BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Mayor Sheila Dixon unveiled Baltimore’s plan to attract families moving to the area as the result of the upcoming military Base Realignment and Closure process.
Joined by Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown at a news conference on Wednesday at City Hall, Dixon said Baltimore’s new “BRACtion” Plan will seek to improve public transportation and add more affordable housing to lure relocated military families to the city.
“The city of Baltimore is in a unique position to absorb the population moving to Maryland,” Dixon said.
State officials estimate that Baltimore will attract 2,552 new households and 2,100 new jobs by the year 2018 as the result of BRAC.
To prepare for the influx, the Dixon administration identified several potential transportation projects to ease commutes from Aberdeen Proving Ground — where the bulk of relocated military personnel will be based — including a new MARC train stop near Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore and MARC service between Baltimore’s Penn Station and Aberdeen.
Targeted development and detailed master plans for neighborhoods most likely to be affected by BRAC, including Westport, Middle Branch and Cherry Hill communities, also were included in the plan.
Promoting the city to military families would be the job of LIVE Baltimore, an agency tasked with attracting Washington residents to Baltimore.
Dixon called the plan — a collaborative effort of city agencies, nonprofits and state officials — a blueprint for opportunity.
“We’re connecting the dots,” she said.
Asked if the city’s rising homicide rate would deter families from relocating to Baltimore, Dixon said she was confident crime is under control.
“Baltimore is a safe city,” she said.
After the news conference, Brown toured Baltimore City with state officials. Brown said the state would work closely with the city to take advantage of the influx of military families.
“This is a true partnership,” he said.
BRAC BY THE NUMBERS
Fort Meade: The Odenton base could see about 22,000 new jobs as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure program.
Military jobs to Fort Meade:
» Defense Information Systems Agency: 4,379
» Adjudication activities: 951
» Media and publication activities (Department of Defense): 669
» Joint Network Systems: 2
Other jobs to Fort Meade:
» 3,049 indirect jobs: 3,049
» Contractors: 922
» Private developers on base property: 10,000
Aberdeen Proving Ground: The base could see about 25,121 new jobs as a result of BRAC.
New jobs at/around Aberdeen Proving Ground by 2012:
» On-base civilian, military and embedded contractors: 9,155
» Other military contractors: 7,586
» Related service sector/retail jobs: 4,379
Projected households to Maryland bases due to BRAC:
» Aberdeen Proving Ground: 14,159
» Fort Meade: 10,679
» Andrews Air Force Base: 474
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Md. bids for aid on BRAC growth
Lawmakers say billions needed for schools, transit as military bases expand
By Matthew Hay Brown, Timothy B. Wheeler and Phillip McGowan
Sun reporters
July 23, 2007
WASHINGTON
With tens of thousands of new workers expected in the next five years, Maryland's representatives in Congress are trying to loosen the first federal dollars to help local communities cope with military base expansion in the state.
The funding they are seeking so far has been modest: little more than $20 million, mostly for road and rail projects - an area in which state officials have identified $16 billion in needs. But they say it is only the beginning of the process, a trickle in federal funding that they will try to broaden into a more robust flow.
"The requests this year are a down payment for the future," said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who represents the communities surrounding Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade. "We hope that there's more next year."
The expansion of military installations in Maryland is expected to bring 45,000 to 60,000 jobs to the state. Officials are counting on the newcomers to contribute nearly $500 million annually in state and local taxes. But they also are bracing for the impact on roads, schools and services.
State officials wanted a piece of what some have called the largest economic development opportunity since World War II. They lobbied for the expansions during the 2005 round of the federal Base Realignment and Closure process known as BRAC.
But now, as Congress hammers out spending bills, state officials are looking for federal help with the billions of dollars that they say are needed to deal with the influx.
"These are federal facilities that are expanding," said Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who chairs Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's subcabinet on BRAC. "The federal government ought to want to play a role in ensuring that the infrastructure is in place to protect these activities."
Ruppersberger agrees.
"The Department of Defense made a decision to come here," the Baltimore County Democrat said. "We tried to prove our case. But now that they've made the commitment, we need their help."
Delegation members are using "earmarks" - federal funding that lawmakers secure for their pet projects - to get that assistance. Ruppersberger wants $1 million for roads that lead to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen is looking for $1 million to improve safety on the road that passes in front of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is trying to nail down $13 million to expand the MARC commuter rail system.
Some local officials worry that the money isn't coming quickly enough. While Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold lauds the effort to secure federal money for mass transit, he has expressed concern that the highway improvements won't be finished by 2011, when new residents begin arriving en masse.
State officials have identified $5 billion in BRAC-related transportation needs in Anne Arundel alone. There, no example is more emblematic of the challenge than the reconstruction of a five-mile section of Route 175 along Fort Meade's perimeter.
In 2003 - even before it was clear that Fort Meade would face BRAC growth - county officials said improving the road was their top transportation priority. The delegation secured $12.5 million in federal funding two years later to plan for its widening. But officials now say that the $500 million project probably won't be finished before 2016. By then, about 22,000 new workers are expected to settle near the base.
Leopold, a Republican, praised what he said were the efforts of the state's mostly Democratic delegation in Washington "to do everything they can to ensure that if the infrastructure is not there before the jobs arrive, it won't lag too far behind."
If the Democratic-led Congress finishes the appropriations process - the Republicans didn't last year - the 2008 federal budget would be the first to include earmarks for the base realignment approved in 2005. Ruppersberger and Mikulski, as members, respectively, of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, have taken the lead for Maryland.
