Maayan Schechter

The Greenville News

A Greenville-based programming school that helped cultivate developers early in their careers, increase start-ups in the Upstate and beyond, and helped spawn the successful medical start-up ChartSpan will close its 15 campuses by the end of summer.

The Iron Yard announced Thursday on the company website that its board made the "difficult decision to cease operations at all campuses after teaching out remaining summer cohorts."

The company employed more than 100 people, of which about 40 were involved in the corporate and leadership teams, according to its website.

"The industry as a whole is still young and its leaders face the challenge of a nascent market, as well as the demands facing all institutions in the higher education marketplace," the statement continued.

The Iron Yard will finish out summer classes completely, including career support.

Asked for further comment, the Iron Yard referred back to its posted statement.

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The company was founded in 2013 by CEO Peter Barth after several successful start-up exits, his bio states. In 2016, Barth was named one of 30 of the area's emerging leaders by The News.

Fifteen in-person U.S. campuses made up the Iron Yard, including two in South Carolina: Greenville, 101 N. Main St., and Charleston.

Eventually, the company was able to expand internationally, at one point totaling 21 campuses, The Greenville News reported.

Other campuses included Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Orlando and Nashville.

It wasn't immediately clear how many employees would be impacted by the closure.

It also wasn't clear whether Iron Yard Ventures, a seed stage investment firm of the Iron Yard, would be affected.

On its website, Iron Yard Ventures states that since 2012, the firm has invested in more than 62 early-stage technology companies, which have gone on to raise more than $100 million in follow-on funding and create more than 500 jobs.

"While our journey is coming to an end, we will always take pride in the thousands of people our staff helped to launch new careers," the statement said.

Described on its website as a "technology education company," The Iron Yard began as a startup accelerator program in Greenville in 2012.

In 2013, the company taught programming courses to children and adults, later providing full- and part-time web development courses in-person, online or through corporate training programs across the country.

Last year, the Iron Yard collaborated with the White House as part of the Opportunity Project to use community-specific data in students' projects across all 21 Iron Yard locations, The News reported. The goal of the project was to increase accessibility to data about jobs, schools, transportation and other community resources.

The company last year also launched the Tech Opportunity Fund with Code Fellows and Operation HOPE to further increase diversity in the tech world through code school scholarships.

According to reports, the fund planned to distribute $100 million in scholarships to women, minorities and low-income people over the next five years.

“To maximize the potential of the tech industry, we must maximize the potential of a diverse tech workforce,” Barth said in 2016. "There is a true need in the industry for an organization to unite the many groups that are working toward this goal and by coordinating our efforts, we can truly change the industry for the better."

The tech ecosystem in Greenville

Not Silicon Valley or Raleigh, Greenville has cultivated its own kind of tech ecosystem that has produced successful companies and smaller spinoffs.

That success included the Iron Yard, which helped foster startup companies like ChartSpan, founded in in 2011 by CEO and co-founder Jon-Michial Carter and his brother and co-founder, Patrick Carter, ChartSpan's chief medical officer and a 20-year clinician.

“Greenville owes a profound debt of gratitude to The Iron Yard and Peter Barth," Jon-Michial Carter said in an email. "Dozens of startups and thousands of developers accelerated their growth through The Iron Yard. Peter Barth is admired by so many in Greenville for what he has done for its tech community. I can’t wait to see what he does next.”

More:Greenville-based ChartSpan closes on $16 million investment

John Moore, the CEO of NEXT, a Greenville Chamber of Commerce program that supports companies in the Upstate, said the Iron Yard was part of a maturing ecosystem in Greenville.

"Of course, we would love to have different news out of any of our companies, including from such a great partner like the Iron Yard, which has been such a great success," Moore said. "They made a huge impact on individual lives. I know a couple of folks in town that it changed their whole career trajectory."

Moore said the Iron Yard has been a national leader in the approach of alternative coding schools, and has shown that an idea can become something much bigger.

"Tomorrow and for the next 100 years to come, we do celebrate the impact they've had and the entire effort that they've made in innovation. It's hard, there's risk," Moore said of startups. "We applaud them for their impact, and I can't wait to see what those very talented people do in the future."

Joe Erwin, president of Erwin Creates and founder of Endeavor, a co-working community business in downtown Greenville, in an email called the Iron Yard a "fundamental cultivator of digital creators, profoundly impacting tech-focused startups, traditional corporations, and coding students of all ages."

"Thanks to Peter Barth and The Iron Yard for creating educational opportunities that will continue to help build the digital economy,” he said.

On Twitter, Shannon Wilbanks, Endeavor's managing partner, offered her thoughts, too.

"Sure hate to hear this about @TheIronYard. What a great, game-changing program for so many - and for #yeahthatgreenville," the tweet said.

Follow Maayan Schechter on Twitter @MaayanSchechter.