Wind Industry Jobs on the Way to Maryland’s Eastern Shore

SALISBURY, Md. - The state of Maryland on Wednesday landed a $23 million grant to create and train an offshore wind workforce.

The initiative, called Maryland Works for Wind, will bring thousands of jobs to the Eastern Shore. With the help of this grant and investments from Orsted, a company that specializes in sustainable energy, in a few years wind turbines will spin off the coast of Maryland. In preparation for that, construction and long-term maintenance jobs must be created. 

“Orsted is poised to bring thousands of jobs to the state in construction roles, but also in long-term operation and maintenance roles, and those are gonna be across the state in Baltimore, in Federalsburg, Maryland, and also in the West Ocean City area,” said Brady Walker, who’s responsible for government affairs and strategy at Orsted. 

The turbines will actually be built in Baltimore, where the bulk of the first wave of jobs will be located. But down the road in the process, jobs will open up at places like Crystal Steel Fabricators in Caroline County and Chesapeake Shipbuilding, which is located in downtown Salisbury. There will also be a need early on for construction workers to build an operating and maintenance facility in West Ocean City. 

“The apprenticeships, the internships, the 25 year servicing of the turbines, that’s gonna take place here, on the Eastern Shore,” said Mike Dunn, executive director of the Greater Salisbury Committee. 

Not only will this program help create jobs, but it will boost the local economy by bringing foot traffic to Salisbury, according to Dunn. 

“There will be offshore wind facilities up and down the East Coast, but you’re going to have to come to Salisbury to get your safety training via Arcon, so that you can go work on the turbines,” said Dunn. “They’re going to be coming here by the hundreds, and that means they’re going to eat at local restaurants, they’re going to stay at local hotels.” 

Now, this is not a program that will start and finish quickly. The turbines could be up and running within the next few years, but it will be the manufacturing jobs in Delmarva and the base in Ocean City that will account for jobs added over the next several decades, and Orsted plans on investing in facilities that entire time. 

“We plan to be a part of that community for many decades to come,” Walker said. 

Overall, the Maryland Works for Wind program is slated to create roughly 10,000 jobs over the course of offshore wind, and will provide Delmarva with basic economic, job, and workforce development.