Solving the Chicken and Egg Problem of Recruiting and Training Tech Talent in the Hudson Valley

Technology companies continue to prioritize flexible work-life balance and healthier lifestyles to help retain valuable employees. And given the easy access to metropolitan hubs, natural beauty, broadband infrastructure plans, and low cost of living, the Hudson Valley should be poised as a desirable region for businesses who prize this kind of culture as a path to growth. However, as local municipalities clamor for more tech talent to move here, the greatest barrier to starting or scaling a company in our area is access to a qualified talent pool. Difficulties in hiring experienced staff presents people in our community working on this issue with a chicken and an egg problem: train the local workforce for jobs that aren’t yet here, or recruit companies to the region who would need to bring high-skilled workers with them. This panel will touch on recruitment, training, and workforce development investment, and dig deeper into questions like:
- What skills do Hudson Valley residents need to develop to seize incoming opportunities? 
- For companies, is the Hudson Valley a viable location for founding, staffing, and scaling an early-stage or later-stage technology company?
- How can policy-makers work with the Hudson Valley tech community to overcome these challenges and support the burgeoning tech corridor?