On Thurs., Oct. 25, 2018, Maryland Secretary of Commerce Michael Gill, along with other State representatives, visited the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md.
Along with Gill and CBMM representatives, the meeting was attended by Maryland Department of Commerce Managing Director and Special Advisor Brady Walker; Maryland Department of Commerce Agribusiness and Energy Program Manager Paul Spies; Maryland Department of Commerce Business Retention & Expansion Representative Nancy LaJoice; Office of Governor Larry Hogan Eastern Shore Intergovernmental Affairs Ryan Snow; and Talbot County Director of Economic Development and Tourism Cassandra Vanhooser.
The meeting focused on CBMM’s economic impact on Maryland, Talbot County and local municipalities, and included a briefing on CBMM’s Master Plan and a tour of the Shipyard, where shipwrights and their apprentices build and restore wooden boats.
CBMM’s Shipwright Apprentice Program recently received certification as a registered, four-year apprenticeship program by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulation. Along with recent boatbuilding school graduates, high school graduates participating in CBMM’s Rising Tide boatbuilding program will be eligible to enroll in the program. Rising Tide offers students in grades six to twelve free boatbuilding classes and related skill training, workshops, camps, and events throughout the school year and summer, and is funded by philanthropic support.
CBMM’s Master Plan was publicly announced in 2017, with expansion plans for the non-profit including a new Education & Library building as Phase I of the project. Three phases make up the Master Plan, with the scope and timeline expected to be six to eight years, contingent upon funding. Funding sources are planned to come from individual donations and naming opportunities, grants, and operations. Phases II and III will focus on further expanding CBMM’s education and Shipyard capabilities. For more information, visit cbmm.org/masterplan
