BioPark and developers sponsor students in Project JumpStart

by Sarah Breitenbach

With the New Year comes cause for JOTF to celebrate. We are happy to announce, that for the first time, a developer is financing seats in our Project JumpStart construction training program.

Through a new partnership, the Maryland Proton Treatment Center Development Team (Advanced Particle Therapy, Signet Enterprises and Haskell) and the University of Maryland BioPark have graciously sponsored four seats in JumpStart’s 20th class, which begins Jan. 7 in east Baltimore.

The partnership is designed to improve access to training and construction jobs for people who live around the BioPark development. As part of the team’s effort to invest in the west Baltimore community where the BioPark is located, all of the selected students live in neighborhoods surrounding the development.

They will begin the 15-week JumpStart class tonight and learn basic construction techniques, improve their math skills, and become proficient in construction safety regulations. We will place successful graduates in construction jobs that will lead hopefully to apprenticeship.

The partnership is significant to JOTF, not only because we can now use existing dollars to extend JumpStart to even more students, but because this is the first time in the program’s seven-year history that a developer has partnered with JumpStart to recruit and train neighborhood residents for opportunities in their communities. We hope more developers and employers will see the value in investing in the communities in which they operate and consider getting involved with JumpStart.