Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann joined local inventor and tech entrepreneur Scott Jones to announce the expansion in Carmel, Indiana, of his most recent ventures, Eleven Fifty Academy and Eleven Fifty Consulting, creating a combined 92 new jobs in the coming years.
Currently located in Carmel, the two organizations will invest $953,998 to grow their operations in Hamilton County, with office options currently being evaluated. Both co-founded by Jones, Eleven Fifty Academy is a nonprofit organization that provides computer coding and professional training, while Eleven Fifty Consulting provides corporate coding services and consulting to build mobile applications and websites for businesses.
“Demand is increasing in Indiana for skilled IT personnel across a wide range of positions, including the highly technical computer coders. We are grateful that the technology sector itself is responding quickly by launching new training ventures like Eleven Fifty,” said Ellspermann. “Eleven Fifty plays a crucial role in helping Hoosiers develop the skills they’ll need to work at growing companies across our state. Our state’s business-friendly policies and commitment to workforce development are helping Indiana companies create jobs. We are grateful that the Eleven Fifty leadership has chosen to make their important investment here in Indiana.”
Eleven Fifity Academy is one of the only nonprofit coding schools in the country, offering affordable courses due to partnerships as well as corporate and individual donations. Launched last September out of a growing national shortage of skilled computer coding professionals, Eleven Fifty Academy graduates now represent 16 states and three countries. Eleven Fifty Academy has a goal of training more than 2,000 students during the next 12 months, with even higher growth expected in future years. The academy offers courses in today’s most in-demand programming languages and technologies such as iPhone, Android and .NET. In addition, academy leadership is taking coursework into the community, educating middle school, high school and college-age students and their teachers on the importance of computer literacy, including coding and professional training.
The launch of Eleven Fifty Consulting followed in October 2014. Providing companies with needed IT talent, the consulting firm helps the academy’s graduates gain additional real-world coding experience by offering paid apprenticeships, many of which lead to employment opportunities with clients. Eleven Fifty Consulting currently serves more than a dozen clients around the globe in fields including fitness, relationship management, online social communities, law and financial services, providing clients with quality and high-value mobile apps and websites.
“After investing myself and my funds extensively to build our tech community in Indiana over the past two decades, I know that bringing world-class, bleeding-edge tech education through the awesome curriculum and methodologies of Eleven Fifty Academy will help us grow talent, attract capital and build successful companies. Thousands of other jobs will also be created or enhanced through the multiplier effect of the Eleven Fifty programs,” said Jones. “To that end, we’ve also created an amazing apprenticeship program at Eleven Fifty Consulting, which is helping clients realize big benefits in the quality and cost-to-build of their mobile apps and websites.”
Eleven Fifty Academy will create up to 15 new jobs by 2024, while Eleven Fifty Consulting plans to create up to 77 new jobs by 2019. Eleven Fifty Academy, which offers weekend, five-day immersion and eight-week evening courses, is currently recruiting instructors with extensive coding knowledge and experience. Eleven Fifty Consulting recently hired an 11-member sales team and is currently hiring additional full-time managers and apprentices who work for Eleven Fifty Consulting for up to three months before serving clients independently or joining other companies. Interested applicants for all positions are encouraged to apply at jobs@elevenfiftyacademy.org.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Eleven Fifty Academy, Inc. up to $105,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans. Additionally, Eleven Fifty, LLC was offered up to $1,100,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Carmel supports the projects.
“Carmel has been recognized, along with Indianapolis, by Forbes Magazine as a rising presence in the world of attracting high tech jobs,” said Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard. “The news today from one of our bright stars, Scott Jones - who developed voicemail as we know it today and founded the free mobile Q&A service known as ChaCha - is further evidence that students of today and IT professionals of tomorrow can look to Carmel for good jobs in their field. We are very excited to learn of the Eleven Fifty expansion and we look forward to watching it grow.”
News of the Eleven Fifty companies’ growth comes during 2015 Indiana Entrepreneurship Week, a week-long celebration to showcase the state's top entrepreneurial talent, promote entrepreneurship as a profession and educate small business owners on related topics. Today Indiana boasts 144,000 small businesses, which together employ 2.1 million Hoosiers and generate $129 billion in annual revenue.
About Eleven Fifty Academy
Eleven Fifty Academy is a nonprofit organization that offers a variety of mobile, web and professional courses through immersive learning at subsidized rates, made possible through partnerships, corporate and individual donations. Headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, Eleven Fifty Academy provides the best possible training experience while consistently accelerating the learning curve for people of all ages and skill sets. The mission of Eleven Fifty Academy is to build an ecosystem of coding talent that financially benefits the individual, their employer and their community. For more information, please visit us at www.elevenfifty.org.
About IEDC
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) leads the state of Indiana’s economic development efforts, focusing on helping companies grow in and locate to the state. Governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Mike Pence, the IEDC manages many initiatives, including performance-based tax credits, workforce training grants, public infrastructure assistance and talent attraction and retention efforts. For more information about the IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov.