Work Employment Incentive
A Grant To Benefit Businesses And Prince George’s County Residents
Employ Prince George’s President & CEO Walter Simmons
In July, Employ Prince George’s announced the launch of the Prince George’s County COVID-19 Workforce Development Recovery Program, through funding provided by the Maryland Department of Labor and Prince George’s County Government. This program successfully connected over 600 residents to virtual workforce development services, hosted virtual job fairs, and placed unemployed residents into skills training to prepare them for new career pathways. It has helped decrease unemployment, but over 40,000 Prince George’s County workers remain out of work and businesses continue to struggle to maintain in the face of Coronavirus mandated closures. To aid businesses and encourage them to hire county residents, Employ Prince George’s is disbursing over $500,000 in grants to businesses who hire Prince George’s County residents before December 15th. Those businesses can receive up to $15,000 per employee!
“Normally November and December is a time to celebrate all of the people who Employ Prince George’s has helped gain employment throughout the year, but this year thousands of Prince George’s County residents are unemployed and thousands of businesses are struggling to survive to the new year. We want to help everyone end the year positively by putting Prince George’s County residents back to work and providing thousands of dollars in assistance to local businesses!” states President and CEO, Walter Simmons. Employ Prince George’s will provide small businesses, those with 49 employees or less, a grant that covers 90% of a new hire’s salary the first 12 weeks of their employment. Grants will be presented to the business on the new employee's first day of employment. The business must be approved for the grant prior to the new employee being hired, the new employee must be a Prince George’s County resident, and the new employee must have a start date no later than December 15th.
“The burdens Prince George’s County families have had to endure this year have never been seen before and Employ Prince George’s is dedicated to helping them release those burdens by providing employment opportunities for residents and financial assistance for business owners. This grant program is uniquely designed to benefit the employee and business owner simultaneously”, says Simmons.
Businesses who hire unemployed Prince George’s County residents or rehire residents that were previously laid off will be eligible for grants that supplement 50% to 90% of an employee’s salary during an agreed-upon period. Grants will be provided to businesses on the employee’s first day of employment. It is the goal of Employ Prince George’s to disburse over $500,000 to the first round of businesses prior to December 15, 2020.
Additionally, Employ Prince George’s is expanding its incredibly successful Hourly Employee Relief Fund by increasing the value of the Visa Cash Cards from $200 to $300 to help distressed households during the holidays.
To learn more about Employ Prince George’s and Simmon’s efforts to enable county businesses, click here.
For businesses interested in applying for the COVID-19 Rapid Re-Employment Grants, please visit the Employ Prince George’s website, www.EmployPG.org, or email the Employ Prince George’s Business Services Department at BusinessServices@co.pg.md.us. For Prince George’s County residents interested in applying for $300 in immediate cash assistance from the Prince George’s County Hourly Employee Relief Fund, please apply at www.EmployPGEdge.com today.
