ANNAPOLIS — The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland has won a state EARN Maryland grant to train workers for manufacturing jobs, the only Southern Maryland organization in the program’s latest round of awards.
The council, the regional planning and development agency for Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties, is one of 22 awardees sharing more than $4.7 million, Gov. Wes Moore announced. The state’s awardee list places the council’s grant in manufacturing with Southern Maryland as its region, but neither the list nor the release gives individual award amounts, employer partners or the number of local trainees.
EARN, short for Employment Advancement Right Now, pays for training built by groups of employers in the same industry, who identify the skills they need and help design the courses. Workers who finish can move into open jobs or, if already employed, earn credentials that qualify them for higher-paying roles.
Statewide, this round is expected to:
- Help more than 1,700 Marylanders earn training and credentials
- Connect nearly 600 workers directly to jobs
- Upskill nearly 1,000 workers who already have jobs
Those are projections. The release describes the training and placements as planned outcomes, not results.
Manufacturing is one of the smaller slices of this round. Most of the 22 awards went to Central Maryland groups in health care, skilled trades, cyber and IT, and transportation. The Tri-County Council is one of two manufacturing awardees, alongside the statewide Maryland MEP, which works in manufacturing and cybersecurity.
The Moore-Miller administration says it has put more than $35 million into EARN, funding upskilling for more than 6,200 Marylanders and training and job placement for 4,500 more. The state estimates a return of $19 for every $1 invested. Over the past decade, the program has worked with nearly 2,000 employers, according to Labor Secretary Portia Wu.
“Investing in Maryland workers means a stronger economy, better paying jobs, and communities where no one is left behind,” Moore said.
The state’s release did not say when the council’s training will begin or how residents can enroll.
