lot of nothing so far, and that’s raising some concerns since the project received nearly $7 million in tax breaks.

Could Athenex’s latest chapter include a sale? Two companies are reportedly interested in the struggling Buffalo firm.

Plans to bring apartments to vacant buildings in the Millard Fillmore hospital complex at Gates Circle are moving forward.

New Era Cap Co. is bringing on new minority investors – and they also are the Buffalo-based sports apparel company’s most prominent customers.

A Grand Island pharmaceutical company is taking the wraps off a $76 million expansion that brought in 100 new jobs.

The state is gearing up to start offering bonuses to health care workers as part of efforts to keep and attract people to a field that has struggled to fill vacant positions.

Buffalo Next reporters Jonathan D. Epstein, Jon Harris, Natalie Brophy, Matt Glynn, Samantha Christmann, Janet Gramza and Mike Petro contributed to this roundup.


ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. The local housing market is still going strong, although it has started to show signs that it’s cooling down from its red-hot status of last year.

2. At Moog, a homegrown company takes off: With good-paying jobs, strong customer connections and technical expertise, Moog’s operations are the type of manufacturing that the region’s business recruiters are eager for more of.

3. With Covid-19 waning, tourists are returning to Niagara Falls. But international travelers still haven’t come back in the same numbers, and that’s leaving a big hole in the local tourism market. Inflation and fears of a slowing economy aren’t helping, either.

4. Rich Products relies on innovation and new products to keep its business growing – and a good portion of those efforts are based in Buffalo.

5. The rules for would-be cannabis store operators remain murky – and that’s just one of the challenges they face as the launch of a legalized marijuana marketplace approaches.


The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the region’s economic revitalization. Email tips to [email protected] or reach technology and startups reporter Natalie Brophy at [email protected].

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Source: https://buffalonews.com/business/local/bitwises-buffalo-leader-looks-to-build-a-path-to-tech-jobs-for-underserved-youths/article_c27effb0-19bf-11ed-8001-b7ace65b0658.html

Author: News tech