"BRAC is in the federal lawbook," Mikulski said. "Now the battle is in the federal checkbook."
To illustrate local needs, Mikulski spoke of the planned expansion in Bethesda, where the National Naval Medical Center is to take on 1,889 new workers, across congested Rockville Pike from the National Institutes of Health.
"We could conceivably have thousands of people all at the same traffic light," she said. "I would not want to venture what they would be calling me or [Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin] or Chris Van Hollen" if they did nothing to improve the traffic flow.
Guided in part by priorities developed by the O'Malley administration - a $33 million list delivered to the delegation this year - the state delegation is seeking projects ranging from the $500,000 Ruppersberger is seeking to help "systemize" traffic lights on two state roads near Fort Meade to the $13 million Mikulski wants to help buy new locomotives and railcars for MARC and study possible sites for new stations on the commuter line.
"Our needs are much greater than that," Brown said. "But we take sort of a realistic approach, based on past experience and what will be available in the current pot."
Delegation members are pursuing other means to bring home federal dollars to help the state accommodate the base expansions. They lobbied successfully for a change in the federal formula for distributing highway funds that has increased Maryland's share from $540 million annually to $760 million. The state can use most of that money as it chooses; much is expected to pay for some of the 54 base-related transportation projects that state officials have identified.
Mikulski has argued for an increase in the amount spent nationally on Impact Aid, which helps school districts defray the cost of educating children who live on military bases, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, which help districts accommodate the needs of students with emotional, mental or physical disabilities.
Mikulski says she also will work to speed the delivery of federal aid - making it available to a school district in anticipation of more students, instead of waiting until they have arrived - when the No Child Left Behind law comes up for reauthorization by Congress this year.
The delegation has also supported grant applications by the state and counties for federal funding related to BRAC. The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $1.2 million to the state Department of Business and Economic Development to study the impact of the base expansions and $4 million to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to ensure that there will be enough workers to fill the new jobs. The Defense Department has given Anne Arundel and Harford counties more than $3 million to begin planning.
"Our priority," Ruppersberger said, "is to make sure that when you have this expansion ... that we do whatever we need to do so that we will not negatively impact on the quality of life of the existing residents and commercial entities."
The state is at work on some $6 billion in highway widenings, interchange upgrades and other transportation improvements. About 55 percent of that money is expected to come from the federal government.
Brown says the funding sends a message to those who would question the state's ability to absorb the newcomers. In New Jersey, politicians and others still are chafing over the impending move of plum technical jobs from Fort Monmouth to Aberdeen. New Jersey lawmakers introduced measures last week in Congress intended to stop the move, pending an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
"So roads are being built, interchanges being constructed and bridges erected," Brown said. "We're making progress, and we're ready."
By Matthew Hay Brown, Timothy B. Wheeler and Phillip McGowan
Sun reporters
July 23, 2007
WASHINGTON
With tens of thousands of new workers expected in the next five years, Maryland's representatives in Congress are trying to loosen the first federal dollars to help local communities cope with military base expansion in the state.
The funding they are seeking so far has been modest: little more than $20 million, mostly for road and rail projects - an area in which state officials have identified $16 billion in needs. But they say it is only the beginning of the process, a trickle in federal funding that they will try to broaden into a more robust flow.
"The requests this year are a down payment for the future," said Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who represents the communities surrounding Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade. "We hope that there's more next year."
The expansion of military installations in Maryland is expected to bring 45,000 to 60,000 jobs to the state. Officials are counting on the newcomers to contribute nearly $500 million annually in state and local taxes. But they also are bracing for the impact on roads, schools and services.
State officials wanted a piece of what some have called the largest economic development opportunity since World War II. They lobbied for the expansions during the 2005 round of the federal Base Realignment and Closure process known as BRAC.
But now, as Congress hammers out spending bills, state officials are looking for federal help with the billions of dollars that they say are needed to deal with the influx.
"These are federal facilities that are expanding," said Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who chairs Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley's subcabinet on BRAC. "The federal government ought to want to play a role in ensuring that the infrastructure is in place to protect these activities."
Ruppersberger agrees.
"The Department of Defense made a decision to come here," the Baltimore County Democrat said. "We tried to prove our case. But now that they've made the commitment, we need their help."
Delegation members are using "earmarks" - federal funding that lawmakers secure for their pet projects - to get that assistance. Ruppersberger wants $1 million for roads that lead to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen is looking for $1 million to improve safety on the road that passes in front of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is trying to nail down $13 million to expand the MARC commuter rail system.
Some local officials worry that the money isn't coming quickly enough. While Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold lauds the effort to secure federal money for mass transit, he has expressed concern that the highway improvements won't be finished by 2011, when new residents begin arriving en masse.
State officials have identified $5 billion in BRAC-related transportation needs in Anne Arundel alone. There, no example is more emblematic of the challenge than the reconstruction of a five-mile section of Route 175 along Fort Meade's perimeter.
In 2003 - even before it was clear that Fort Meade would face BRAC growth - county officials said improving the road was their top transportation priority. The delegation secured $12.5 million in federal funding two years later to plan for its widening. But officials now say that the $500 million project probably won't be finished before 2016. By then, about 22,000 new workers are expected to settle near the base.
