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 terminal (VLT) funds have already led the agency to halt most programming at the American Job Center at National Harbor and that the center may have to close if funding is not restored.

Committee members asked for specifics. Councilmember Olsen and Chair Burrows pressed for how much the county directly spends on American Job Center operations; Employ Prince George’s responded that the VLT money going to National Harbor was the primary county-linked funding for that center and that other county funding for AJCC operations was not specified in the presentation. Simmons said some county-allocated VLT and other non-departmental funds are routed through other county offices (for example, information technology and fleet fees), and that when those pass-throughs are stripped out, the funding that actually reaches Employ Prince George’s for programming is smaller than the top-line county allocation suggests.

Simmons described services and performance metrics the agency is tracking and expanding: a virtual career center that has logged tens of thousands of users (Simmons reported about 25,000 period-to-date in the current year and projected continued growth), four brick-and-mortar career centers including the American Job Center at National Harbor and new research labs, and three planned mobile workforce labs (including a partnership with the county library and a “correction lab” for career exploration). He also highlighted fundraising and contract wins: a regional fee-for-service contract led by Truist and partner organizations totaling $900,000 over three years, competitively secured grants, and a portfolio of grants and fee-for-service revenue that the agency says partly funds service delivery and capacity-building for nonprofit partners.

Simmons and Noto also described data and tracking problems that limit how many activities the agency can count toward federal or competitive grants. Simmons said the nonprofit performed roughly 6,245 placements in the previous year across multiple funding streams and that midyear counts through the current year were on pace to meet or exceed that metric; he cautioned that many job fair participants are registered by community partners (churches, other organizations) rather than directly in Employ Prince George’s system, which prevents those events from being tracked as placements against certain grants.

Committee members questioned the returning citizens program and the county-managed incentive funds. Simmons clarified that some reentry funds (including a $1.6 million county allocation) are administered in ways that route a share back to other county offices and community partners (Simmons estimated roughly 30% of some reentry funds go to technology or other county services), reducing the portion directly under Employ Prince George’s control for program delivery. Simmons said the reentry employment incentive had not yet produced placements and that the nonprofit is working with the Returning Citizens Affairs Division to redesign the incentive to be more appealing to employers.

Committee members asked for follow-up detail and data. Council members requested a breakdown of placements by funding source, clarification of which county funds support which job centers, and a clearer accounting of how pass-through allocations (for example, OIT and fleet fees) affect the agency’s net program revenue. The committee directed staff and Employ Prince George’s to provide additional budget detail and to return with answers to specific follow-up requests.

Simmons and Noto emphasized two recurring themes: uncertainty in federal funding streams and the nonprofit’s strategy to leverage non-county revenues through its nonprofit status. Simmons said the agency aims to return a high percentage of funds to community organizations (he described a collective-impact approach and grants to community-based organizations that the nonprofit manages), while acknowledging a smaller county contribution and reduced VLT funds are already limiting program capacity.

The committee did not take voteable action on funding at the hearing; members asked for more granular budget detail before the council’s formal budget hearings.

Ending: The Education, Workforce and Development Committee asked Employ Prince George’s for additional documentation (detailed placements by funding source, clarification of county pass-throughs, and confirmation of which job centers receive county operating funds). Committee staff scheduled follow-up materials during the council’s FY2026 budget reconciliation process.