CHARLOTTE AMALIE — UVI’s Research and Technology Park wants to bring Virgin Islanders back home with their new Vista+ (Virgin Islands STEM Talent Archive) workforce development initiative.
The official launch of this curated archive was announced in a webinar last week that focused on retaining and attracting home tech and STEM-related Virgin Islands talent.
Vista+ seeks to match Virgin Islanders here and abroad with companies looking to fill tech-related vacancies in the USVI. The platform allows candidates to upload their profiles, experience, education and skill sets while accessing a list of available job opportunities. Businesses can post job vacancies and company profiles and access information about available talent.
According to Business Intelligence and Marketing Manager Sydney Paul, who co-hosted the webinar, the database is also important in terms of grant opportunities and other agencies who may want to know what the V.I. workforce looks like right now, what industries our talent is working in and where are they working.
“All of those things are important in figuring out how we can bring more talent back home and finding resources to create that strong workforce we are looking for as a whole community, not just the tech community,” Paul said.
The RTPark is a partnership between the private sector, the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the University of the Virgin Islands, specializing in technology and knowledge-based business and sustainable development business. As an economic development organization, its goal is to strengthen and diversify the local economy, making it stronger, more resilient and more sustainable.
Vista+ is part of that plan, trying to interest young Virgin Islanders in the tech field to return home and reverse the “brain drain” that is hurting the USVI economy.
To participate in the Vista+ program, a company must be a registered business in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and must be seeking employees or talent to fill technology and STEM-related jobs in the Virgin Islands. Access to the database will be free to RTPark members. As the program expands, other companies will be able to register for a fee.
Job candidates must be a U.S. citizen, or hold a permanent residence card, be domiciled in the territory for at least one year, or have attended school in the USVI for six years, graduated from a USVI high school or the University of the Virgin Islands, or registered to vote in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Any native Virgin Islander is eligible. Spouses of Virgin Islanders are also eligible, as their employment could be a deciding factor in whether to move back to the territory.
The RTPark is planning to target high school seniors for this program as well. They will be reaching out during graduation time to offer registration for graduates to give them the best opportunity right out of high school or after graduating from college or a vocational school tech program, giving them an advantage in accessing job opportunities, internships and apprenticeships.
“The vision and goal of this program is really multifold,” Paul said. “When you think of what the RTPark offers as an organization, we’re bridging that conversation between our client community, but at some point, it will be larger than our client community and local talent. We’re building that network for the growing tech hub in the USVI, that we know will be a really strong tech hub, not just in the territory, but in the Caribbean.”
The database is scheduled to go live in November.
Visit https://mailchi.mp/uvirtpark.net/vistaplus-comingsoon to subscribe for updates on registration.