In the fall of 2025, the City of West Des Moines Human Services (WDMHS) partnered with Microsoft and Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) to launch a first-of-its-kind Datacenter Academy Program. This pilot pantry-to-employment initiative connected unemployed and underemployed clients to high-tech, livable-wage careers as data center technicians, while providing wraparound support services through WDMHS. There were 15 participants selected for the program, and the results were remarkable: 1