Although South Jordan-based Strider Technologies, Inc., enjoys global reach, Utah is an apt home for the high-tech, AI-driven strategic intelligence provider.
Strider co-founders/twins Eric and Greg Levesque are both Utah State University alums with strong ties to the Beehive State. And the brothers moved their company headquarters to Utah several years ago, in part, to access the local talent honed from the state's rich legacy of entrepreneurship, language skills, tech education and innovation.
Strider Technologies, Inc., is a strategic intelligence start-up that works with corporations, research institutions, universities and government agencies to identify and mitigate risks from China, Russia, Iran and other state-sponsored actors.
Many Utahns are part of the Strider family, playing key roles in the company's mission to protect its diverse client roster from today's ever-evolving cybersecurity risks.
Building upon its ongoing commitment to Utah, Strider is establishing an enhanced partnership program that will provide scholarships for students at Utah State University and Utah Valley University who are pursuing careers in cybersecurity and intelligence.
Strider is pledging $300,000 to the fellowship over the next three years, benefiting students at USU's Center of Anticipatory Intelligence and UVU's National Security Center.
"This is a unique opportunity -- now that these centers have been (established) and are already producing -- to come in and reinvest in them, in a way," Eric Levesque told the Deseret News.
Strider Technologies already enjoys established relationships with the security centers at both Utah public universities -- assisting with curriculum development and experiential learning such as providing internships.
The Strider fellowship program also builds on the company's partnership with the UVU and USU through the Intermountain Intelligence, Industry and Security Consortium (I3SC). Utah's state legislature founded I3SC three years ago as part of its Deep Technology Talent Initiative.
Levesque envisions such partnerships signaling future trends of industries responding to evolving work dynamics by becoming more involved with academic partners.
"You want to have people coming out of universities that have not only the knowledge, but also some experience and can add more value to the business," said Levesque. "That's an approach we're taking at Strider."
Levesque echoes the sentiments of many local lawmakers determined to better align graduates of Utah universities and colleges with high-demand industries.
The Beehive State's higher education system should be designed to propel graduates into "high-paying, high-demand or high-reward" careers, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams recently told the Deseret News.
Levesque believes Utah is poised to become a national industry leader in cybersecurity and intelligence.
"We have the ecosystem to do it," he said. "We have the state support and the universities with the right curriculums and the right cultures to do it."
Folks at USU and UVU's respective security and intelligence centers are thrilled with the new Strider-sponsored scholarship program.
"The Levesque brothers represent the best of Utah industry -- innovative, leading-edge pioneers in the new domain of privatized intelligence who are actively investing in growing Utah's profile as a national leader in intelligence," said Jeannie Johnson, founding director and professor at USU's Center for Anticipatory Intelligence.
She added that USU is already graduating "top-tier talent" for state and federal security industry positions.
"The Strider Fellows program will allow us to grow the reach, and the impactful opportunities, of our incoming classes of students.
"With Strider's help, we are positioned to draw in top talent from across the nation."
Strider's gift will impact many Utah students, said Ryan Vogel, founding director of UVU's Center For National Security Studies.
Vogel saluted Strider's industry reputation and ongoing partnership with UVU.
"To give this kind of unsolicited gift to our program is an honor," he said. "It makes us feel like we're on the right track. We're doing things that private industries and federal and state government partners are valuing and seeing the utility."