It all started when I was laid off…

You do a lot of soul-searching when your job of 20 years is taken away.   You know, the usual, "Who am I?" and "What do I want to do with my life?" After more than four months in the job market and no prospects, I realized an elementary truth: I wasn't prepared as a job seeker. It wasn't my age or the money, simply that I did not have the skills necessary for today's job market.

I didn't like feeling unprepared for what the world had to offer today.  I knew I wasn't the only one and decided to do something about it, not for me but for others facing the same situation.

Why not teach others what I know and find others to teach what I don't? Even more, I am new to small-town living and after 2 years I believe my skills and experience can benefit others.  If I can train others to write software and better equip them for the job market, wouldn't that help the community?

Tek Forward was born.

Our goal is ambitious, yet simple.  We want to teach software development to anyone wanting to learn and even provide the laptop in which to do so.  Everyone is welcome, from the high school graduate to the 20-year retail employee looking for a change.  And we don’t want to stop there.  We are asking the local business, “How can we help?” We want our newly trained developers to become involved and employed within the community while helping grow our local businesses. From writing applications and maintaining them to bringing the newest technology into their business and therefore the town.  In so doing, we can not only assist others to better themselves but the town as well.

We want to help.  Can you help us?

Luis Barnes/Founder