If you think “Montana high-tech” is an oxymoron, think again. High-tech has fueled an engine of economic growth in southwest Montana. Many new entrepreneurs have been inspired by our success at RightNow and gone on to create their own high-tech firms in the state. The Montana high-tech revolution has begun.
You can look at my previous post to read about the impact high-tech has had on our state’s economy. But if we really want to capitalize on the opportunities high-tech provides, we need more computer science grads.
Computer science jobs create jobs for all types of people, including accounting, sales marketing, and administration, to name a few. Those jobs in turn create jobs in construction, real estate, restaurants and retail.
Without CS graduates though, many successes Montana’s high-tech companies, including RightNow, have enjoyed would not have been possible.
That is why we announced this week a $1 million gift to the Montana State University Computer Science department. We are thrilled to be investing in MSU. We need more computer science graduates to fuel our Montana high-tech revolution.
The grant to the university’s computer science department will create more resources and opportunities for Montanans to get great jobs, right here in the state, and not have to move away to find a job that can support their family. We look forward to steadily increasing numbers of computer science graduates from MSU and, consequently, better job opportunities for all Montanans.
I, for one, don’t want to have to get on a plane to see my grandkids. I don’t think others do either.
