He talked about the economy & workforce training.
Frederick, Md. (KM) The economy and workforce training were issues on the mind of 8th District Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md) who visited downtown Frederick on Thursday. “I’m pleased to be have been very active in trying to expand the federal investment in our infrastructure,” he said. “Also to make sure, at the federal level, we take actions to make college–whether two-year community college or four-year college–more affordable.”
Van Hollen noted that includes making sure that college students don’t graduate with a log of debt. “There’s some specific proposals that I’ve got to make sure that we’ve got debt-free college. So that people can get a job and not start out behind because of these huge bills they’ve got hanging over their heads,” he says.
Van Hollen, whose running for Senator Barbara Mikulski’s seat, toured Carroll Creek and visited local businesses. He also took a tour of the Monocacy Brewing Company. He was accompanied by State Senator Ron Young (D), whom he noted started work on the Carroll Creek project when he was Mayor of Frederick.
He says part of his message is work in workforce training. “I’ve been very focused in the budget process in getting funds for our community colleges, including Frederick Community College,” says Van Hollen. “I led an effort to get money for a cyber security grant to provide students at Frederick Community College and other places with the skills to get jobs in that area.”
As for stimulating the local economy, Van Hollen says Frederick City and the County should take advantage of the federal assets in the area, such as Fort Detrick and the National Cancer Institute, which is located on the post. “Those are job centers. And to the extent that we can continue to grow jobs and the spinoff jobs at different companies, whether they’re bio-science companies or other companies, that provides more people with more income and that means they can spend more income at shops in the city of Frederick and other places in Frederick,” he said.
Van Hollen is running against Republican Kathy Szelaga of Baltimore County. The general election is Tuesday, November 8th.