The Chaney Enterprises Foundation awarded the College of Southern Maryland two separate grants in September totaling $20,000 to support the college’s efforts inside, and outside, the classrooms.
First, the concrete and aggregate company donated $10,000 to assist with maintaining the CSM’s Bee Campus USA Program. CSM was among the first Maryland colleges to become a bee campus and is creating pollinator-friendly environments at each of its four campuses. In the spring, the college set out to foster habitats that encouraged pollinator diversity and abundance — bees, butterflies and other helpful insects, as well as birds and bats.
To replenish this kind of habitat in Southern Maryland, native species like bee balm and butterfly weed were planted at the La Plata Campus. Golden Alexanders and lyre leaf sage are being planted at the Leonardtown Campus this fall. New plantings are still being researched at the Regional Hughesville Campus, and the Prince Frederick Campus now features the largest variety, including bee balm, lemon balm, calendula, black-eyed Susan, spirea, tansy, sweet Williams, carpet roses, dianthus, coreopsis, oregano, fall asters, tall phlox, oak leaf hydrangea, geranium, candy tuft, sedums, French lavender and milkweed.
“The Chaney Enterprises Foundation is proud to support the CSM Bee Campuses,” said Rebekah Chaney Lare, vice chair of The Chaney Foundation. “We recognize that the environment must be treated with respect and with an eye to the future. Projects like this promote sustainable environmental practices which is a core part of Chaney’s mission.”
“Chaney Enterprises and The Chaney Enterprises Foundation are amazing corporate neighbors, not just to CSM, but also to more than 30 partners and charities in Southern Maryland, to whom they give generously,” said CSM President Dr, Maureen Murphy. “Their focus on our communities and the people—and work force—living in our communities is amazing. We are achieving more and succeeding as a region, thanks to Chaney’s philanthropic philosophy.”
The Chaney Enterprises Foundation also awarded CSM $10,000 to create a Workforce Development Scholarship for students pursuing skilled trades at the CSM Regional Hughesville Campus, Center for Trades and Energy Training.
The gift was announced Sept. 20 in conjunction with the announcement that CSM’s Construction Workforce Partnership for Southern Maryland was awarded a $150,000 EARN grant from the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) to provide full tuition assistance for 40 individuals pursuing a career in the skilled trades.
The Construction Workforce Partnership includes CSM, SMECO, Chaney Enterprises, the Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s County’s chambers of commerce, Southern Maryland Minority Chamber of Commerce, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC).
“Chaney Enterprises strives to serve the needs of our surrounding community through philanthropic donations,” said Lare. “Our goal is to provide a better quality of life for all citizens in the communities where we do business. We are proud to serve on the partnership that applied for and secured the EARN grant and because CSM is an amazing academic partner – who we turn to for assistance in training our skilled trades employees – we wanted to give more.”
The U.S. construction industry added 23,000 net new positions in September, according to an employment statistics survey prepared by the Analysts of the National Estimates Branch of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During the last 12 months, according to the survey, the construction industry has added 315,000 net new jobs.
To learn more about CTET and the various pathway and certificates available for skilled trades, or additional information, contact CTET Director Bruce Posey at 301-539-4733 or bposey@csmd.edu or Course Coordinator Michael Langton at 301-539-4370 or mlangton@csmd.edu.
For information about the Bee Campus USA program and application process, visit http://www.beecityusa.org/application-campus.html.