Bay Valley Tech

Bay Valley Tech’s tuition-free technology training and entrepreneurship program is getting a big boost from the state of California. The state joins other Bay Valley Tech partners Oak Valley Community Bank, Bank of Stockton, Stanislaus County Workforce Development, the City of Modesto, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock Adult School, Patterson Adult School, Tyler Technologies, Stanislaus County of Education to expand the highly successful program’s capacity.

As the region’s fastest-growing vocational training program, Bay Valley Tech receives thousands of applicants annually. Students accepted into the free Code Academy, Digital Skills Bootcamp and paid internships are required to mentor other tech students, accelerating growth of the local digital workforce. Local employers, such as American Medical Response, Tyler Technologies, Datapath, Turlock Unified School District and E&J Gallo, are benefiting from Bay Valley Tech’s deep talent pool and are increasingly looking to Bay Valley Tech to fill their tech worker shortages. New employers from outside the region have also hired Bay Valley Tech alumni, increasing investment in the county and adding hundreds of tech jobs.

Bernadette Davoud

is a former Bay Valley Tech student helping our local economy. As a resident of Modesto, Bernadette is the first one in her family to attain a technology-based career. She benefited from a paid internship program created through a partnership between Bay Valley Tech, Stanislaus County Workforce Development and the Stanislaus County Office of Education. She joins dozens and dozens of other Bay Valley Tech-trained programmers building applications for Gallo, the world’s largest and most innovative winery. “My instructors and mentors at Bay Valley Tech were instrumental in preparing me for my current role,” stated Bernadette. In addition to her full-time responsibilities, she helps other aspiring software students as a part-time teaching assistant at Bay Valley Tech and as a lead organizer for the Google Developers Group’s Women Techmakers community in Modesto. Raul Leon is software developer at Stanislaus Foods. As a Bay Valley Tech and Stanislaus State alumni, Raul helps the industry leader automate its processes and reduce costs. “My friends and teachers at Bay Valley Tech were very helpful and improved my confidence. I was surprised to get a job offer even before completing the code academy, and it’s been fun to go back and encourage the newer students. It’s exciting to see how fast Bay Valley Tech and our local tech community is growing.”

Johnathan Nguyen

came to Bay Valley Tech’s tuition-free code academy after working as a truck driver for 10 years. He completed the software developer training program, immediately landed a programming job at Gallo, and is now a software developer for Tyler Technologies, the largest provider of software to the federal government. Today, Johnathan’s work is rewarding and his increased income is benefiting his family as well as the local economy. “Although the journey was challenging in the beginning, it was the constant support from my family, friends and Bay Valley Tech team that made it possible to transition into a new tech career,” Johnathan explained.

After working for years as a medical scribe and office manager, Vanessa Farmer was seeking a more fulfilling career and increased earning opportunities. She had taken a few computer classes in high school but didn’t consider a career in tech to be a realistic possibility until she was accepted into Bay Valley Tech’s code academy. She initially had reservations and thought she would be unable to make much progress learning new digital skills while working full-time. Instead, she found that the communal spirit and the flexibility of the coursework helped her progress on schedule. According to Vanessa, “I tried selfstudy in web development, and I didn't understand c e r t a i n concepts. However, at Bay Valley Tech, I was surrounded by helpful teachers, mentors and ‘study buddies’ who helped me maintain my momentum, and I actually progressed further than I ever expected.” Vanessa’s responsibilities at work have expanded to include webmaster, and she maintains the online presence for both their current and new offerings. Vanessa added, “I encourage any women interested in technology to join Bay Valley Tech’s code academy. Women have much to offer the tech industry, and it is a supportive and great place to start.” This summer, Bay Valley Tech began helping the county’s K-12 students by equipping local high school teachers to teach web design. The organization’s new two-week Web Design Bootcamp taught teachers the fundamentals of graphic design, web design and coding. The bootcamp enabled teachers to instill excitement and interest in technology to their students.

According to

Jennifer Kline,

a teacher for deaf and hardof-hearing students at La Loma Junior High School, “I have already told so many people about Bay Valley Tech! It is so wonderful to work with an organization that has the best interests of people and our community in the forefront. Every single person here is passionate about what they do and have a desire to share these passions with others and help everyone along the way.”

This month, Bay Valley Tech is working with The Salvation Army in Modesto to launch a new two-week Salvation Army “Red Shield” web design bootcamp for junior high and high school students. Training students and getting them excited about technology when they are young will only work toward building their interest to pursue additional web development and digital skills training and much more as they continue their education.

New web development and digital skills cohorts are starting soon.

If you, or someone you know, are interested in learning more about Bay Valley Tech’s unique and dynamic training programs, please visit: www.bayvalleytech. com or call (209) 985-4721.