Kisco Names Two IBM i Fellowship Winners, Expands Program
August 7, 2024 Alex Woodie
Kisco Systems last month unveiled the next batch of recipients for its unique IBM i fellowship program. The individuals, who hail from Oklahoma and Georgia, will receive IBM i training from imPower Technologies and attend COMMON conferences in Florida and California at Kisco’s expense. The company also announced that it will expand the fellowship to three recipients next year.
Justin Loeber, who purchased Kisco Systems from his father Richard in 2021, started the Richard C. Loeber Fellowship for Careers in IBM i last year as a way to incentivize the development of IBM i skills outside of the university setting.
“Our goal is to get IBM i shops to start thinking about developing resources in-house,” Loeber told IT Jungle earlier this year. “I look at what my father achieved, Kisco System’s fortieth anniversary this year, on the back of no degree, just being smart and motivated and hardworking.”
Daniel Adams is a 2024 recipient of the RCL Fellowship from Kisco Systems.
The first fellowship was awarded in January of this year, and went to Cameron Stewart, a 22-year-old working at Oakley Transport, a Florida trucking company that runs the IBM i server. Last month, Kisco announced Daniel Adams and Blake Rouzee as the latest RCL Fellowship recipients.
Adams spent four years in the US Marine Corps and graduated from the University of Tulsa with a computer science degree. He started his IT career in the logistics industry by working as a Web developer, but he’s now transitioning to the IBM i server, which is relied upon by his current employer, Tulsa-based Melton Truck Lines. The goal is for Adams to becoming the “next generation” IT leader for IBM i at Melton, Kisco said.
Rouzee graduated from Truett McConnell University with a degree in Business Administration in 2022 and the following year took a job as a help desk technician with the Dixie Group, a Dalton, Georgia-based flooring manufacturer. While working the help desk, Rouzee discovered the IBM i server, which the company uses, and now he intends to focus on learning to program RPG.
Blake Rouzee is a 2024 recipient of the RCL Fellowship from Kisco Systems.
Both Adams and Rouzee will receive professional RPG and IBM i training from imPower Technologies, the online IBM i training company founded by longtime IBM i educator Jim Buck. They will also travel as Kisco’s guests to two COMMON events, including NAViGATE 2024, which is being held in Bonita Springs, Florida, September 16-18; and POWERUp 2025, scheduled for Anaheim, California, next May.
“I’m so pleased to welcome Daniel and Blake to our fellowship program,” Loeber said in a press release. “They are both motivated, curious and hard-working young people with the commitment and backing from management that they need to build successful careers.”
Loeber also announced that it’s expanding the RCL Fellowship program from two annual recipients to three. The next batch of recipients will be announced in January 2025. Anybody who is interested in being an RCL Fellow should apply now.
“We want to launch as many careers as possible and we also want to focus on community,” Loeber continued. “We think shifting the program to a cohort style of learning will provide a more meaningful experience for our fellows.”
For more information on the RCL Fellowship and to submit an application, go to www.kisco.com/rcl.
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