Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent weekly newspaper, and the Vermont Technology Alliance, the trade organization supporting Vermont’s business and tech community, are excited to announce the dates of the 6th annual Vermont Tech Jam. This popular career fair and tech expo brings together job seekers, college students, entrepreneurs and professionals for two days of recruiting and networking.
The 2012 Tech Jam, co-presented by Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer, will be held at the Champlain Mill in Winooski on Friday and Saturday, October 26 and 27. Representatives from dozens of Vermont’s most innovative companies will be there recruiting and demonstrating their products.
This year’s Tech Jam sponsors include Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer, as well as BioTek, C2, Champlain College, Logic Supply, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, the Vermont Technology Council, the Vermont Technology Alliance, the Vermont Department of Education and TD Bank. Internet connectivity will be provided by FairPoint Communications.
New this year at the Jam: The vtTA will present two awards honoring businesses and individuals for their outstanding contributions to the local tech community. The Tech Jam Innovation Award will be presented to a company or individual with the most innovative new product, application of technology or way of doing business. The Tech Jam Ambassador Award will go to an individual or business whose leadership and actions positively represent the state as a home for technology business, and whose efforts help put Vermont ‘on the map’as a place for technology businesses to start, succeed and grow.
The vtTA is now accepting nominations for these awards; the deadline for entries is 5 p.m. on Monday, September 17. A panel of judges will evaluate the nominations and select the winners. Judges will include Lawrence Miller, Secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development; Dr. John Cohn, IBM Fellow and Chief Scientist of Design Automation at IBM; Matt Dunne, Head of Community Affairs for Google and Paula Routly, Publisher and Co-Editor ofSeven Days. Find more information, and entry forms, athttp://bit.ly/tj-awards
Tech Jam exhibitor registration is also now open. Technology-focused businesses, or businesses hiring tech talent, can find out how to exhibit by [email protected].
‘Vermont has a thriving technology business sector that may be one of the state’s best kept secrets,’said vtTA executive director Jeff Couture. ‘Our member companies report adding more than 300 jobs over the past year. The Tech Jam and the new awards will help shine a light on the companies that are creating good-paying jobs, innovative products and helping Vermont become a hub for technology business growth.’
The Vermont Tech Jam was started in 2008 bySeven Days, the vtTA (formerly the Vermont Software Developers’Alliance) and a coalition of public and private sector partners who sought to increase the visibility of the state’s vibrant, and growing, technology sector. There were two Tech Jams that year, one in January, and one in October. The Tech Jam became an annual event in 2009.