Maryland selects 'preferred training partners' for Purple, Red line projects

Sixteen new "preferred training partners" have been selected for the Purple and Red line light-rail projects, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration announced late last week.

The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) and the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's Preferred Training Partner Program is a joint effort to prepare and link "opportunity ready" residents in each project corridor directly to the contractors selected to design, build, operate and maintain the Purple and Red lines.

"Maryland is committed to ensuring local residents have the opportunity to help build the next generation of transit in their own communities," said O’Malley in a press release. "This program is the key to giving these residents the skills today that they will need tomorrow to qualify for jobs on the Purple Line and the Red Line projects."

MTA will work with the preferred training partners to connect newly skilled workers with the Purple and Red line contractors in order to maximize the number of local residents who will benefit from employment, O'Malley administration officials said. Combined, the two light-rail projects are valued at $4.8 billion.

The selected partners include numerous organizations and educational centers from the Community College of Baltimore County, Center for Urban Families, Mid-Atlantic Carpenters' Training Centers and the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 486.