Employ Prince George’s warns FY26 cuts could shrink services at National Harbor job center

Employ Prince George’s, the county’s principal workforce nonprofit, told the Prince George’s County Council’s Education, Workforce and Development Committee that the agency’s proposed FY2026 budget is smaller than FY2025 and that a decline in video lottery terminal funding is forcing staff and program reductions.

"Employ Prince George is a 501(c)(3) organization that is partially funded through annual county grants in the non departmental section of the budget," policy analyst David Noto told the committee in the presentation overview. He said the agency’s total proposed FY2026 budget is approximately $16,800,000, a decrease of about $1,500,000 from FY2025, and that the county contribution was listed at about $3,300,000 (roughly 19.5% of the agency’s total budget) with a county contribution decrease of about $572,400. Noto also reported more than 20 current vacancies in the agency, all grant funded, including the chief program officer vacancy.

Walter Simmons, president and CEO of Employ Prince George’s, stressed the operational consequences of the funding shift and gave details on program activity and fundraising. “We’ve raised over $180,000,000 in workforce development revenue,” Simmons said, highlighting the nonprofit’s fundraising and fee-for-service work that he said brought additional revenue into and beyond the county. Simmons said recent county and external grants have allowed the agency to expand mobile services and a virtual career center, but that reductions in video lottery…