BRAC Bulletin

By Jason Flanagan —

Job fair for BRAC agency draws thousands

By the time the doors open to the Defense Information System Agency’s recent career expo in Laurel, more than a thousand people stood in line to vie for jobs coming soon to Fort Meade.

Before they closed, 5,000 people attended the job fair, and 1,000 resumes were submitted online for jobs such as information technology specialists, electrical engineers and budget analysts.

“This was a resounding success,” said Jack Penkoske, DISA’s manpower, personnel and security director. “We held an information fair in November that drew about 1,000. We expected about 1,000 for this fair. By any measure, that was a large turnout Saturday.”

DISA is the largest agencies moving to Fort Meade in 2011 through Base Realignment and Closure, and will be bringing over 4,000 new jobs to Maryland. Many of those jobs have vacancies, and the agency is trying to pull in Maryland residents to fill those jobs.

“Our goal has been to ensure when those jobs transfer, they are filled by Marylanders,” said Andy Moser, assistant secretary of workforce development at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. “There are a lot of opportunities for people within the state, many of whom lost their jobs due to layoffs or BRAC relocations at other military institutions.”

DLLR, which helped with the job fair, has been using federal grant money to create a pipeline of Maryland workers for all BRAC-related jobs, Moser said.

Some of the attendees of the job fair were hired on the spot, and some even went through background and drug screening at the fair, Penkoske said.

Those interesting in DISA job openings should visit www.disa.mil .

Out-of-state employees showing interest in Maryland
Current BRAC-related agencies are showing more interest in Maryland, officials said.

DLLR’s one-stop kiosks at both DISA facilities in Virginia and at Fort Monmouth, N.J., where thousands of jobs are relocating to Aberdeen Proving Ground, are seeing increased volume as the September 2011 deadline looms, said Andy Moser, assistant secretary of workforce development at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The kiosks are manned by DLLR personnel and offer information about state services and features.

The main agency moving to Aberdeen “has seen a dramatic turnaround in the number of people who are going to move with the agency, and officials there have attributed that to our one-stop shop,” Moser said.

“The kiosk at DISA is also helping to dispel myths and rumors … by answering questions honestly and showing that Maryland is not that dissimilar to where they live.”

Moser said employees are inquiring about child care, education, housing and places of worship. One person even asked about pet groomers in the area.

Road worries
The major concern of incoming DISA employees is transportation, mainly inquiring about traffic issues and commuter options. Transportation infrastructure has been the major worry of BRAC planners, as many major roads will not be expanded when the workers arrive.

DISA recently completed a survey of employees to see how many are moving with agency from Arlington, Va. to Fort Meade, and preliminary results show a majority plan to make the move.

However, some may not move their residence right away due to the struggling housing market, which could mean more long-distance commuters than expected, Penkoske said.

“Short-term transportation projects [such as Fort Meade’s shuttle service to MARC train stations] now becomes even more critical,” said Jack Penkoske, DISA’s manpower, personnel and security director. “And we’re continuing to offer telework up to three days a week … which will cut down the strain [on transportation infrastructure.] ”

Homes aren’t the only victim of the economy, as transportation projects for the BRAC areas have already seen some delays in funding. U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski in May requested $20 million in federal funds - $5 million for four installations including Fort Meade – to help pay for intersection improvements.

“The economy will slow the pace at which we can move with the projects, but we’re able to move forward nonetheless,” said Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is in charge of the state’s BRAC campaign. “The projects that are needed to support growth will be funded accordingly.”