Central New Jersey may become a new hotspot for technology and innovation. Trenton Makes Startups founder, John Snee, has founded the first programming school in Trenton open for students of all ages, Trenton Makes Tech. Snee was born in Hamilton, New Jersey, where he spent his early childhood, then later moved to Robbinsville where he completed high school. Following high school he attended University of Tampa where he acquired his Bachelors in Economics. During his senior year at University of Tampa, Snee launched his limo company, Ulimo, the very first uber-styled party bus and limo service that allows users to share a ride with other users and promises to become the industry leader in group transportation.
Snee has roots in Trenton, as his mother is from the Chambersburg section. “I am from Hamilton, my family is from Trenton so that is one of the big reasons why I have such a passion for Trenton and my dad was also a Trenton firefighter for over 27 years in the city,” said Snee.
Snee’s overall goal is to bring economic prosperity to Trenton through advancing a startup community. Trenton’s startup community would consist of a multitude of newly formed businesses and companies and Snee believes Trenton Makes Tech is the perfect way to do that.
Snee believes Trenton Makes Tech is the first step into advancing Trenton Makes Startup, the sister company of Trenton Makes Tech. The two go hand in hand. Snee views Trenton Makes Tech as a building block to Trenton Makes StartUp. The coding classes will act as a building block for Trentonians and ensure people have the education necessary to create products and get into the tech industry.
“Trenton Makes StartUps is the first startup accelerator in Trenton, it’s one of the first new kinds of accelerator and we have Trenton Makes Tech which is the first coding school in Trenton. I originally wanted to start with Trenton Makes StartUps, but there’s not a lot of founders in Trenton waiting to be discovered. I decided to go deeper and make a coding school. I think a coding school is the first step we need to take to bring prosperity to Trenton,” Snee said.
Trenton Makes Tech currently has six coding teachers, with half of them based in New York and the other in Trenton. The costs of the hybrid program begin at $1,000 for two months of courses held 2-3 times per week. “We are currently running the program more like a tutoring service in order to discover people’s exact needs who live in Central Jersey first before switching to the standarnized classroom model,” Snee said.
In person classes will be held on South Broad Street right next to the Trenton Social. The New Jersey native is actively making an effort to recruit as many students and teachers as possible through bi-weekly startup networking events at the Trenton Social. The networking startups events are held every other Wednesday and is free to attend.
When asked “Why Trenton?” Snee expressed his thoughts of success in the city. In his own words, Snee believes “Central New Jersey is the East Coast Silicon Valley”. He believes with the help of Trenton Makes Tech and Trenton Makes Startups, he can make Central New Jersey as prosperous as Silicon Valley.
In addition to his launch of Trenton Makes Tech, Snee has made an effort to reach out to TechStars, in order for them to start a “TechStars Trenton Makes” to assist with the development of startup companies in Trenton.
Snee encourages anyone to contact TechStars at help@techstars.com to request their aid in transforming the city of Trenton. TechStars is a global accelerator company based in Boulder, Colorado that strives to help entrepreneurs succeed in creating and funding their businesses within a three-month program. To learn more about Trenton Makes Tech and Trent Startups, go to www.trentonmakesstartups.com.
