The Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City announced a new partnership with the Full Employment Council to continue the council’s work of connecting employers with skilled workers through the TechHire initiative.

EDCKC will serve as the new TechHire sector intermediary for information technology and financial services. In this role, EDCKC will convene and recruit employers within the IT and financial service industries to identify needed skills and create training and development opportunities for TechHire participants.

EDCKC president and CEO Bob Langenkamp said in a news release that workforce development is the key in addressing the skills and opportunities gaps of underserved and underemployed communities in the region.

“Partnerships such as this one enhance our city’s ability to compete with other markets and further the EDCKC’s ability to be an essential labor development partner to the Kansas City business community,” Langenkamp said.

TechHire is a national network of communities, educators and employers who work together to provide accelerated tech training to unemployed and underemployed individuals. The initiative started in 2015 by the Obama Administration and is now run by the social enterprise nonprofit Opportunity@Work.

Kansas City was one of the 21 original communities selected, and in 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded the FEC a $5 million TechHire grant.

“This link between economic development and workforce development systems in our city will directly provide expanded training and career opportunities that pay family sustainable wages for our residents,” said Clyde McQueen, FEC CEO.

For more information, visit the FEC’s website.