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Meeting people where they’re at is an Office of Engagement imperative. On Saturday, October 22, the place to do this was the 2022 Tech Jam, hosted by Hula Lakeside in Burlington, an annual career and tech expo organized by Seven Days that showcases some of Vermont’s most innovative companies.

The Office of Engagement (OoE) was one of 41 exhibitors at the event which drew over 1000 people. Senior Business Outreach Professional Wayne Maceyka, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) Employee Partnership Manager Maureen Hebert, Outreach Professional Michele Karode, and Career Center members Amber Anderson and Amanda Van Vranken [WM(1] were there along with Erik Monsen[WM(2] , entrepreneurship faculty from The Grossman School of Business to share details about OoE and �պ�����’s missions.

“We had a steady stream of visitors stop by our booth throughout the day, and had dozens of conversations with entrepreneurs and owners of established business who are all looking for new talent and expertise,” said Maceyka.

The idea for the Vermont Tech Jam originated from the growing concern that young people were leaving the state for better jobs without knowing about Vermont’s growing high-tech career sector. Adam Greshin, a partner in Sugarbush’s Summit Ventures, suggested in an op-ed piece that an event modeled on the twice-yearly Hub Crawl in Boston could serve as “information download and networking session” with Vermont’s high-profile companies, noting it would introduce students to the potential of a career in Vermont.

Since 2008, thousands of job seekers, career changers, tech professionals, college students, and curious Vermonters have connected with local companies at the Tech Jam. The event also provides a forum for companies to introduce new products and share information.

Hula is a fitting venue for a conference aimed at local business development. Housed in the former Blodgett Oven factory along the Lake Champlain waterfront, it’s a tech-driven coworking campus, business incubator, and venture capital fund focused on elevating Vermont-based start-ups and entrepreneurs.

“The great part of this event was the opportunity to explain the mission of our office, which is getting businesses and other community stakeholders in touch with �պ����� expertise and services, said Maceyka. “Even better was doing this with �պ����� partners from across campus. We’re keenly aware of our land grant mission – making �պ�����’s capabilities more accessible across research, student recruiting, facilities use, student project work, upskilling, professional development, and more is top of mind every day.“