For immediate release:
September 26, 2018
Contact:
Jason Davidson
jason.davidson2@maryland.gov
410-767-5754
Hogan Administration Announces the New Maryland Workforce Expressway Website
Addition to Maryland Business Express Offers Education, Training, and Employment Resources to Connect Businesses with Skilled Workers
Governor Larry Hogan, in collaboration with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Maryland Department of Commerce, Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the Maryland Department of Human Services, unveiled the Maryland Workforce Expressway on Tuesday at the Hogan administration’s Montgomery County Cabinet Day. The new website, www.maryland.gov/workforce, will better connect businesses to the full array of state workforce development resources in Maryland.
“Our administration is committed to using every resource possible to provide excellent customer service to our citizens,” said Governor Hogan. “This innovative website will modernize the way our businesses connect with Maryland’s incredible array of workforce resources, helping our businesses identify and grow their talent.”
Labor Secretary Kelly Schulz announced the new website, which hosts nearly 50 workforce resources in one, easy-to-navigate location. Previously spread across many state agencies, the Expressway is a single source for links to talent engagement services, workforce education, hiring incentives, workforce training grants, labor and industry standards, and reemployment services. By streamlining access to state workforce resources, Maryland employers can more easily access the tools and services they need to secure and develop their talent pipelines.
“Maryland has a dynamic workforce system, with numerous programs and services to help both our employers and workers grow and succeed,” said Secretary Schulz. “Charged by Governor Hogan to provide the best customer service to our business community, as well as those looking for a life-changing career opportunity, we put our agencies’ myriad of workforce resources in one location to make it easier for Marylanders to find what they need, and perhaps discover opportunities they may not have been aware of. The Expressway is a tremendous benefit to Maryland businesses, and a powerful tool for the workforce system.”
Earlier this year, the governor’s cabinet created the Workforce Dashboard Taskforce, a team of state agency stakeholders with an interest in the successful delivery of workforce development resources to the Maryland business community. Tasked with developing a comprehensive, web-based workforce development and training point of access to meet the informational needs of current and potential organizations conducting business in the state of Maryland, the taskforce researched existing resources and developed the content for the Maryland Workforce Expressway.
The new Expressway is hosted within the Hogan administration’s Maryland Business Express website, which was created by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation to consolidate state resources and make it easier for business owners and entrepreneurs to plan, start, manage, and grow their business. Since its launch in March, Maryland Business Express has received four national awards recognizing its innovative approach to making state government more accessible, effective, and efficient. Now, the new Maryland Workforce Expressway section will connect those business owners and their employees with the education, training, and services they need to develop their workforce and thrive in Maryland.
“Maryland Business Express was designed to make it easy for business owners to connect with state government any time it’s convenient for them,” said State Department of Assessments and Taxation Director Michael Higgs. “With the addition of the new Maryland Workforce Expressway section, the site now provides quick access to more than 100 resources that Maryland agencies have to offer to support our small business job creators.”
The Department of Assessments and Taxation’s recent efforts to provide more services online have resulted in dramatic improvements in processing times, including a reduction from 10 to four weeks to start a business. Today, nearly 60 percent of all documents are filed online, 50 percent of which occur outside of normal business hours and 20 percent of which are done through a mobile device. SDAT’s online services process more than 250,000 transactions annually, and the new Maryland Workforce Expressway is one more step toward allowing customers to interact with the state any time it’s convenient for them.
To help spread the word on these exciting new tools, state agencies have been provided with a toolkit of materials that will enable them to feature Maryland Business Express and the Maryland Workforce Expressway prominently on their websites.
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