Wichita, Kansas/Koch Industries

Diversified manufacturing

Catalyte powered a pipeline of tech talent in Wichita, Kansas

Koch Industries sought to engage residents and remove barriers to employment for people in the Wichita community by finding new ways to discover and train technology talent.

Outcome

Using Catalyte’s talent transformation program, Koch Industries is creating a custom software development training program that will result in a lower cost, more diverse talent pipeline with transformative power across its network of companies.

Koch Industries is headquartered in Wichita, Kan. Located in the south-central part of the state, Wichita is a several hour drive from the closest major metro areas, Kansas City and Oklahoma City. But, with a population of close to 400,000 and a highly-regarded state university, it has the potential to become a burgeoning tech hub. Koch looked to Catalyte to discover and train community residents to become software developers, building a local pipeline of technology talent.

Pipeline fills instantly

Koch advertised the training program in the Wichita area. Within hours, all spots were filled. This proved that there were many great software developers waiting to be discovered in Wichita. Koch moved quickly and filled a second training cohort.

Collaborative partnership

To discover and train hidden tech talent in Wichita, Koch utilized Catalyte’s talent transformation platform, including initial screening and training curricula. All potential applicants took Catalyte’s online screening, which uses 20 years of real-world engineering outcome data to determine a person’s ability to become a great software developer. Catalyte then trained Koch employees to lead the 26-week training program. Catalyte also trained Koch managers to be journey coaches, who will guide graduates through additional learning and skills development throughout their two-year apprenticeship.

Successful beginning

Using Catalyte’s talent transformation program, Koch Industries is creating a custom, software development training program that will result in a lower cost, more diverse talent pipeline with transformative power across the company. It will be able to find the tech talent it needs in any market, from its Wichita headquarters, to offices around the country and around the world.

Initial success of the program has been overwhelming. With several classes already graduated, and others underway, the Catalyte-Koch partnership is changing lives and providing the diverse and productive technology talent that will continue to drive innovation throughout the Koch network of companies.

Key points

Many fish in a small pond: Catalyte proved that tech talent exists everywhere, including cities like Wichita, Kansas.

Tech-enabled partnership: Koch used Catalyte’s talent transformation platform to create a pipeline of software developers for direct hire by its companies.

Transformative power: With this program, Koch will build a lower cost, more productive and more diverse talent pipeline across its companies.

“[Catalyte] opens up an entirely new talent pool for us that we hadn’t been tapping into before.”

— Chase Koch, president of Koch Disruptive Technologies