BGE, Civic Works workforce program graduates 500th trainee in Baltimore
Oscar Adams said the program rebuilt his confidence as BGE and Civic Works marked 500 graduates and an 86% job-placement rate.
Oscar Adams said the BGE and Civic Works program changed how he thinks about business and professionalism and helped him regain confidence, a shift with real economic weight in Baltimore because the two-month pipeline is steering adults toward utility jobs that can start at $17 to $21 an hour. The collaborative marked its 500th graduate and said 86% of participants have landed jobs since the program began in 2019.
That placement rate gives city residents a hard measure of whether the training is working. Graduates do not just finish classroom instruction. They can interview for full-time jobs with BGE contractors and other industry partners, and Civic Works provides two additional years of support services after graduation, a structure meant to keep people employed after the certificate ceremony ends.
The milestone also shows how quickly the effort has scaled. BGE said the first class in 2019 had 13 graduates, and 12 of them were offered full-time jobs. By September 2023, the program had reached its 200th graduate. The jump to 500 means the collaboration added 300 more graduates in a little more than two and a half years, turning what started as a small workforce experiment into a durable pipeline for Baltimore’s utility and infrastructure economy.
The timing matters because BGE’s footprint is enormous in Central Maryland. The utility says it serves more than 1.25 million electric customers and more than 650,000 natural gas customers, which means the companies repairing lines, locating utilities, replacing pipe and doing related construction need a steady supply of trained workers. Civic Works says its utility-infrastructure track includes industry-recognized construction safety certifications and training tied to natural gas line repair and replacement, underground utility work, utility locating, tree care and general construction.
The broader wage picture helps explain why the program has drawn attention from city and state leaders. Earlier BGE and Exelon reporting put average annual earnings for placed graduates at about $37,000. Civic Works’ current career pages list starting wages in its pathways at $17 to $21 an hour, a range that can make the difference between unstable work and a first step into a family-sustaining trade.
In one earlier BGE profile, a participant entered the program underemployed and homeless, underscoring why the wraparound model matters alongside the job training. For Baltimore, the 500th graduate is more than a ceremonial number. It is a test of whether a local partnership can keep turning short-term training into long-term employment, and the 86% placement rate suggests the answer so far is yes.
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