Leopold, a Republican, praised what he said were the efforts of the state's mostly Democratic delegation in Washington "to do everything they can to ensure that if the infrastructure is not there before the jobs arrive, it won't lag too far behind."
If the Democratic-led Congress finishes the appropriations process - the Republicans didn't last year - the 2008 federal budget would be the first to include earmarks for the base realignment approved in 2005. Ruppersberger and Mikulski, as members, respectively, of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, have taken the lead for Maryland.
"BRAC is in the federal lawbook," Mikulski said. "Now the battle is in the federal checkbook."
To illustrate local needs, Mikulski spoke of the planned expansion in Bethesda, where the National Naval Medical Center is to take on 1,889 new workers, across congested Rockville Pike from the National Institutes of Health.
"We could conceivably have thousands of people all at the same traffic light," she said. "I would not want to venture what they would be calling me or [Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin] or Chris Van Hollen" if they did nothing to improve the traffic flow.
Guided in part by priorities developed by the O'Malley administration - a $33 million list delivered to the delegation this year - the state delegation is seeking projects ranging from the $500,000 Ruppersberger is seeking to help "systemize" traffic lights on two state roads near Fort Meade to the $13 million Mikulski wants to help buy new locomotives and railcars for MARC and study possible sites for new stations on the commuter line.
"Our needs are much greater than that," Brown said. "But we take sort of a realistic approach, based on past experience and what will be available in the current pot."
Delegation members are pursuing other means to bring home federal dollars to help the state accommodate the base expansions. They lobbied successfully for a change in the federal formula for distributing highway funds that has increased Maryland's share from $540 million annually to $760 million. The state can use most of that money as it chooses; much is expected to pay for some of the 54 base-related transportation projects that state officials have identified.
Mikulski has argued for an increase in the amount spent nationally on Impact Aid, which helps school districts defray the cost of educating children who live on military bases, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, which help districts accommodate the needs of students with emotional, mental or physical disabilities.
Mikulski says she also will work to speed the delivery of federal aid - making it available to a school district in anticipation of more students, instead of waiting until they have arrived - when the No Child Left Behind law comes up for reauthorization by Congress this year.
The delegation has also supported grant applications by the state and counties for federal funding related to BRAC. The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $1.2 million to the state Department of Business and Economic Development to study the impact of the base expansions and $4 million to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to ensure that there will be enough workers to fill the new jobs. The Defense Department has given Anne Arundel and Harford counties more than $3 million to begin planning.
"Our priority," Ruppersberger said, "is to make sure that when you have this expansion ... that we do whatever we need to do so that we will not negatively impact on the quality of life of the existing residents and commercial entities."
The state is at work on some $6 billion in highway widenings, interchange upgrades and other transportation improvements. About 55 percent of that money is expected to come from the federal government.
Brown says the funding sends a message to those who would question the state's ability to absorb the newcomers. In New Jersey, politicians and others still are chafing over the impending move of plum technical jobs from Fort Monmouth to Aberdeen. New Jersey lawmakers introduced measures last week in Congress intended to stop the move, pending an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
"So roads are being built, interchanges being constructed and bridges erected," Brown said. "We're making progress, and we're ready."
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Baltimore County unveils BRAC plan
Jun 21, 2007 12:00 AM (9 hrs ago)
by Jaime Malarkey, The Examiner
Baltimore County (Map, News) - Baltimore County officials unveiled a 105-point plan to prepare for the expected surge of jobs and people from the federal military base realignment and appointed a new employee to head the initiative Wednesday.
The county is expected to add 3,900 new jobs and 3,600 new households from the federal Base Realignment and Closure initiative, the third-largest impact in the state, County Executive Jim Smith said Wednesday. The new residents, earning salaries between $65,000 and $100,000, are expected to add $18 million in property taxes and $10 million in income taxes each year through 2015 but also consume housing stock, road and school capacity, and safety resources.
Smith called the plan specific, prioritized and deadlined.
“I am very optimistic,” he said. “But it will take every county agency and department to continue to work together in collaboration to ensure Baltimore County’s success.”
Economic development officials said the county already has enough commercially zoned land to accommodate defense contractors moving to the region. They estimated the new households would occupy about 8 percent of available housing between 2009 and 2015 but could pressure demand for higher-end units.
Fearing the influx could threaten the county’s rural northern parts, one land-preservation group studied where BRAC families would want to live. Two factors — the quality of its schools and proximity to Aberdeen Proving Ground — make Baltimore County more attractive than other Maryland jurisdictions, said Irving Spitzberg, president of North County Preservation Inc.
“If people make decisions the way I think BRAC people will make decisions, more people will decide to live here,” Spitzberg said. “Having said that, they will try to live within a half-hour of Aberdeen Proving Ground, and I think the plan for eastern Baltimore County will work.”
The plan identifies new priorities — such as changing high school graduation requirements to include four math and four science credits — and projects already in the pipeline, such as upgrading the Middle River MARC station. Other goals include revitalizing commercial corridors along Pulaski Highway, Route 1 and Washington Boulevard.
Smith named William Jones, a county redevelopment specialist since 2001, to head the BRAC initiative. County officials said they intend to seek state and federal funding for studies but could not estimate a total cost or timeline to implement the plan.
“You just don’t go out and make traffic changes overnight,” Jones said. “But I think it’s a really doable plan, and it could be done in a timely manner with cooperation.”
