25 Years of Building Success
Join AAWDC in celebrating 25 extraordinary years of success in Anne Arundel County!
Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation (AAWDC) is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit in the State of Maryland, succeeding the Business Workforce and Development Center of Anne Arundel County, which in turn succeeds the Anne Arundel County Office of Workforce Development. Independent nonprofit status gave AAWDC the flexibility to pursue grants, partnerships, and community programs beyond the reach of a government office—the foundation for everything that followed.
Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens announces the creation of the new Anne Arundel County Workforce Hotline and Quick Response Team—a rapid-response partnership across AAWDC, Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC), Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services, and Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), that gave laid-off workers and struggling employers a single place to turn for help.
Andy Moser becomes President & CEO of AAWDC.
AAWDC moves its One-Stop Career Center to the George M. Taylor District Court Multi-Service Center in Glen Burnie. The move combines the offices of AAWDC’s program staff and employees of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (MD DLLR) Division of Workforce Development. The result is the Anne Arundel Workforce Exchange, a collaborative effort of AAWDC, MD DLLR, and various federal, state, and local agencies.
AAWDC receives a $490,803 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) to establish the Anne Arundel PASS (People Acquiring Skills for Success) program in the Freetown Village and Meade Village public housing communities as well as the Ordnance Road Correctional Center and Jennifer Road Detention Center. PASS marked the beginning of AAWDC’s community-embedded approach to meet residents where they were rather than waiting for them to come to a career center.
AAWDC’s JobsWork Arundel (JWA) program is launched in partnership with Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services to provide work readiness services to recipients of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), helping participants move toward stable employment and self-sufficiency. JWA remains one of AAWDC’s longest-running programs.
Through a grant from the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention, AAWDC begins offering career counseling and employment assistance to participants in Anne Arundel County’s Adult Drug and DUI/DWI Treatment Court and Juvenile Drug Court programs. The initiative, PACE (Providing Assistance for Careers and Employment), was built on the understanding that stable employment is one of the strongest supports for people leaving the justice system.
AAWDC relocates its One-Stop Career Center from the George M. Taylor District Court Multi-Service Center to the Henry L. Hein Public Service Building, a larger space that let the center serve more residents while staying central to Glen Burnie, where demand was highest and public transportation easiest to reach.
AAWDC's PASS Program earns the Workforce Development Association Award for Excellence from the National Association of Counties, recognizing that its community-based model was effective.
AAWDC secures a $167,870 grant from MD DLLR to prepare the region for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. The initiative created a demand-driven workforce response to help job seekers develop the skills employers needed as BRAC brought thousands of federal jobs and new employment opportunities to Fort George G. Meade and the surrounding region—positioning the workforce to meet rising demand before it arrived.
AAWDC opens the nation’s second airport-based One-Stop Career Center. Located at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, the Center is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor, MD DLLR, Anne Arundel County, and AAWDC designed to meet job seekers and airport-based businesses where the jobs actually were.
Andy Moser departs to become the new Assistant Secretary of Labor in Maryland. Douglas Burkhardt becomes President & CEO of AAWDC.
Kirkland J. Murray becomes President & CEO of AAWDC.
AAWDC partners with Anne Arundel County Public Library (AACPL) to establish workforce centers in five library branches, extending workforce services into trusted neighborhood spaces to reach more county residents.
AAWDC opens the Arnold One-Stop Career Center in response to the ongoing recession, utilizing a Rapid Response Grant from MD DLLR and federal stimulus funds to add the capacity to serve a surge of newly unemployed residents.
AAWDC announces that it has been awarded $4.9 million to implement the Pathways to Cybersecurity Careers Consortium, with a goal of preparing 1,000 workers for the industry. This initiative came at a time when Maryland—and the Fort Meade corridor in particular—was emerging as a national hub for cybersecurity, driving sharp demand for a skilled workforce. It marked the beginning of a body of work that would grow into AAWDC’s role as a national leader in building the cybersecurity workforce.
AAWDC commits to managing approximately 40% of the funding distributed among Maryland counties by the Maryland Energy Sector Partnership, an ongoing U.S. Department of Labor grant. By the end of the grant period, Anne Arundel County had surpassed its goal, training more than 549 participants and successfully placing over 87% in employment.
As a formal partner alongside MD DLLR, IEC Chesapeake, AACC, and the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board (GWIB), AAWDC helps launch Go Solar!, a 14-week training program that teaches participants how to install solar panels and complete other energy-efficient projects.
AAWDC and AACC launch Accelerating Connections to Employment (ACE). ACE is a U.S. Department of Labor-funded program initiated in four states across nine local workforce areas. By using an integrated education model that pairs skills training with basic education, ACE helped 118 low-skilled participants complete training, with 89 going on to employment.
AAWDC launches The Workplace Excellence Series as a nationwide solution to address soft skills gaps in the workplace. Originally developed in partnership with WorkNet Solutions as an Anne Arundel County-specific training solution, the series expanded when AAWDC realized that employers and workers across the country were facing similar challenges with no concrete solution.
AAWDC opens the Youth Employment Services (YES) Center in Glen Burnie. The Center expanded AAWDC’s ability to serve low-income and disadvantaged youth by providing a dedicated place for them to receive workforce services.
AAWDC and the BWI Business Partnership launch MillsRide, a demonstration shuttle project funded through the Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) grant and Anne Arundel County’s Video Lottery Fund. MillsRide provides free transportation for Arundel Mills area workers, helping address employee turnover driven in part by limited access to affordable transportation.
