Kisco Systems today announced the opening of the next selection process for the Richard C. Loeber Fellowship for Careers in IBM i.

The goal of this program is to encourage IBM i customers to launch careers by helping them develop IBM i skills in house. Applicants for the fellowship must be sponsored by an active IBM i customer and will receive: free IBM i and RPG training; a one-year COMMON membership including registration for two conferences; and recognition in the IBM i community through Podcasts, COMMON Education Foundation, and more.

Richard Loeber founded Kisco Systems 40 years ago, in 1984. His son, and current owner, Justin Loeber, wanted to do something special to celebrate the 40th anniversary milestone while also addressing critical issues in the IBM i community: career development and perceived skills gap.

“IBM i is an amazing platform on which to build an IT career, yet everywhere I go in the IBM i community I hear everyone is retiring and there aren’t enough skilled people to fill all the gaps,” says Justin. “I know there are plenty of smart, hard-working people out there who want to start a career in IT, so it seems to me that the reason we don’t have enough of them is because not enough IBM i shops are investing in training and career development. We hope that by offsetting training costs, this fellowship will help these shops start career development programs.”

ImPower Technologies is the program’s IBM i training partner. Founder and Lead Trainer, Jim Buck, has dedicated his career to the IBM i skills gap. “This fellowship is a great opportunity," he says. "Companies need to see how they can use the resources available (imPower / COMMON) to develop RPG Programmers in-house, debunking the argument that there are no RPG Programmers.”

Manzoor Siddiqui, President of IBM’s COMMON User Group, understands the vision behind the fellowship. “We are excited to partner with Kisco Systems as they launch this fellowship, with a shared goal of providing opportunities for new IT talent.”

Cameron Stewart, of Oakley Transport, was selected for the initial award in January, 2024. In his Incredible i podcast interview, he states “Getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things is one of the biggest stepping-stones to moving your life forward”. Any IBM i shop with high-potential employees, from any background, are encouraged to apply by the end of June 2024.

The fellowship is open to any applicant in the US or Canada who is 35 years of age or younger and sponsored by a current IBM i customer. Career background and college education are less important though all applicants must have at least two years of work history. The program is only open to IBM i customers. IBM vendors and ISVs are excluded.

Full program details and an application form are available at www.kisco.com/rcl.