The public can comment on the plan, available on the county’s Web site, over the next 30 days. Copies are available in all branches of the county’s public library.
jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com
by Jaime Malarkey, The Examiner
Baltimore County (Map, News) - Baltimore County officials unveiled a 105-point plan to prepare for the expected surge of jobs and people from the federal military base realignment and appointed a new employee to head the initiative Wednesday.
The county is expected to add 3,900 new jobs and 3,600 new households from the federal Base Realignment and Closure initiative, the third-largest impact in the state, County Executive Jim Smith said Wednesday. The new residents, earning salaries between $65,000 and $100,000, are expected to add $18 million in property taxes and $10 million in income taxes each year through 2015 but also consume housing stock, road and school capacity, and safety resources.
Smith called the plan specific, prioritized and deadlined.
“I am very optimistic,” he said. “But it will take every county agency and department to continue to work together in collaboration to ensure Baltimore County’s success.”
Economic development officials said the county already has enough commercially zoned land to accommodate defense contractors moving to the region. They estimated the new households would occupy about 8 percent of available housing between 2009 and 2015 but could pressure demand for higher-end units.
Fearing the influx could threaten the county’s rural northern parts, one land-preservation group studied where BRAC families would want to live. Two factors — the quality of its schools and proximity to Aberdeen Proving Ground — make Baltimore County more attractive than other Maryland jurisdictions, said Irving Spitzberg, president of North County Preservation Inc.
“If people make decisions the way I think BRAC people will make decisions, more people will decide to live here,” Spitzberg said. “Having said that, they will try to live within a half-hour of Aberdeen Proving Ground, and I think the plan for eastern Baltimore County will work.”
The plan identifies new priorities — such as changing high school graduation requirements to include four math and four science credits — and projects already in the pipeline, such as upgrading the Middle River MARC station. Other goals include revitalizing commercial corridors along Pulaski Highway, Route 1 and Washington Boulevard.
Smith named William Jones, a county redevelopment specialist since 2001, to head the BRAC initiative. County officials said they intend to seek state and federal funding for studies but could not estimate a total cost or timeline to implement the plan.
“You just don’t go out and make traffic changes overnight,” Jones said. “But I think it’s a really doable plan, and it could be done in a timely manner with cooperation.”
The public can comment on the plan, available on the county’s Web site, over the next 30 days. Copies are available in all branches of the county’s public library.
jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Ruppersberger pushes magnet schools to serve BRAC
Anne Arundel sites eyed for all grades
By Phillip McGowan
Sun reporter
June 19, 2007
A congressman is pushing to build math-and-science magnet schools on or around Fort Meade to serve an expected influx of children from the national base realignment and expansion of the National Security Agency - the world's largest employer of mathematicians.
The school would raise future generations of scientists, engineers and other specialized workers to support a growing cadre of defense agencies coming to Maryland, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger told more than 100 commercial developers, lawyers and government officials in Linthicum yesterday. He was the keynote speaker at a symposium discussing base realignment and its repercussions.
He said he is working with local and state leaders as well as defense contractors who might help finance the schools, which would serve all grades and represent the first public magnet schools in Anne Arundel County.
The congressman said that officers and private-sector contractors who have been assigned to Fort Meade have expressed apprehension about enrolling their children in the county public schools because of Meade High's uneven reputation.
"They want their kids to have quality education," he said.
Local, state and military leaders have pursued a magnet program at Meade High to boost the school's academic reputation and attract defense workers, mostly from Northern Virginia, who are considering whether to relocate with their jobs.
School board members recently signaled their support for magnet programs, which could come online as early as the 2008-09 academic year, but they are less certain about whether Meade High is the most appropriate location for a math-and-science wing that could harness the resources of NSA and other federal agencies.
"We are more than happy to talk with anyone" about establishing math-and-science programs in the county system, said Bob Mosier, a county schools spokesman. "Whether it's in Meade is a part of that conversation."
Ruppersberger, the 2nd District Democrat who represents Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground - the two Army installations that will see tens of thousands of new jobs over the next decade - stressed that his proposal was only conceptual. He declined to elaborate about which officials he has spoken with.
But he gave indications that defense contractors, especially those serving the National Security Agency at Fort Meade and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, are supportive of making a significant financial contribution to establish these programs.
"The private sector needs to step up, and they will step up," said Ruppersberger.
Anne Arundel County is facing a school maintenance backlog in excess of $1.5 billion over a decade, and officials for the school system say they are beginning to struggle to pay for existing needs, while preparing for new students.
Ruppersberger, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said that's where the private sector would step forward.
"Because of cost factors, it's not fair for Anne Arundel County to manage that burden," he said.
Last year, then-County Executive Janet S. Owens, said she had secured the commitment of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. to shape the curriculum and provide mentoring and financial assistance for a math-and-science magnet program at Meade High.
The inspiration is a Science and Mathematics Academy at Aberdeen High, which was established in conjunction with Aberdeen Proving Ground in 2004. Through this program, which received $700,000 in federal funding in 2003, students work with top scientists and technicians in science, math and technology. It was believed to be the first program in the nation to tap into the expertise and equipment of a major military base.
"We are very interested in promoting the same sort of solution," said Col. Kenneth O. McCreedy, Fort Meade's commander. "The face of Anne Arundel County schools are defined by Meade High School, especially for the BRAC organizations."
