FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SkillSmart Announces New Partnership with The Purple Line Transit Partners
Purple Line Transit Partners (PLTP) is partnering with SkillSmart, a skills-based platform, to connect local job seekers to the Purple Line job opportunities for which they are the best match. The SkillSmart platform also identifies the skills job seekers need to acquire in order to apply for available Purple Line job opportunities.
PLTP, a consortium of three experienced and successful public-private partnership (P3) developers and equity investors, was selected by the state last year to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the Purple Line. In an effort to increase local hiring, PLTP will use the SkillSmart platform so job seekers can explore the various opportunities, build a profile to better understand how their education and work experiences meet the skills needed for various open positions, link individuals to education and training resources to help them build required skills, and apply for open positions.
“The Purple Line is Maryland’s first P3 transit project and its construction has been eagerly anticipated by businesses and residents all along the route. We are very excited to work with PLTP to help local residents acquire the skills they need to be hired for the construction and operation of this project,” said Mike Knapp, CEO of SkillSmart. “It is great to implement our mission of mobilizing community resources for major economic impact on another significant project in the DC metro region.”
Founded by Jason Green and Mike Knapp, SkillSmart is a tech-enabled, skills-based platform that helps growing organizations and industries find and develop the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. SkillSmart creates a pipeline of qualified workers and helps prospective employees gain the skills they need. Recognizing the challenge that many employers face when seeking qualified and skilled talent, the SkillSmart platform directly connects the three key stakeholders of today’s workforce: employers, job seekers and educators – creating transparency in the talent acquisition process and enabling job seekers to better understand the various cybersecurity opportunities and pathways. In return, employers can identify a stronger pool of candidates.
The Purple Line, a 21 station, 16-mile light rail line extending from Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County, has been selected to receive a $900 million grant under the Federal Transit Administration’s competitive New Starts program. When completed, it will provide a direct connection to Metrorail’s Red, Green and Orange Lines at Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park, and New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect to MARC, AMTRAK, and local bus services.
Current partners leveraging the SkillSmart platform include MGM National Harbor, MGM Springfield, the Milwaukee Bucks, Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp., Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, MA, and the Chesapeake Regional Tech Council, in addition to others.
For further information about SkillSmart, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or contact Michael Knapp at 301-980-4095 or mknapp@skillsmart.us.
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About SkillSmart
SkillSmart is a skills-based, tech-enabled platform that helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills and abilities. To accomplish this, SkillSmart partners with companies from a variety of industries and provides access to their proprietary technology to allow them to search and filter through a pipeline of qualified candidates. SkillSmart’s mission is to end the skills gap that employers face in filling various roles.
