Gateway Technical College will parner with Microsoft to develop a Microsoft Datacenter Academy, a skills training course for cloud computing and IT careers.
As it develops its plan for a multi-billion dollar data center in Mount Pleasant, Microsoft is also laying the groundwork to build a future local workforce.
Last week, the company and Gateway Technical Collage signed an agreement to jointly develop a Microsoft Datacenter Academy, a training and certification program for cloud computing and information technology careers.
Gaby DelaGarza, Microsoft's senior director of global datacenter community affairs, announced the partnership Monday night during a presentation to the Mount Pleasant Village Board about Microsoft's plans to build a complex of data centers across two square miles within the Wisconsin Innovation Park.
"When Microsoft joins a community, we also bring our commitment to empowering people and organizations to achieve more, starting with what we do best, which is technology, and digital skilling," she said.
She called the academies Microsoft's flagship program, one that seeks to "break down barriers to entering the tech industry and, obviously, developing a talented pipeline that can work in IT roles in any organization."
It remains unclear how many people Microsoft will eventually employ in Mount Pleasant. The company has begun construction of its first building and previously said it expected that development to employ about 200 workers.
Under a revised development agreement that will be considered later this month by the village and Racine County boards, Microsoft must build a minimum of four buildings on the land it already owns and the 1,030 acres it intends to buy. Foxconn Technology Group, which holds the development options on those parcels has agreed to give up its claim to the land.
Microsoft paid $50 million for the 315 acres currently under development and will pay an additional $100 million to the village for 631 acres it owns and an undisclosed amount to a private landowner for the final 400 acres. The land sales will close by the end of the year, pending approval by the village and the county.
The academy at Gateway would be Microsoft's 19th. It has opened nine in the U.S., seven in Europe and one each in South Africa and Singapore. In addition to being near a data center, the academy sites are based on a school's ability to provide IT training and provide adequate space for a lab, and its ability to reach under-served populations.
The memorandum of understanding reached last week is only a starting point. Discussions with Microsoft are ongoing and there aren't a lot of details at this point about the academy's funding, location or enrollment goals, said Matt Janisin, Gateway's executive vice president of academic affairs.
Janisin compared the partnership to other workforce training programs the college has developed to help local companies meet their employment needs.
"That'll be no different with Microsoft, but since this is our first major data center in the area, this is a little bit of a new ground and we'll be leveraging and leaning on Microsoft give us some insights on the skill sets that we should be teaching," Janisin said.
Microsoft's contributions to its academies can include curriculum development, equipment or "whatever is needed," Delagarza said.
Janisin said the academy will also have a public outreach function, allowing prospective students and the community in general to get a better understanding of what goes on inside a data center.
"Most data centers have some pretty high security, so you can't just walk in and tour a data center," he said. "Having this partnership with a local technical college like Gateway allows students and the public (who) are interested in data science and IT to see what's behind those mysterious walls of a data center but on a smaller scale."
He said it could take up to a year before the program is ready for launch. Right now, he said, the college's primary focus is on developing workers in the skilled trades who will help build the data centers.
The entrance to Microsoft's data center consruction project at County KR and 90th Street in Mount Pleasant
"That'll be step one for Gateway and the (other) technical colleges – to make sure that workforce is is ready," he said.
The academy is one of several community-focused initiatives that Microsoft has launched since it bought the first parcel in May. They include:
Spending $4.2 million to restore1.5 miles of Lamparek Creek, a stream that flows through the area that is currently under development.
