Better together: Raleigh, Durham startup hubs are joining forces to make hiring easier
Some of the Triangle’s most influential coworking companies and incubators are coming together to launch a new jobs board that is more beneficial to the region’s homegrown startups.
Raleigh Founded, Durham-based American Underground and the nonprofit Leadership Triangle said Thursday they are creating a Triangle-focused jobs board — one that, in their opinion, should help smaller, homegrown startups standout.
The three organizations previously hosted their own jobs boards for companies that were members of their organizations, but realized they would have a greater reach if they came together.
More than 2,000 jobs are already listed on the board, which can be accessed at triangle-jobs.com.
The board is not limited to just startups, and is open to any job seeker. But only companies that meet a certain criteria can post a job opening on the site.
The group said that, in addition to its own member companies, firms can list jobs on the site if they “meet at least a majority” of the following benchmarks: they are locally owned or operated, have women or people of color in executive leadership, employ 250 workers or less, and list a salary range.
Jess Porta, who leads Raleigh Founded, previously known as HQ Raleigh, said the current labor crunch is making it hard for all companies to hire right now, and startups are no exception. She added that the traditional places people look for job openings, like LinkedIn and Indeed, have become crowded.
“It’s really hard to find Triangle-specific jobs on Indeed or LinkedIn that focus on locally-owned companies and startups,” Porta said in a phone interview with The News & Observer.
Companies team up
She said previously that leaders of Triangle coworking companies, which are home to hundreds of startups, were spreading word of job openings “ad hoc on Slack,” a communication platform many companies use.
“The reason we wanted to invest in it, is we saw it as a great resource for our members,” Porta said. “We know there are talented people in our ecosystem that want to work for startups and locally-owned companies and we know those are struggling” to stand out on traditional jobs boards.
In addition to the three main organizations supporting the Triangle Jobs Board, CED, First Flight Ventures and the Raleigh Chamber are also supporting the project.
The jobs board is just the latest way that Triangle coworking communities in Durham and Raleigh are teaming up.
The two hubs announced in April that members of each community will now be able to use each other’s spaces on a limited basis, such as one day per week or four days per month. Previously, a member needed an individual membership to both organizations to access both of their meeting rooms and offices.
Porta said the partnership is about realizing that Raleigh and Durham are part of the same ecosystem, not separate. Many people go between both on a daily basis.
“With them only in Durham and us only in Raleigh, we aren’t really competitors,” Porta told The N&O in April. “and we are like minded.”
In April, Adam Klein, who runs the American Underground, said to expect Raleigh Founded and the AU to continue collaborating.
“It was a bit overdue,” Klein told The N&O earlier this year. “I think it’s a pretty strong signal to the region that Raleigh and Durham are united and working together to make sure that our entrepreneurs have everything they need to succeed.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate.