The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is signed into law with broad bipartisan support. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.
AAWDC is named among the first round of EARN Maryland awardees and utilizes the grant to launch CyberWorks, a collaborative program designed to build central Maryland’s cybersecurity and IT workforce. AAWDC has since sustained the work through EARN Cyber across multiple rounds of funding and expanded its EARN efforts into four additional industries—the foundation of its nationally recognized, industry sector-based training model.
AAWDC is awarded a $9.9 million Ready to Work Partnership grant to fund the statewide Maryland Tech Connection (MTC) initiative. MTC was created in response to the lingering effects of the 2008 recession, which had left many mid- and senior-level professionals unemployed for extended stretches. The initiative helped more than 600 candidates gain new employment in IT, cybersecurity, bioscience, and advanced manufacturing.
AAWDC secures $2.9 million from MD DLLR to lead a statewide effort to place long-term unemployed dislocated workers, early intervention candidates, and foreign-trained immigrant dislocated workers into on-the-job training and work-based learning opportunities in healthcare, IT, transportation/logistics, construction, and manufacturing. This work established AAWDC as an expert in the on-the-job training models it still uses today.
AAWDC, in collaboration with the BWI Business Partnership, opens the new Workforce and Commuter Transportation Center at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport—a larger space that included public computers where candidates could apply for open airport jobs with staff assistance, plus an attached training room for essential workplace skills and career readiness training. Located before TSA security, the center went on to host hundreds of recruitment events for airport employers.
AAWDC is awarded a $4.3 million National Dislocated Worker Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to launch Maryland Corps Career Connect, created to address the significantly higher unemployment rates facing transitioning service members, military spouses, and recently separated veterans. AAWDC led the statewide effort, placing Military Navigators at five military installations across Maryland.
AAWDC opens the new Anne Arundel County Career Center in Linthicum Heights. The new Career Center offers services for businesses looking for skilled talent and for residents needing to connect to employment.
As COVID-19 layoffs overwhelm the unemployment system, AAWDC and County Executive Steuart Pittman launch the Humanitarian Relief Fund to support residents who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the following months, the fund provides $500 debit cards to 4,775 residents to help cover essential needs while waiting for unemployment insurance to process.
In response to extended restrictions on indoor and outdoor restaurant dining, AAWDC launches the Impacted Workers Support Fund. The fund provides $500 debit cards to 2,691 employees in the hospitality industry impacted by the restrictions.
In response to the critical bus driver shortage that occurred after school reopenings post-COVID-19, AAWDC partnered with County Executive Steuart Pittman to design and implement a recruitment and retention bonus program. As a result of these efforts, Anne Arundel County became one of the first counties in Maryland to fully staff all school bus routes following the COVID-19 pandemic. Both the 2022–2023 and 2023–2024 school years began with every route filled.
AAWDC, Fort Meade, and the Howard County Office of Workforce Development sign an agreement to provide workforce services to transitioning service members, active-duty spouses, and veterans attached to Fort Meade, effectively extending coordinated support across county lines.
AAWDC forms its Apprenticeship Solutions team to support the Local Workforce Development Board’s goal of having 6,000 apprentices in Anne Arundel County by 2030. This reflects the Maryland Apprenticeship 2030 Commission’s goal of having 60,000 apprentices in the state by 2030.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is signed by the Anne Arundel County Local Workforce Development Board, AAWDC, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS), and AACC to launch an in-school career coaching initiative under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, bringing career guidance directly to students. This initiative later became Anne Arundel Student Career Excellence (AASCE).
AAWDC responds to the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, swiftly mobilizing to aid individuals and businesses affected by the collapse and the closure of the Port of Baltimore. In cooperation with both local and state partners, AAWDC launches a centralized assistance webpage and coordinates a comprehensive range of resources and supportive services.
AAWDC receives the Standards for Excellence accreditation from Maryland Nonprofits, which recognizes organizations operating at the highest level of ethics, accountability, and transparency.
AAWDC responds to reductions to the federal workforce by implementing a multi-faceted strategy to support affected workers and connect them with critical resources and new employment opportunities. Efforts include the creation of support materials and a dedicated job board, the coordination of targeted hiring events, and the development of specialized programming to assist former federal employees in navigating the career transition process.
AAWDC launches its redesigned website to make it easier for businesses and residents to connect with services, explore resources and opportunities, and see how AAWDC supports the community.
In collaboration with the Maryland Office of Apprenticeship Development, AAWDC secures approval from the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council (MATC) for its first group Registered Apprenticeship Program in the IT Generalist/Help Desk occupation—a milestone that positions AAWDC as a direct apprenticeship sponsor and advances its 2030 apprenticeship goals.
Sponsoring the Workforce Impact Awards Reception is an investment in the future of Anne Arundel County.
Proceeds from this event support AAWDC’s Endowment Fund, held with the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County. The Endowment Fund is designed to provide long-term, sustainable funding for workforce development initiatives—ensuring that AAWDC can carry out its mission of building and maintaining a pipeline of skilled talent to meet business demand while preparing residents with the in-demand skills needed for family-sustaining employment. As federal funding declines and demand for workforce services grows, the Endowment Fund will help sustain AAWDC for the next 25 years and beyond.
Your support builds a permanent resource that will strengthen the local workforce for years to come.
