Evanston’s Economic Development Committee this week recommended City Council approval of a $75,000 grant for a program providing computer coding education primarily to disadvantaged young adults.
The program has been developed by Emile Cambry, founder of Blue 1647, which a city memo describes as “a network of entrepreneurship and innovation centers focused on business acceleration and economic development through technology education.”
Cambry, who recently moved to Evanston, says the program will provide 12 weeks of training to a minimum of 60 Evanston residents in return for the grant, which would be disbursed in quarterly installments.
Alderman Robin Rue Simmons, 5th Ward, said the work Blue 1647 does is amazing and that she’s excited by the prospect of having the program in Evanston.
The recommendation, which was approved unanimously, now goes to the full City Council for a final vote.
Paul Zalmezak, the city’s economic development manager, said city staff had hoped to launch the program last year, but had to postpone it until this year because of budget restrictions.
Related story
Coding camp concept wins praise (7/3/17)
Needs more investigation
I think that more investigation is required before forking over 75k. That is a lot of money for the average Evanston citizen.
Finally city spending on something useful
Yes by all means check it out [all city expenditures need checking out for commonsense–hint they don’t even come close] but this at least sounds like it could help students.