Fast Switch Announces Innovative and Unique Community Outreach Initiative for Next Decade: “10:10:10K”

Fast Switch, Ltd. announces a unique and powerful community outreach program designed to generate 10,000 high tech, high paying, clean, green jobs in the markets it serves over the next decade.
Dublin, OH (PRWEB) December 2, 2009 -- Fast Switch, Ltd., a leading provider of Information Technology (IT) Consulting and Professional Services, today announced its plan for community outreach for the next decade. Called “10:10:10K”, the set of initiatives is designed to formally begin in 2010 and generate a minimum of 10,000 new, high-paying, technology-related jobs in the markets Fast Switch serves now, or will serve during the next decade: 10,000 jobs in 10 years starting in ’10.

The "10:10:10K" Community Outreach Initiative

While we will certainly continue to write checks for charitable giving and community outreach, we looked for ways to have a much greater impact than this … exponential impact rather than linear impact. - Mark Pukita, Chief Operating Officer

Taking a “rising tide lifts all ships” approach, Fast Switch is confident that this effort will help raise the standard of living for everyone in its market communities. This does not mean that Fast Switch will grow to employ 10,000 team members, but rather that Fast Switch’s initiatives under the 10:10:10K plan will help facilitate high-tech job growth at this level in Fast Switch’s market communities. The plan, the second generation of community outreach programs for Fast Switch, was the result of work done by the Fast Switch team to find a way to have a greater impact in the community than a typical $20M company might have through traditional charitable giving. Using the same “out of the box” thinking and creativity Fast Switch team members use every day to exceed client expectations, the plan turns a normal charitable giving program upside down and inside out.
Mark Pukita, Fast Switch’s Chief Operating Officer, comments on the plan:
“We took an approach to building this community outreach plan that started with a clean sheet of paper just like we do when we build custom solutions for the IT Services needs of our clients. We asked ourselves how we could have a greater impact on the community, leveraging our time, talents, and treasure, than the normal ‘check writing’ charitable giving approach. While we will certainly continue to write checks for charitable giving and community outreach, we looked for ways to have a much greater impact than this … exponential impact rather than linear impact. Many of the programs for this initiative are already designed and implemented on a smaller scale somewhere in our markets served, or soon will be. We will now focus on taking these programs and growing them rapidly to accomplish the goal of 10:10:10K. We’re excited about ramping these up to deliver on our dream to make 10:10:10K a reality.”
The key to the plan is leveraging the talents and capabilities of Fast Switch and its team members to do much, much more than simply donate to charities or community-centered organizations. This leverage includes, but is not limited to:
1) Investing in technology start-ups that have the potential to grow rapidly and employ hundreds or even thousands in the 10-year window.
2) Collaborating and teaming with clients, educational institutions, and community-based organizations to “manufacture” high-tech workers with candidates of financial need and of a diverse background who would not otherwise join the high-tech workforce.
3) Implementing unique solutions to clients’ IT Consulting and Professional Services needs that directly compete with offshore solutions keeping high-tech jobs in the US and possibly repatriating offshore jobs, bringing them back to the US. This solution would include an effort to actively recruit for US Armed Forces veterans and active duty service people to participate.
4) Expanding programs to make technology career paths attractive to new workers entering the work force.
5) Holding events that bring technology entrepreneurs, corporate technology users, and technology investors together to increase the flow of funding and capital into local technology start-ups.
6) Helping startups get access to large corporate buyers to help “boot strap” startups with revenue sources rather than only debt or investment capital.
7) Providing non-profit organizations technology support at cost or below.
8) Starting the Fast Switch Foundation to build a permanent funding source for community-focused initiatives.
Fast Switch will also continue its direct giving to charitable organizations just as it traditionally has.
While the formal development of this plan has just been completed, Fast Switch has been doing pieces of many of these leverage initiatives since just after the turn of the century. The intent of the plan is to take these leverage initiatives and kick them up to a higher level of growth and public awareness. More details on these operating initiatives can be found on the news page of the Fast Switch web site.
Currently, Fast Switch has two markets that it serves, Columbus, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. The Fast Switch team feels confident that these two markets alone can see high-tech job growth of 2,500 each over this time period. The remainder of the growth will come from developing Fast Switch’s business in new metropolitan markets.
Fast Switch kicked off the plan early, already having invested in two technology start-ups in Columbus: Znode Inc. and Kidslinked.com.
Znode’s mission is to improve all aspects of online commerce: store development, sales analytics, and the shopper experience. This is accomplished by creating highly adaptable software that’s easier to implement and support, provides better back-end data, and works intuitively for the online shopper.
Kidslinked.com’s founders saw a need for an Internet portal that provided parents with family management tools at their fingertips. This realization led to the creation of KidsLinked.com – a one-of-a-kind resource for parents and child-care givers to discover safe and fun learning opportunities for their children.
Fast Switch, Ltd. is one of Central Ohio’s fastest growing privately-held companies according to Columbus Business First. Fast Switch was formed in December of 1996 and currently has over 180 employees working in almost half the states in the US. Revenues for 2008 exceeded $16 million. Its client base includes 2 of the Fortune 10, 4 of the Fortune 20, 22 of the Fortune 500, and 25 of the Fortune 1,000. It has two major offices in Dublin, Ohio and Wixom, Michigan. Fast Switch expects to open new offices in Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, and Minneapolis-St. Paul during 2010.
To view Mark Pukita’s video explanation of the 10:10:10K initiative, please go to:
http://www.fastswitch.com/101010K.htm
Fast Switch’s web address is: http://www.fastswitch.com
For more information on the 10:10:10K Plan, or on Fast Switch, please contact:
Mark Pukita, Chief Operating Officer, 614-336-3690,
Fast Switch, Ltd.
37 W. Bridge Street
Suite 200
Dublin, OH 43017
USA