05.02.12 Howard County Establishes Partnership to Create Green Summer Jobs for Young Adults

May 2, 2012

Media Contacts: Kevin Enright, Director, Office of Public Information, 410-313-2022
Joshua Feldmark, Director, Office of Environmental Sustainability, 410-313-2056

Howard County Establishes Partnership to Create Green Summer Jobs for Young Adults

Initiative will also help improve health of Chesapeake Bay

ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Ken Ulman today announced that Howard County Government and People Acting Together in Howard (PATH) have joined forces to create a new partnership to address two growing community concerns – youth employment and stormwater pollution.

Starting this summer, PATH and their partner the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, with the financial backing of a grant from Howard County Government, will hire and train 40 young adults who will learn how to develop green solutions to stormwater management issues. READY (Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth) program members will use their new knowledge to build facilities that will reduce the storm runoff that carries sediment and pollutants to our streams and the Chesapeake Bay.

“This partnership could not be timelier,” said Executive Ulman. “Howard County is about to receive new mandates from the Maryland Department of the Environment that will require considerable effort to reduce our stormwater impacts on area streams and the Bay. Employing and training our youth in this emerging green industry sector and then taking on projects to address the demands of our new stormwater permit is a win both for our young adults and the environment.”

READY members will be recruited through general advertising and PATH congregations. Projects will be constructed on private property and will be designed to reduce the runoff from building rooftops, large parking lots or similar paved areas.

“Creating good jobs for young adults that protect our environment is the right thing to do at this critical time," said Rev. Robert Turner of PATH. "We commend County Executive Ulman and our elected officials for working with our congregations and community to create real change."

PATH is affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, the oldest and largest national organization fostering congregation-based community organizing, and engages congregation and community leaders around issues of concern including the environment and finding meaningful jobs for Howard County’s unemployed.

The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay engages individuals, groups, businesses, other environmental organizations and not-for-profit groups to develop collaborative solutions to improve, preserve, and protect the Chesapeake Bay and all its resources. Also involved in this project are the Maryland Sea Grant Program, the Center for Watershed Protection and the Parks and People Foundation.

“Protecting our environment is a community- wide effort. We are pleased to be working so closely with these non-profit groups to achieve our water quality goals. There is quite a challenge ahead, but working together I am confident we can reach the same level of success in stormwater management that we have experienced with our recycling program,” said Ulman.