Ed Tech Company Growing in West Lafayette
Skyepack content development team members film instructional videos for a strength training course at Texas A&M. (photo courtesy Skyepack)
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA company based at the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette has announced growth plans. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says Skyepack, which has developed a digital platform designed to reduce the cost of college textbooks, will invest nearly $300,000 and create up to 51 jobs by 2020.
Skyepack currently employs more than 10 workers in Tippecanoe County and has already added three new employees. The company says it is hiring for management, product development, sales and marketing positions, all of which are expected to pay higher than the average state and county wage.
The IEDC says Skyepack works with faculty members at more than 60 campuses throughout the country to create custom course packages tailored to their needs. The company’s platform aims help instructors transition their students from traditional textbooks to a more engaging and affordable system.
"We work with faculty to first understand their course, what they are teaching and what the key objectives are. Then we learn about their assessment strategy, the teaching methodologies they are using and other aspects of the class," said Brady Kalb, chief executive officer at Skyepack. "We also work to understand the needs of students. The needs of the students at Purdue, for example, are different from the needs of students at Ivy Tech. So we take all of those things into account."
The IEDC has offered Skyepack up to $725,000 in conditional, performance-based tax credits. The company has also received $89,000 from the Greater Lafayette Commerce Training grant program.