County Executive Leopold announced today that the U. S. Department of Labor has awarded a $4.9 million Community-Based Job Training grant to Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation, Anne Arundel Community College and their partners for the Pathways to Cyber Security Careers Consortium initiative.
“This grant will help us feed the technology jobs pipeline with highly trained workers,” County Executive Leopold said. “In conjunction with our Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Program, this grant will help create a diverse and flexible array of training options that will give our region’s citizens the skills to enter a growing field. When the Cyber Command comes here, we will be ready.”
The consortium will bring together central Maryland Workforce Investment Boards and community colleges in Anne Arundel, Carroll and Howard Counties and Baltimore City, state and local economic development agencies, local high schools, trade associations, businesses and community-based organizations. Anne Arundel Community College is the lead college in the consortium and is a recognized leader in cybersecurity education. County Executive Leopold will continue to work with the County Council to build cyber labs at the college. Private employers that will sit on the advisory board include Praxis, ARINC and AnalySYS. The Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the Maryland Governor’s Workforce Investment Board, and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development showed support of the proposal. The job training team applied for the grant in April.
“Our goal is to get our citizens back to work,” said Kirkland J. Murray, President and CEO of Anne Arundel Workforce Development. “This funding will address the urgent need to increase the pipeline of qualified workers in cybersecurity, while connecting our citizens to jobs in this high-growth industry. Anne Arundel County will continue to be a leader in preparing our workforce for the field of cybersecurity.”
