Managing Director Jim Kenefick of ConnectSpace.vi announced the immediate availability of 80 job opportunities for area residents Tuesday while he was making a presentation to the V.I. Next Generations Network board of directors on Tuesday.
The positions are available through one of ConnectSpace’s employment partners, a Silicon Valley-based public company that offers technical support and services to leading Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S.
There are 80 work-from-home remote-service technician positions available right now for Virgin Islanders, Kenefick said. These positions are 100-percent work-from-home, paid hourly with overtime available, and offer paid time off, two-week paid training, opportunities for promotion and a full benefits package.
Remote service technicians are an entry level position starting at $11 an hour. Applicants can log on to www.ConnectSpacevi.com for additional information. (Job links are at bottom of main page.)
ConnectSpace.vi is a program of the Virgin Islands Next Generation Network – known as viNGN – offering free professional services and training for broadband-based careers including call center, transcription, data-entry, administration and web development.
With broadband workforce development centers in Frederiksted on St. Croix and Havensight Pier on St. Thomas, ConnectSpace.vi helps USVI residents prepare for telework jobs through a program it calls telework boot camp.
A new ‘boot camp’ begins every week, with an average of 25 students per class. It is free to the student and allows for the retaking of any and all courses until the student is fully trained. The process begins with applicants accessing the website, completing an on-line survey to determine their skill set and then interviewing for the various jobs.
The computers for the center have arrived and are scheduled for installation by the end of the week.
“At some point in the near future, American-based companies will see the benefits of doing business with fellow Americans here in the Virgin Islands,” said St. Thomas project manager Kirby Callendar.
Larry Kupfer, president of viNGN, said the network is committed to graduating 2,500 residents (1,550 students) through its digital literacy program. To date, 238 residents have completed the two hour on-line course. More than 1,000 new accounts have been opened.
Kupfer also provided good news for area drivers, telling the board the trenching necessary to install the fiber optic cables throughout the territory is about 83 percent complete. The next step in the process is to install the 118,000 feet of cable within protective vaults and repave and repair all of the roadways that have been a challenge to motorists for the last two months. All of the materials needed are now on site and installation will begin next week, he said. The multi-phase project should be completed by the end of April, according to Kupfer.
Following an executive session in which financial information and projects were discussed, the board unanimously passed resolution 13-032, authorizing Kupfer to begin contract negotiations with St. Croix-based construction company J.Benton LLC. The contract calls for the construction of seven fiber access points on St. Thomas. The maximum amount of the contract is not to exceed $1.55 million.
Aerial fiber installation is scheduled to begin on St. John as the beginning of fiber-cable interface at 324 community anchors, which include every school, library and government office. Completion is scheduled for the end of April.
Computers purchased through the public computer center grant, one of four federal grants awarded to the territory are now available and ready for installation at the new Turnbull Regional Library on St. Thomas and the Winston Raymo recreation center on St. Croix.
Board members in attendance via teleconference from St. Croix were Keith O’Neale Jr., Peter Schultz and Alfred Boschulte. Attending from the St. Thomas office were Lawrence Kupfer, Hugo Hodge Jr. and Gov. John deJongh Jr.