Many parents in the 4,000-employee Defense Information Systems Agency, which is moving to Fort Meade under the base realignment and closure process, known as BRAC, send their children to nationally acclaimed schools in Northern Virginia and question whether Anne Arundel County measures up. Meade High, in particular, is trying to overcome academic and discipline problems, most recently a fight on Friday that ended with the arrests of 11 students.
McCreedy said his staff has spoken with Ruppersberger's aides on creating magnet programs at Meade High School, possibly in a wing of the existing building, which has a few hundred open seats. He said last year that the NSA and the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a regional office at the Army post, were discussing how they could participate.
"The power is there," McCreedy said yesterday. "If it's available for them, we can bring them into the schools."
Noting the staggering demand to replace thousands of white-collar workers in future decades at Fort Meade, Ruppersberger has expanded on the concept to include middle- and elementary-school programs.
Two county school board members were generally receptive to Ruppersberger's proposal.
"Certainly, with the population entering Fort Meade, the highly educated, high-end employees coming with BRAC, if they are going to come to Anne Arundel County, we have to give them a reason to buy homes there," said board Vice President Eugene Peterson.
But noting that Meade High already has the International Baccalaureate college preparatory program, board member Ned Carey said that a math-and-science magnet should go elsewhere, such as North County High.
"I think there's a need to balance the programs at the high schools," he said.
phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com
By Phillip McGowan
Sun reporter
June 19, 2007
A congressman is pushing to build math-and-science magnet schools on or around Fort Meade to serve an expected influx of children from the national base realignment and expansion of the National Security Agency - the world's largest employer of mathematicians.
The school would raise future generations of scientists, engineers and other specialized workers to support a growing cadre of defense agencies coming to Maryland, Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger told more than 100 commercial developers, lawyers and government officials in Linthicum yesterday. He was the keynote speaker at a symposium discussing base realignment and its repercussions.
He said he is working with local and state leaders as well as defense contractors who might help finance the schools, which would serve all grades and represent the first public magnet schools in Anne Arundel County.
The congressman said that officers and private-sector contractors who have been assigned to Fort Meade have expressed apprehension about enrolling their children in the county public schools because of Meade High's uneven reputation.
"They want their kids to have quality education," he said.
Local, state and military leaders have pursued a magnet program at Meade High to boost the school's academic reputation and attract defense workers, mostly from Northern Virginia, who are considering whether to relocate with their jobs.
School board members recently signaled their support for magnet programs, which could come online as early as the 2008-09 academic year, but they are less certain about whether Meade High is the most appropriate location for a math-and-science wing that could harness the resources of NSA and other federal agencies.
"We are more than happy to talk with anyone" about establishing math-and-science programs in the county system, said Bob Mosier, a county schools spokesman. "Whether it's in Meade is a part of that conversation."
Ruppersberger, the 2nd District Democrat who represents Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground - the two Army installations that will see tens of thousands of new jobs over the next decade - stressed that his proposal was only conceptual. He declined to elaborate about which officials he has spoken with.
But he gave indications that defense contractors, especially those serving the National Security Agency at Fort Meade and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, are supportive of making a significant financial contribution to establish these programs.
"The private sector needs to step up, and they will step up," said Ruppersberger.
Anne Arundel County is facing a school maintenance backlog in excess of $1.5 billion over a decade, and officials for the school system say they are beginning to struggle to pay for existing needs, while preparing for new students.
Ruppersberger, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said that's where the private sector would step forward.
"Because of cost factors, it's not fair for Anne Arundel County to manage that burden," he said.
Last year, then-County Executive Janet S. Owens, said she had secured the commitment of defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. to shape the curriculum and provide mentoring and financial assistance for a math-and-science magnet program at Meade High.
The inspiration is a Science and Mathematics Academy at Aberdeen High, which was established in conjunction with Aberdeen Proving Ground in 2004. Through this program, which received $700,000 in federal funding in 2003, students work with top scientists and technicians in science, math and technology. It was believed to be the first program in the nation to tap into the expertise and equipment of a major military base.
"We are very interested in promoting the same sort of solution," said Col. Kenneth O. McCreedy, Fort Meade's commander. "The face of Anne Arundel County schools are defined by Meade High School, especially for the BRAC organizations."
Many parents in the 4,000-employee Defense Information Systems Agency, which is moving to Fort Meade under the base realignment and closure process, known as BRAC, send their children to nationally acclaimed schools in Northern Virginia and question whether Anne Arundel County measures up. Meade High, in particular, is trying to overcome academic and discipline problems, most recently a fight on Friday that ended with the arrests of 11 students.
McCreedy said his staff has spoken with Ruppersberger's aides on creating magnet programs at Meade High School, possibly in a wing of the existing building, which has a few hundred open seats. He said last year that the NSA and the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a regional office at the Army post, were discussing how they could participate.
"The power is there," McCreedy said yesterday. "If it's available for them, we can bring them into the schools."
Noting the staggering demand to replace thousands of white-collar workers in future decades at Fort Meade, Ruppersberger has expanded on the concept to include middle- and elementary-school programs.
Two county school board members were generally receptive to Ruppersberger's proposal.
"Certainly, with the population entering Fort Meade, the highly educated, high-end employees coming with BRAC, if they are going to come to Anne Arundel County, we have to give them a reason to buy homes there," said board Vice President Eugene Peterson.
But noting that Meade High already has the International Baccalaureate college preparatory program, board member Ned Carey said that a math-and-science magnet should go elsewhere, such as North County High.
