About 3,500 tech firms need to fill 2,300 open positions in the Kansas City area, according to KCnext.

Usually, that means businesses, both large and small, spar over the same people, snatching up programming talent wherever possible, including from their local neighbors. It makes for more than just awkward networking events among tech executives — the battle stifles the growth of the tech sector, and by connection, the area economy.

Jim McKelvey, co-founder of St. Louis-based Square and co-founder of LaunchCode, recently told Bobby Burch with Startland News, “Our mission is to take people who were not previously working as programmers and get them jobs. … We are a talent pipeline.”

LaunchCode recently announced the offering of a free 16-week computer science course. The course will model Harvard University’s introduction to computer science class, which taps the expertise of area professionals and includes professors at the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s School of Computing and Engineering. The course starts April 13. Read more…