Baltimore City and Baltimore County Launch Inaugural Awards Breakfast Celebrating “Regionalism that Works”
Baltimore City and Baltimore County Launch Inaugural Awards | |||||
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Baltimore, MD - Sheila Dixon, Mayor, Baltimore City and Baltimore County Executive Jim T. Smith, Jr., along with the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board (BWIB) and Baltimore County Workforce Development Council (BCWDC), honored the inaugural recipients of the Baltimore Regional Employer Awards today at a breakfast at Martin’s West. These awards were presented to area businesses that exemplify innovative approaches to workforce development. Winners below were selected from nominations received in the following five categories:
The ceremony represents the first of many steps to highlight the regional nature of the workforce from Baltimore City and Baltimore County. “Promoting employer investment is a critical component of our plan to ensure all of Baltimore’s citizens can meet the demands of the 21st century workplace,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon. “Workforce development is critical to our region’s future economy.” The launch of the Baltimore Regional Employer Institute, an opportunity for each of the award winning companies to share its best practice with other local industry leaders, was announced by University of Maryland Medical System’s Senior Vice President, Network Development John W. Ashworth III, the chair of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board, and Kirk-Habicht Company’s President Mark D. Habicht, the chair of the Baltimore County Workforce Development Council. Each winning company will lead a two-hour business-to-business forum beginning early in 2008 that will promote cutting edge practices to enable employers to successfully engage and maintain a viable pool of talented employees. Neill Christopher, facility manager for Acadia Doors and Windows, Inc., is looking forward to sharing what he has learned through his hiring of developmentally disabled workers with the assistance of the Arc of Baltimore. “Hopefully by this award being part of Acadia, it will give us a chance to spread this message and maybe some more people can reap the benefits as we’ve had and some more people can be employed,” said Christopher. All the award winners showed their appreciation for receiving this regional recognition. “This award means so much to the employees of Marlin,” said Drew Greenblatt, president, Marlin Steel Wire Products. “It helps us remember why good things have happened to us with our growing and prosperous business.” The ceremony was organized by Baltimore City’s Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and Baltimore County’s Office of Workforce Development in order to assist their efforts in promoting successful workforce development initiatives for their customers. The sponsors that contributed to the Baltimore Regional Employer Awards included the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the Community College of Baltimore County, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Erickson Retirement Communities Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore City Community College, and the University of Maryland Medical System. |