Jobs Accelerator scholarships offered in interactive media -- Career Center Blog

June 7, 2012

Jobs Accelerator scholarships offered in interactive media

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

A healthy employment picture, like a robust economy, needs to have a balance between supply (qualified workers) and demand (living-wage jobs). While most job seekers lament the lack of demand and the glut of supply during the Great Recession, many high-tech firms are seeing a reverse scenario at play in recent years: There are too few skilled workers, they say, for the expected uptick in technological positions that will be created as the economy improves.

Last week, a new program from the Washington Interactive Network (WIN) and enterpriseSeattle was announced to help address the "supply" problem. As part of the nationwide 2011 Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, the two organizations are overseeing two $10,000 scholarships that will be awarded to women or minorities wishing to earn undergraduate or graduate degrees in the video gaming, Web design and online social networking industry, collectively known as "interactive media."

"Despite a struggling economy, jobs and revenue are still growing in the interactive media sector, and qualified workforce is still the No. 1 reason why companies locate and grow in our region," said Kristina Hudson, WIN's executive director. "It is imperative that we encourage students to pursue degrees in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] fields in order to maintain this growth in such a dynamic industry."

The four-year degrees covered under the program include interactive media development, computer science and engineering, game design, and digital art and animation. For anyone interested in applying, act quickly; the deadline is June 22. For more information on eligibility, visit the WIN scholarship guidelines page.

Degrees in interactive media appear to be in high demand, according to preliminary results from WIN's new economic impact study, scheduled to be released this month. The number of interactive-media companies in the region, WIN says, has grown at an annual rate of 18 percent over the past five years, rising from 150 companies in 2007 to more than 300 in 2011. During that period, the sector has retained more than 2,500 jobs and contributed about $400 million to the Puget Sound region's economy, the report found.

Funding for the women and minority scholarships comes from enterpriseSeattle and a $1.2 million grant that was awarded last fall from the Jobs Accelerator program. The Puget Sound area was identified by the $37 million Accelerator initiative as one of 20 high-growth regional clusters around the country that could benefit from federal grants to spur job creation and economic growth.

The regional projects are expected to create more than 4,800 jobs and 300 businesses. Also, the program plans to retain another 2,400 jobs and train approximately 4,000 workers for careers in high-growth industries.

Another Jobs Accelerator grant was awarded to our neighbors to the south, the Portland metropolitan area and several counties along both sides of the Washington/Oregon border. The city of Portland, Worksystems Inc. and the Oregon Microenterprise Network is administering a $2.15 million grant to develop businesses in the clean technology sector.

Known as the Portland Regional Clean Tech Advance Initiative, the program will be aimed at emerging or minority-owned clean tech businesses. It will provide assistance in securing private investment, increase new revenues, create public/private partnerships, build supply chains and train workers for leadership.

For more details about the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, visit the U.S. Department of Commerce's information page.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.