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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