Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to be your guest speaker today. The Chesapeake Science and Security Corridor is at the cutting edge, the leading edge of regionalism. You are developing the collaborative and cooperative teamwork necessary to succeed.
It is Governor O’Malley’s intent and vision, as well as my goal, that we will all continue to work together in partnership – as you already are doing at the local and regional level -- in order to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities that are before us as a result of BRAC 2005.
BRAC 2005 - - for Maryland this means the largest single employment growth activity since World War II . . .. an historic opportunity for our State … working together – as One Maryland, as Team Maryland.
Whether here in the Chesapeake Science and Security Corridor, or whether around Fort Meade, Fort Dietrich, Bethesda Naval, or Andrews, all of us in federal, state and local government, regional organizations and the business community are working in partnership to ensure that BRAC will sustain and enhance our quality of life for generations to come.
As all of you know, and so many of you worked so hard to promote, Maryland is on the front lines of our national defense as a result of BRAC 2005. The mission of BRAC 2005 emphasized the transformation of military forces to increase efficiency, promote synergy and ensure sharing of technical facilities and capabilities.
Critical defense functions are coming to Maryland as a result of these major resource alignments at Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Meade. As such, it is our job – our responsibility -- to support the mission, both at home and abroad.
With 8,000 direct jobs coming to APG and another 5,800 to Ft. Meade and with a total of close to 60,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs Statewide, there is much work to be done, together.
At home, we must develop adequate infrastructure, provide suitable and responsive workforce training, and identify the business opportunities to sustain the estimated 28,000 families moving to our great state.
Abroad, we must continue to support the hundreds of thousands of war fighters in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the globe.
Maryland is well-positioned to accomplish our BRAC mission and to welcome and accommodate the influx of thousands of highly trained, well-paying jobs: Maryland ranks first in the nation in the percentage of professional and technical workers in the workforce; We have the second highest concentration of doctoral scientists and engineers among the states; and Maryland ranks third in the number of biotechnology firms and biotech-related employment.
That’s the good news . . . on the other hand, our unemployment rate is a full percentage point below the national average which means it will be that much more challenging to find a few good men and women to fill more than a handful of jobs.
The direct jobs coming to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Ft. Meade, Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base and Ft. Dietrich are mostly knowledge-based, highly-skilled, well-paid creative economy type jobs. They are national security positions, involving defense communications and other sensitive, strategic functions. These are not the type of jobs that can be outsourced in some remote call center halfway around the world. They’ll come to Maryland, and they’ll stay in Maryland . . . provided we do our job.
With the need to fill many of these jobs, Maryland’s system of higher education is well suited for the task. We are home to 60 accredited colleges and universities, many of which are recognized worldwide for their innovation and opportunity; Our programs include nationally ranked schools in engineering and nationally recognized programs in subjects ranging from physics to computer science to business to medicine to biological sciences; The NSA has designated five Maryland colleges as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education; Maryland’s 16 community colleges and more than 120 independent two-year colleges and private schools consistently meet the specialized work force training needs of our public and private employers; And educational partnerships, including the Maryland Higher Education Commission, are studying training needs so today’s college freshmen are job-ready when they graduate in 2010.
Our responsibility -- to those military installations expanding as a result of BRAC, to those communities who will welcome the expansion, and to those families who will come to Maryland – our responsibility is to be prepared for the arrival of our new neighbors. We must transform our State. In so doing, we will: build and broaden roads; build and expand schools; create and add on to our workforce training programs; encourage increased transit usage; plan for other water sources; plan for more affordable housing; And the list goes on.
In the face of the challenges ahead, as a State, we have the building blocks to meet these challenges. It won’t be easy, but the fundamentals are solid: Maryland is one of the wealthiest states in the country; We have a strong workforce; A world-class education system; Available commercial real estate; And great places to work and live.
In addition to challenges, the new military and civilian activities coming to Maryland will bring with them tremendous opportunities: The opportunity to enhance our State’s critical role in the defense of our nation; The opportunity to become a world leader in the life sciences and informatics, information technology and management; and the opportunity to participate even more fully in the global economy, to create the new highly skilled, well-paying jobs of the future and to make our economy more creative, more diversified and more productive.
