Baltimore City and Baltimore County Launch Inaugural Awards 
Breakfast Celebrating “Regionalism that Works”
Sheila Dixon, Mayor, Baltimore City and Jim T. Smith, Jr., Baltimore County Executive to help honor several employers for their innovative approaches to building and strengthening workforce

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:

• Looking Beyond Barriers and Hiring Smart – Acadia Windows and Doors, Inc. for its work in hiring individuals with developmental and physical disabilities and modifying its workplace to meet the needs of a physically disabled employee that in-turn provided a much safer workplace for all employees.
• Competitive Advantage – Marlin Steel Wire Products invested over a $1 million in a robotic system that enabled the company to produce precision baskets for industrial applications and compete in the global marketplace.
• Preparing Youth for the 21st Century Workplace – Lockheed Martin MS2 Littoral Ships & Systems conducts a comprehensive educational outreach program, “Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today” that encourages students from elementary through college to consider engineering, math, science and technology careers.
• Employee Retention – ARAMARK Healthcare implemented a flexible schedule initiative that allows its hourly employees to better balance their professional and personal commitments.
• Innovator – Shire Pharmaceuticals conducted a week long intensive training camp for its entire Owings Mills facility which capitalized on its technical talent that exists, while emphasizing the importance of creating a learning organization driving the advancements in the production of high quality medications.

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.”
"Today we recognize outstanding businesses for their role in not only keeping our economy strong, but also for their forward-thinking that a talented and skilled workforce crosses county and city lines," said County Executive Jim Smith. "These five companies are a great example of regionalism that works."

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.