The software development training course Depot/U that started at Innovation Depot earlier this year has created a 10-member advisory board of current and former business executives from around Birmingham.
The board’s mission is to expand Depot/U, which recently graduated its first class of 16 students, into an educational platform with multiple locations teaching multiple courses. Matt Landers, CEO of Platypi and lead instructor at Depot/U, said i n a previous interview with the BBJ that the course could reach 100 students by the end of the year.
That will help fill the high demand for skilled tech employees in Birmingham.
“The tech industry is a growing source of well-paying jobs in a good work environment. To attract tech industry, we need a skilled workforce,” said Skip Brock, president of Brock Investments and Depot/U board member. “Depot/U offers the training necessary to develop a skilled workforce to attract businesses with a tech component. As these businesses grow in size and number, they will create more jobs. The impact will ripple throughout Birmingham’s economy. It’s a virtuous cycle, and the purpose of Depot/U is to get it started.”
The board’s members include:
- Matt Landers, CEO of Platypi
- Chad Ballard, vice president of innovation at BBVA Compass
- Neal Berte, president emeritus of Birmingham-Southern College
- Skip Brock, president of Brock Investments and chairman of the board for ServisFirst Bank
- Greg Canfield, Alabama Secretary of Commerce
- General Charles Krulak, former president of Birmingham-Southern College and 31st Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
- Devon Laney, CEO of Innovation Depot
- Andrew Westmoreland, president of Samford University
- Stephen Chazen, president and founder of UNUS
- Dr. Ray Watts, president of the University of Alabama at Birmingham
December 9, 2015
Alan Alexander 