As we embrace these opportunities, we must vigilantly ensure that BRAC growth serves as a positive transforming catalyst for our communities and a path to progress for our citizens. With more than 50 federal agencies currently in Maryland, including the Patuxent Naval Air Station in Southern Maryland, the National Security Agency at Ft. Meade, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt; With billions of federal dollars spent annually in Maryland; With almost a half million direct federal jobs in Maryland; Maryland has a proven track record in capitalizing on our growing partnership with the federal government.
Our mechanism, at the State level, for coordinating this transformation is the BRAC Subcabinet. Governor O’Malley, working with the Legislature, showed great leadership by establishing the BRAC Subcabinet.
The BRAC Subcabinet, which I have the honor and privilege to chair, is made up of the Cabinet Secretaries from those departments that have a significant role in BRAC planning and implementation. The Subcabinet’s focus is to horizontally coordinate our efforts on the State level, and to vertically integrate and synchronize coordination at the Federal, regional and local levels.
We will work with the Chesapeake Science and Security Corridor, the Military Installation Council, the military alliances, the Economic Alliance, and other BRAC stakeholders. We will meet biweekly in order to carry out this mission. And, at the specific direction of the Governor, the Subcabinet will conduct its meetings around the state visiting the jurisdictions most impacted by BRAC and hearing their priorities.
During the next six months, we will review and assess the challenges, the priorities and the opportunities: Water and sewer capacity in Cecil County; Housing availability (or unavailability as the case may be) in Harford County; Infrastructure availability, and cultural and recreational opportunities, in Baltimore City; Roads and commuter rail & transportation networks in Anne Arundel and Howard Counties; Higher education facilities and programs in the Susquehanna Valley; Just to name a few.
Today, some of the specific and more costly challenges are already known. We know from our six-year transportation planning cycle, based on the counties’ priority lists, we have identified 54 BRAC-related transportation projects – the unfunded portion of which totals $16.2 BILLION. We know that we cannot fund all of these projects, and so, we must work together to find creative solutions to the transportation challenges we know that we will face. Coupled with transportation, we will be challenged by housing needs.
We are a state that believes in Smart Growth and development within our Priority Funding Areas. Mass transit is a very effective solution -- we have light rail and a MARC system already in motion -- if we invest more heavily to keep cars off the roads – we can essentially embrace and address two problems – transportation and housing -- with one investment.
The infrastructure is available in certain areas in our impacted regions, particularly but not exclusively in Baltimore City. We must make a conscious decision – financial, political, social and environmental – to make our investments in those existing communities. Our children and our grandchildren will thank us.
This is where the coordinated regional approach is such a great benefit – together, we prioritize our challenges and work toward the solutions.
As our Subcabinet visits the jurisdictions most impacted by these challenges, we will listen and coordinate. And then in the Fall, we will produce a comprehensive, strategic statewide plan that we will present to the Governor with our legislative and budgetary priorities.
Governor O’Malley and I look forward to working very closely with each of you during the next four years to ensure the smooth integration of BRAC jobs, BRAC employees, and BRAC households into our communities. To date, we are pleased with the work that has been accomplished.
Already, the Department of Business and Economic Development is working across the board to identify specific needs and to address those needs. Already – through a study funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant – we have measured the impact of BRAC growth on our infrastructure. Already, we have engaged the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) for staffing and analytical support to implement BRAC decisions. And already, today, an MOU has been signed creating the Chesapeake Science and Security Corridor, recognizing the vital importance of regional cooperation and coordination, not only within our State, but also across State lines with our neighbors from Lancaster and York Counties, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware.
We move forward prepared to build on our strengths: our strong capabilities in research, high-tech and bio-tech industries; our workforce is second to none in the nation; our proximity to Washington, D.C. and the federal government; our outstanding quality of life that affords Marylanders every recreational advantage – to build and sustain economic vitality for generations to come; and our public schools: Our AP participation and performance are among the top in the nation; Our SAT scores are first in the Middle States region; Our K-12 standards were given an “A” for the sixth-straight year by Education Week;
In closing, let me assure you that at the State level, we are as excited as you are about the upcoming transformations associated with BRAC. Maryland has been called upon to play a greater role in our country’s security. Together we will answer that call.
Thank you.