Thirty Austin high-tech CEOs are heading to California this month in search of technical talent.
The recruiting trip, sponsored by the Austin Technology Council, will include a reception in San Francisco on Sept. 13 and another in Sunnyvale on Sept. 14.
The gatherings will let Austin tech leaders talk with engineers and marketers one-on-one, with the goal of luring them to Austin, said Julie Huls, president of the Austin Technology Council.
“These events are about Austin making a pretty loud statement in the Bay Area,” Huls said. “Texas is a New Economy state, and we have a killer combination to support it: high-paying tech jobs, fast-growing companies, a low cost of living and a relaxed way of life.”
Participating companies include HomeAway, Bazaarvoice, Whaleshark, Calxeda, Bancvue, Gowalla and Gazzang.
The idea for the trip came from a CEO Summit sponsored by the technology council in May. At the conference, business leaders worried that an increasingly tight job market for tech workers with critical skills could slow the industry’s growth here. Skilled engineers and experienced product marketers are hardest to find, they said.
Spredfast CEO Rod Favaron, who is taking part in the trip, said that Austin “has fallen into a trap of fighting over existing talent, especially in engineering, programming and software development roles. The zero-sum-game hurts the overall tech community, so we’ve decided to come together to seek out new additions to Austin to help us all grow.”
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http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/startups/entries/2011/08/31/austin_companies_head_to_calif.html