As BRAC comes to Maryland between now and 2011, Maryland will experience the single largest job growth since many of our fathers and grandfathers returned from the European and Pacific theaters:
60,000 jobs…28,000 households.
We understand what’s coming to Maryland and we’re ready.
A major component of that readiness is our ability to work across party lines, to work past municipal and regional borders, and to work against the tide of local competition— all toward a common goal for One Maryland.
That goal cannot be anything short of unbridled success.
With that goal in mind, and in my role as the Chair of the BRAC Subcabinet, I’ve called this local government BRAC Subcommittee together to provide input on three specific issues:
First, we are already leaning on the local expertise of the Maryland’s counties and municipalities. Several jurisdictions, most recently the City of Baltimore, have submitted local BRAC action plans to the Subcabinet and I am anxiously awaiting the completed reports from the other counties.
We will continue to take a regionalized approach.
So, I’m asking you to review each of the local action plans, helping us to identify redundancies and gaps, and helping us avoid conflicts between jurisdictions before they become problems.
Second, we need you to identify how the State can be of the greatest service in your efforts to meet your own local BRAC needs.
Perhaps it’s support for new schools, a grant for workforce creation at your community colleges, lane improvements, or, maybe, just an outlet for coordinated communications with your counterparts in bordering jurisdictions.
And lastly, Governor O’Malley and I are committed to making government work efficiently and effectively.
So, to meet that goal, we’re looking to the experts. We’re going to mobilize your local knowledge of the needs in your communities to help us identify strategies that may not be functioning properly.
And we’re hoping you can suggest methods that will improve the State’s systems, operations and processes.
Because of the work you are already doing, because Maryland is a strong state with a strong economy and an enviable quality of life, because of our united efforts as One Maryland, we are already well-positioned and well-prepared for success:
We rank second in the Nation in the percentage of professional and technical workers in the workforce: nearly 25 percent;
We have the second highest percentage of doctoral scientists and engineers: ranking first in math, biology and health;
We rank third in the number of biotech companies and biotech-related employment;
We have 60 accredited colleges and universities—five that are certified by the National Security Agency and all of which are preparing today’s students to be tomorrow’s employees: skilled, trained, and well-paid;
And we’re building on our already successful track record of working with the Federal government.
More than 50 Federal agencies have offices in Maryland—employing more than half a million Marylanders, and accounting for $12.2 billion. Yes, that’s with a ‘B’.
Twelve point two billion dollars in research and design grants each year—the highest per capita allocation in the Nation.
Our BRAC advantage cannot be realized, though, unless we are working fluidly, coordinating at all levels of government, working across party lines to form One Maryland.
We’ve done it before.
When BRAC came to Southern Maryland in the 1990s, the tri-county region—St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles Counties—came together to identify priorities and prepare the infrastructure to welcome new residents.
Before BRAC, the tri-county population was 228,000.
Today, it’s increased more than 40 percent and is approaching 330,000.
And the quality of life in Southern Maryland is better than ever before.
We’ve expanded capacity on the roads leading through each of the counties;
We’ve built and expanded schools to meet the demands of a larger student body;
And we created a military alliance that is, today, the model for many of the public/private partnership in the communities surrounding APG, Ft. Meade, Andrews and Bethesda.
It’s a model we’d be wise to emulate.
Through our efforts of regional cooperation, as well as municipal to state coordination, we’ll succeed again.
Thank you.