"I think there's a need to balance the programs at the high schools," he said.
phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Baltimore well-suited to handle influx
Baltimore well-suited to handle influx
Jun 6, 2007 12:00 AM
by Len Lazarick, The Examiner
Baltimore City has it all when it comes to the infrastructure to absorb the growth in jobs and residents from the defense agencies moving to Maryland under the Base Realignment and Closure process, Cabinet secretaries reminded local economic development officials Tuesday.
The city has the roads, the mass transit, the sewer and water capacity, the housing stock and zoning, but they admitted it also has “challenges,” such as public schools and a high crime rate.
“Baltimore is the one place that can accommodate the growth,” Secretary of Business and Economic Development David Edgerley told the Maryland Economic Development Association conference at Rocky Gap in western Maryland.
Deputy Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley said, “Baltimore has capacity in one place” to handle additional passengers on light rail and commuter buses, but expanding capacity on the rail commuter lines “is absolutely critical to BRAC regardless of where the families relocate. We know where they’re going to work, but we don’t know where they’re going to live,” Swaim-Staley said.
The new jobs will be concentrated at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel. Both have commuter rail stations not far away.
State Planning Secretary Richard Hall said “Baltimore City has the lowest rate of [population] loss that we’ve seen in many, many decades.”
But still, there is “that little issue of the schools; the schools in the city are a challenge,” Hall said.
“Schools and crime are serious factors that could hold things back,” Baltimore County economic development chief David Iannucci said in an interview. “But we’re all very supportive of Baltimore,” which could be the “escape valve” for growth pressures.
While older suburbanites might not be attracted to the city, “a lot of the young grads and young tech” people may concider Fells Point and Canton a good place to live, Iannucci said.
“There are more than enough jobs to go around,” he said, and “regional economic development cooperation is at an all-time high.”
Iannucci said officials in the Baltimore region have informally agreed not to offer any special financial incentives to private contractors that will come with the defense agencies, except for those mandated by law.
Edgerley said for once in his decades in boosting business growth in Maryland, “all of you are talking across jurisdictions” about how to share and accommodate the BRAC growth.
Jun 6, 2007 12:00 AM
by Len Lazarick, The Examiner
Baltimore City has it all when it comes to the infrastructure to absorb the growth in jobs and residents from the defense agencies moving to Maryland under the Base Realignment and Closure process, Cabinet secretaries reminded local economic development officials Tuesday.
The city has the roads, the mass transit, the sewer and water capacity, the housing stock and zoning, but they admitted it also has “challenges,” such as public schools and a high crime rate.
“Baltimore is the one place that can accommodate the growth,” Secretary of Business and Economic Development David Edgerley told the Maryland Economic Development Association conference at Rocky Gap in western Maryland.
Deputy Transportation Secretary Beverly Swaim-Staley said, “Baltimore has capacity in one place” to handle additional passengers on light rail and commuter buses, but expanding capacity on the rail commuter lines “is absolutely critical to BRAC regardless of where the families relocate. We know where they’re going to work, but we don’t know where they’re going to live,” Swaim-Staley said.
The new jobs will be concentrated at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel. Both have commuter rail stations not far away.
State Planning Secretary Richard Hall said “Baltimore City has the lowest rate of [population] loss that we’ve seen in many, many decades.”
But still, there is “that little issue of the schools; the schools in the city are a challenge,” Hall said.
“Schools and crime are serious factors that could hold things back,” Baltimore County economic development chief David Iannucci said in an interview. “But we’re all very supportive of Baltimore,” which could be the “escape valve” for growth pressures.
While older suburbanites might not be attracted to the city, “a lot of the young grads and young tech” people may concider Fells Point and Canton a good place to live, Iannucci said.
“There are more than enough jobs to go around,” he said, and “regional economic development cooperation is at an all-time high.”
Iannucci said officials in the Baltimore region have informally agreed not to offer any special financial incentives to private contractors that will come with the defense agencies, except for those mandated by law.
Edgerley said for once in his decades in boosting business growth in Maryland, “all of you are talking across jurisdictions” about how to share and accommodate the BRAC growth.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
So just how many jobs can MD expect from the 2005 BRAC?
The state is projecting that between 40,000 and 60,000 total jobs will be coming to Maryland because of the military's 2005 base realignment and closure policy when contractors are added into the total.
About 8,200 direct jobs are estimated to be coming to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. About 5,700 new jobs are projected to be coming to Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. Appx 25,000 contractor jobs between both areas.
About 8,200 direct jobs are estimated to be coming to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. About 5,700 new jobs are projected to be coming to Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. Appx 25,000 contractor jobs between both areas.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Frequently Asked BRAC Question
If my organization is realigned to another geographic location, will I be offered the opportunity to move with the work? If not, what are my options?
