On Monday, March 9th, President Barack Obama announced a new 'TechHire' initiative, speaking to nearly 2,000 at the National League of Cities Conference. The work of Project Quest Executive Director Pearl Ceasar and Deborah Carter of Rackspace was recognized for moving lower income people into high demand occupations like Information Technology.

Project Quest's partnership with Rackspace has already resulted in the graduation of dozens of lower income people from the Open Cloud Academy. Project Quest played a pivotal role in recruiting and supporting these students, implementing best practices developed by West / Southwest IAF labor market intermediaries.

The White House recognized the City of San Antonio for already investing $400 thousand into Project Quest to recruit and train 200 workers with Rackspace. This recognition builds on the $6 Million US Department of Labor grant recently awarded to Quest to train people for IT jobs.

Open Cloud: Filling High Tech Demand, KSAT-ABC

Obama Kicks Off US Effort to Fill High-Paying Tech Jobs, San Antonio Express News

Obama Announces 'TechHire' Initiative, USA Today