Baltimore City and Baltimore County select winning businesses for innovative workforce development strategies
Sheila Dixon, Mayor, Baltimore City and James T. Smith, Jr., Baltimore County Executive will help honor six employers at second annual regional awards breakfast

Baltimore, MD - Mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith, Jr. along with the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board and Baltimore County Workforce Development Council, are honored to congratulate the recipients of the Second Annual Baltimore Regional Employer Institute Awards. These awards will be presented on September 17th at Stevenson University to area businesses that exemplify innovative approaches to workforce development.  The winning businesses were selected from nominations received in the following five categories:

• Looking Beyond Barriers and Hiring Smart – Dietrich Industries hires individuals with criminal backgrounds, who have learned from their mistakes and are ready to re-enter society in a meaningful and productive way.

• Competitive Advantage – Johns Hopkins Health System (co-awardees) established Project R.E.A.C.H. to help their employees acquire skills and knowledge required in healthcare occupations, allowing Johns Hopkins to remain competitive in a tight healthcare labor market.

• Competitive Advantage – Franklin Square Hospital (co-awardees), partnering with the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), is helping to solve the current labor shortage in healthcare by implementing a unique program that allows for Franklin Square employees to enroll in CCBC’s nursing program taught by Franklin Square faculty.

• Preparing Youth for the 21st Century Workplace – The Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health helps to ensure that both in-school and out-of-school youth have the skills, abilities, and attitudes to be successful employees by hosting job shadow days, providing internships, and offering a variety of other related activities and programs.

• Employee Retention – Pevco, a relatively small manufacturing firm, retains its employees by providing creative incentives and benefits that offer scheduling flexibility and the freedom to pursue new initiatives.

• Innovator – The University of Maryland Medical Center has created a career development service in its human resources department that has three main goals – to create career advancement opportunities, provide employment opportunities for the unemployed and underemployed, and introduce young people to careers in healthcare, thereby working with its incumbent workers and attracting new workers.

Note: There are two awards for Competitive Advantage.