Your right of assignment depends on whether your organization is being moved due to a transfer of function (TOF), which occurs when a function ceases in one location and is moved to one or more other locations that are not performing that specific type of work. TOF regulations stipulate than non-temporary employees have the right to move with their work if the alternative at the losing organization is separation or demotion by reduction in force (RIF). Your human resources office will notify you if your position is involved in a TOF. If the realignment is not a TOF, you do not have the right to accompany your function to the new location. However, your agency may give you the opportunity to volunteer to relocate with the organization. If you do not volunteer, or if you volunteer and are not selected, you will be subject to any resulting RIF action. In that case, you may be eligible for transition assistance under the DoD Civilian Assistance & Re-Employment (CARE) Program. (See Question 18)
Your right of assignment depends on whether your organization is being moved due to a transfer of function (TOF), which occurs when a function ceases in one location and is moved to one or more other locations that are not performing that specific type of work. TOF regulations stipulate than non-temporary employees have the right to move with their work if the alternative at the losing organization is separation or demotion by reduction in force (RIF). Your human resources office will notify you if your position is involved in a TOF. If the realignment is not a TOF, you do not have the right to accompany your function to the new location. However, your agency may give you the opportunity to volunteer to relocate with the organization. If you do not volunteer, or if you volunteer and are not selected, you will be subject to any resulting RIF action. In that case, you may be eligible for transition assistance under the DoD Civilian Assistance & Re-Employment (CARE) Program. (See Question 18)
MD BRAC group meets
BRAC group meets to form plan for state
First gathering of sub-Cabinet to develop strategy to handle expected influx
By Timothy B. Wheeler
Sun Reporter
Originally published May 30, 2007, 10:56 AM EDT
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-brac0530,0,116175.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Declaring that Maryland's economic future is at stake, Gov. Martin O'Malley vowed today that the state's Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet would work to "maximize the opportunities" presented by the expected influx in the next several years of thousands of defense-related workers and their families.
The sub-Cabinet, led by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, met for the first time at the State House in Annapolis as it begins a six-month push to develop a plan for accommodating the 45,000 to 60,000 jobs projected to move to Maryland as a result of a nationwide military base reorganization. Local officials have urged the state to fast-track highway, transit and school funding, among other things, to ease traffic congestion and relieve classroom crowding as the buildup is expected to draw 28,000 households into the state.
O'Malley stressed the economic potential for the state in the base buildup, rather than the likely growing pains and pointed out that many other states are losing jobs.
"While there are challenges to this, and problems, it is a much better challenge and problem than shedding thousands of jobs every year," O'Malley said.
Nevertheless, Brown said, "we have our work cut out for us" in preparing for the welcome growth, including building schools, expanding transit and locating water to accommodate the new workers and their families.
In addition to the lieutenant governor, the sub-Cabinet consists of state secretaries for budget and management; business and economic development; environment; higher education; housing and community development; labor, licensing and regulation; planning and transportation, plus the state superintendent of schools.
The group's work will be coordinated by a newly hired executive director, Asuntha Chiang-Smith, a former administrator with the state Department of Economic and Community Development. She also worked for former Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.
Brown said the sub-Cabinet will meet in communities likely to be most affected by the base buildup, which will be focused largely around Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. He pledged that the group would work "in an open and transparent manner," publicly conferring with local officials about their communities' needs.
But Brown added that the state officials would then engage in their "executive function" of compiling a list of legislative and budget priorities, a reference to the group's plans to draft its base-growth plan in private. The public will be given a chance to review and comment on it afterward, according to a spokeswoman for the lieutenant governor.
After 20 minutes of opening statements, the sub-Cabinet's new staff director asked for an executive session, and reporters were escorted from the governor's reception room.
We can be reached at www.charlesgouin.com or www.mikemcconahy.com for all your real estate needs.
First gathering of sub-Cabinet to develop strategy to handle expected influx
By Timothy B. Wheeler
Sun Reporter
Originally published May 30, 2007, 10:56 AM EDT
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-brac0530,0,116175.story?coll=bal-home-headlines
Declaring that Maryland's economic future is at stake, Gov. Martin O'Malley vowed today that the state's Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet would work to "maximize the opportunities" presented by the expected influx in the next several years of thousands of defense-related workers and their families.
The sub-Cabinet, led by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, met for the first time at the State House in Annapolis as it begins a six-month push to develop a plan for accommodating the 45,000 to 60,000 jobs projected to move to Maryland as a result of a nationwide military base reorganization. Local officials have urged the state to fast-track highway, transit and school funding, among other things, to ease traffic congestion and relieve classroom crowding as the buildup is expected to draw 28,000 households into the state.
O'Malley stressed the economic potential for the state in the base buildup, rather than the likely growing pains and pointed out that many other states are losing jobs.
"While there are challenges to this, and problems, it is a much better challenge and problem than shedding thousands of jobs every year," O'Malley said.
Nevertheless, Brown said, "we have our work cut out for us" in preparing for the welcome growth, including building schools, expanding transit and locating water to accommodate the new workers and their families.
In addition to the lieutenant governor, the sub-Cabinet consists of state secretaries for budget and management; business and economic development; environment; higher education; housing and community development; labor, licensing and regulation; planning and transportation, plus the state superintendent of schools.
The group's work will be coordinated by a newly hired executive director, Asuntha Chiang-Smith, a former administrator with the state Department of Economic and Community Development. She also worked for former Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.
Brown said the sub-Cabinet will meet in communities likely to be most affected by the base buildup, which will be focused largely around Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. He pledged that the group would work "in an open and transparent manner," publicly conferring with local officials about their communities' needs.
But Brown added that the state officials would then engage in their "executive function" of compiling a list of legislative and budget priorities, a reference to the group's plans to draft its base-growth plan in private. The public will be given a chance to review and comment on it afterward, according to a spokeswoman for the lieutenant governor.
After 20 minutes of opening statements, the sub-Cabinet's new staff director asked for an executive session, and reporters were escorted from the governor's reception room.
We can be reached at www.charlesgouin.com or www.mikemcconahy.com for all your real estate needs.
