TechWeek may include launch of public Wi-Fi

Next month, the Marquette Tech District once again will host TechWeek, a celebration Codefi co-founder James Stapleton will showcase the continued progress for the downtown tech hub as well as the planned unveiling of public Wi-Fi downtown.

Last year, for example, the co-working spaces at Codefi still were housed across the street.

“It’s hard to believe just a year ago we hosted the first TechWeek in the Marquette Tower when it was a construction site,” Stapleton said in a news release.

But this year, the 26 Codefi office spaces are in the Marquette building.

“And they’re completely full,” Stapleton said during an interview Tuesday.

In the next few months, 15 more offices are slated to open.

“And to be honest, they’re mostly spoken for,” Stapleton added.

In addition to continued development of the Marquette and H&H building facilities, Stapleton said TechWeek festivities July 21 to 28 are expanded as well.

This year, children in grades three to six can learn the basics of coding and robotics as part of Youth Code Camps.

Grown-up developers will compete to solve problems faced by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri during the Hack & Help Hackathon, as well as attend “fireside chats” with tech leaders, including the founder of PluggedIN, Colleen Jenkins.

The week will conclude with a gala and pitch day for the 1st50K Startup Competition.

Stapleton said TechWeek also will coincide with the rollout of a project that would provide public Wi-Fi to downtown.

The project, undertaken by the Marquette Tech District Foundation, was announced last year, Stapleton said.

The first two phases of the three-phase Wi-Fi plan were to connect high-speed internet to the Marquette Tower and bury necessary components underground during the recently completed Main Street sidewalk-improvement project.

Extending the fiber network downtown gave businesses along Main and Spanish streets access to drastically discounted high-speed internet service, Stapleton said.

The project now is in its final phase — installing access components to transmit the Wi-Fi signal — and Stapleton said the plan is to have the Wi-Fi on in time for TechWeek, or by the end of August at the latest.

He said the continued development of the tech district already has affected the Cape Girardeau community, by attracting talent and training members of the existing workforce.

Stapleton pointed to a recently completed 20-week training program in which more than 30 local participants with little to no previous programming experience were trained in tech basics.

Before the program, Stapleton said, some of the participants were unemployed.

“Now, they’re essentially ready to step into entry-level programming jobs,” Stapleton said.

And, he added, a few already have done so.

Stapleton said the Marquette Tech District Foundation is making a “long-term commitment to making sure not only adults, but young people in the region have access to informal educational opportunities to help prepare them for careers in technology.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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