Mayor Scott Announces $55M For Workforce Development, Recovery Fund For Businesses
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Mayor Brandon Scott on Tuesday said the city would invest $30 million of its American Rescue Plan funding into workforce and economic development and another $25 million into a recovery fund for businesses, nonprofits and artists.
"The investment announced today is all about how we will put Baltimoreans back to work, while offering that lifeline to our most small and local businesses," Scott said during a press conference.
The Mayor's Office of Employment Development will spend the $30 million over the next four fiscal years on the following:
- $5.2 Million to the Hire Up jobs program, creating at least 220 six-month positions paying $15 per hour
- $8.9 million to Train Up, offering job training in the fields of biotechnology, IT, health care and business services
- $8.4 million to Youth Works, allowing the program to offer jobs to young people ages 14 to 21 year-round for the first time ever
- $2.9 million to supplement wages at small, minority- and women-owned businesses that hire residents and provide legal services, adult education and financial counseling to participants in Hire Up and Train Up
"This allocation will prioritize unemployed and underemployed residents, as well as our most disadvantaged job-seekers," Scott said. "To make that more simply put, it's the folks that need it the most."
The $25 million recovery fund will be dispersed to five groups.
- $11.7 million to the Baltimore Development Corporation to provide relief to small businesses; Scott said there's a goal of awarding 70% of the grants to Black- and brown-owned companies
- $8.3 million to the Baltimore Civic Fund to offer grants to 300 Baltimore nonprofits
- $2 million to the Family League of Baltimore to support childcare organizations
- $500,000 to the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to offer grants to artists and makers
- $2.5 million to Visit Baltimore to help hotels impacted by the pandemic
Scott previously announced the city would spend $50 million of the city's American Rescue Plan funding on violence prevention efforts and $80 million on the health department's response to COVID-19.
Under the proposals, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement would issue more than 70 grants to promote transitional employment, emergency housing assistance for victims of violence, and mental health and victim services for survivors of gun violence.
The health department's allocation would expand COVID-19 testing, buy personal protective equipment, hire additional contact tracers, modernize telehealth infrastructure and combat food insecurity.