Maryland businesses prepare for BRAC
Businesses aim to cash in on BRAC
Small-concern owners learn of opportunities at Harford seminar
By Mary Gail Hare
Sun Reporter
May 29, 2007, 9:23 PM EDT
Most of the recent conferences on the looming population influx from the nationwide military base realignment and closure (BRAC) have focused on the alarming costs of infrastructure, the critical need for more schools and millions needed for road improvements.
A discussion at Harford Community College in Bel Air last week highlighted entirely different topics: home and office decor, cozy lodging, and starting a handyman business. Sherry Shiroky, a Bel Air interior decorator, said she could supply new homeowners and office tenants with furniture, flooring and drapery. "We can do it all," she said.
Edith Brown passed out brochures about her bed-and-breakfast in Forest Hill."I am introducing myself and getting the word out," she said. "I don't think the military knows about me, and maybe now they will."
Vance Franklin of Lanham said he hoped the event would help his home improvement business."I am a veteran and just getting started in this business," he said. "I am looking for guidelines and hoping for a lot of work.
"They were among the more than 100 small-business operators who attended "BRAC and Your Bottom Line," a conference aimed at giving small-business owners a glimpse of their potential roles in what officials expect to be the most significant economic development phenomenon in Maryland since World War II."
Our mission is to help prospective and existing small businesses to succeed," said Renee C. Sprow, director of the Maryland Small Business Development Center. "BRAC offers tremendous opportunities for small businesses, and we are offering the information and resources they need to take advantage of those opportunities."
Center officials plan a series of workshops across Maryland that will offer such basics as how to apply for a security clearance or how to create joint ventures with larger firms, she said."We can show retail business where the new population will be moving and what are the demographics and buying power," Sprow said.
"We are not dealing with houses and schools. We are dealing with retail and contractor opportunities."Russell C. Teter III, director of the college's Small Business Development Center, urged participants to pitch whatever they had to offer. Local businesses should capitalize on BRAC, which promises to bring thousands of high-paying jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County within the next few years, Teter and other officials said.
Nearly 150 merchants, manufacturers and restaurateurs participated in the event that Teter called "halfway between a business card exchange and a vendor fair." Kathey Hofmeier of Chesapeake Connectors, an electronics distributor in Aberdeen, is working with the military but wants to expand her opportunities." I came here to get the bigger picture," she said. "I am sure there is room for all of us to grow. It is just a question of finding the right people to talk to.
We can be reached at "www.charlesgouin.com or www.mikemcconahy.com for all your real estate needs.
Small-concern owners learn of opportunities at Harford seminar
By Mary Gail Hare
Sun Reporter
May 29, 2007, 9:23 PM EDT
Most of the recent conferences on the looming population influx from the nationwide military base realignment and closure (BRAC) have focused on the alarming costs of infrastructure, the critical need for more schools and millions needed for road improvements.
A discussion at Harford Community College in Bel Air last week highlighted entirely different topics: home and office decor, cozy lodging, and starting a handyman business. Sherry Shiroky, a Bel Air interior decorator, said she could supply new homeowners and office tenants with furniture, flooring and drapery. "We can do it all," she said.
Edith Brown passed out brochures about her bed-and-breakfast in Forest Hill."I am introducing myself and getting the word out," she said. "I don't think the military knows about me, and maybe now they will."
Vance Franklin of Lanham said he hoped the event would help his home improvement business."I am a veteran and just getting started in this business," he said. "I am looking for guidelines and hoping for a lot of work.
"They were among the more than 100 small-business operators who attended "BRAC and Your Bottom Line," a conference aimed at giving small-business owners a glimpse of their potential roles in what officials expect to be the most significant economic development phenomenon in Maryland since World War II."
Our mission is to help prospective and existing small businesses to succeed," said Renee C. Sprow, director of the Maryland Small Business Development Center. "BRAC offers tremendous opportunities for small businesses, and we are offering the information and resources they need to take advantage of those opportunities."
Center officials plan a series of workshops across Maryland that will offer such basics as how to apply for a security clearance or how to create joint ventures with larger firms, she said."We can show retail business where the new population will be moving and what are the demographics and buying power," Sprow said.
"We are not dealing with houses and schools. We are dealing with retail and contractor opportunities."Russell C. Teter III, director of the college's Small Business Development Center, urged participants to pitch whatever they had to offer. Local businesses should capitalize on BRAC, which promises to bring thousands of high-paying jobs to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County within the next few years, Teter and other officials said.
Nearly 150 merchants, manufacturers and restaurateurs participated in the event that Teter called "halfway between a business card exchange and a vendor fair." Kathey Hofmeier of Chesapeake Connectors, an electronics distributor in Aberdeen, is working with the military but wants to expand her opportunities." I came here to get the bigger picture," she said. "I am sure there is room for all of us to grow. It is just a question of finding the right people to talk to.
We can be reached at "www.charlesgouin.com or www.mikemcconahy.com for all your real estate needs.
MD BRAC Real Estate
This our first blog post for this blogsite. We're a trio of Prudential real estate agents in the Northern Maryland area dedicated to helping those affected by the DoD Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Plan. Northern Maryland is slated to receive a large share of DoD jobs from across the US over the next few years and we're looking to help those moving into the area learn about Northern Maryland and find homes if needed.
We can be reached at www.mikemcconahy.com or www.charlesgouin.com
We can be reached at www.mikemcconahy.com or www.charlesgouin.com
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