Building better nerds 

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Building better nerds 

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Under the name Code RGV Academy, a group of local tech professionals has been providing free, introductory technology courses since April 2014, intent on building better nerds.  Officially, the organization wants to spur creativity, business entrepreneurship and innovation by introducing Valley residents to the fundamentals (and financial rewards) of coding.

Olmo Maldonado
Olmo Maldonado

Coding, if you have been out of the loop, is the current term for programming. (Programmers write code, remember.)  Code RGV co-founder Olmo Maldonado, of the media company Gomez Maldonado Gomez, said the Valley needs to be raising its own computer professionals and growing more businesses that employ them.

“Our intention is to improve the workforce for everyone here,” Maldonado said. “We know the people who are at the enterprise (advanced coding) level, and there are very few of them. With Code RGV, we want to teach skill sets that are highly marketable.  The bigger goal is to empower people. We succeed if everyone succeeds.”

Maldonado and Code RGV co-founders Drew Lentz, Rene Ramirez and Justin Lynch each have their own businesses.  “The truth is we’re nerds. We have our own perspective. We each have a lot of business ideas we want to accomplish,” Maldonado said. But they all agreed the best way to grow the nerd community was by starting Code RGV Academy.  “We do this in our spare time, which we don’t have. I give 100% of my time to my media company.  But we also want to give another 100% back to the community through Code RGV.  That’s kind of eliminated sleep.”

Maldonado recalled when he worked at Google that there were classes every day  —  lifelong learning.  “A real programmer is someone who learns one new language a year. It’s a life altering experience once you get into this field. That’s what I want to do to with the fundamentals courses.” Designed for all skill levels ages 16 and up, each fundamental course in one to two hours introduces the participant to the unique jargon and basic framework of a single program.

Code RGV offers free classes in categories ranging from languages and design to IT and Web.  Their 40 courses include Java Script, Google Analytics, SQL and .NET, the last of which is used to create desktop software and Windows mobile applications.  One class is offered every first and third Thursday at the McAllen Incubator (the former library building).  Although fundamentals courses are not scheduled to repeat, they are available online at codergv.com and YouTube.  People can begin attending courses at any time.

To read more of this story by Eileen Mattei, read the February 2015 edition of VBR under the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this website, or pick up a copy on news stands.

Code RGV classes, held twice a month at the McAllen Creative Incubator, draw upwards of 35 people interested in grasping the fundamentals of computer programming. (courtesy)
Coding RGV classes, held twice a month at the McAllen Creative Incubator, draw upwards of 35 people interested in grasping the fundamentals of computer programming. (courtesy)

Freelance writer Eileen Mattei was the editor of Valley Business Report for over 6 years. Her articles have appeared in Texas Highways, Texas Wildlife Association, Texas Parks & Wildlife and Texas Coop Power magazines as well as On Point: The Journal of Army History. The Harlingen resident is the author of five books: Valley Places, Valley Faces; At the Crossroads: Harlingen’s First 100 Years; and Leading the Way: McAllen’s First 100 Years, For the Good of My Patients: The History of Medicine in the Rio Grande Valley, and Quinta Mazatlán: A Visual Journey.

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