Executives from Avnet and the Center for Workforce Development at the Maricopa Community Colleges were chatting at a community event. Avnet realized that the community colleges are an underserved market.

Lots of companies focus on K-12 and the universities also get lots of corporate attention. We wanted to create a program that reached this underserved market but also helped prepare the students for jobs. This is a great opportunity for doing community outreach but it also helps us, and other high tech companies, by creating a more educated workforce to hire.