They’ve started small. First, it was eight men. Now it’s 16.

But leaders of the Port Covington Manufacturing Bootcamp, which aims to equip men from some of Baltimore’s toughest neighborhoods with skills such as woodworking and welding and place them in jobs, are confident they’re on a promising path.

The first group to complete the program all found employment. Some of the 12 employers who showed up to hire in January were even left hanging.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., one of the sponsors of the program, was one of them. But President Tim Regan didn’t seem to mind too much.

"To me it’s just a great indication that we are finally starting to connect the dots between … great human potential and great opportunities," Regan said Thursday at an event celebrating the kickoff for the second group.

A job fair will be held Thursday and Saturday afternoons in South Baltimore for careers in engineering, food and beverage and housekeeping at a luxury hotel opening next year in Fells Point.

Sagamore Development Co., owned by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, is working to transform the historic Recreation…

A job fair will be held Thursday and Saturday afternoons in South Baltimore for careers in engineering, food and beverage and housekeeping at a luxury hotel opening next year in Fells Point.

Sagamore Development Co., owned by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, is working to transform the historic Recreation…

The six-week boot camp, housed at City Garage, launched its first class in November. It’s part of the commitment to workforce development that Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s real estate firm, Sagamore Development Co., made to win public financial backing for its plans on the South Baltimore peninsula.

Tom Geddes, CEO of Plank Industries, described the program as the "right thing to do" in a city where so many face barriers to employment.

He said Sagamore, one of the divisions of Plank Industries, wanted to get started now in order to work out kinks in the program. There are plans to continue doubling the class sizes.

— Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank called Baltimore’s commitment to help pay for roads and parks in his Port Covington redevelopment a model for public-private partnerships as he pitched his redevelopment plans during a speech Monday at a New York real estate conference.

Plank delivered the keynote…

— Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank called Baltimore’s commitment to help pay for roads and parks in his Port Covington redevelopment a model for public-private partnerships as he pitched his redevelopment plans during a speech Monday at a New York real estate conference.

Plank delivered the keynote…

"The goal is to scale up," Geddes said. "Obviously it’s a long way until we really need very significant numbers of jobs in Port Covington, but we want to have this program firing on all cylinders by the time we get there."

Participants are referred by the Center for Urban Families, a longtime provider of coaching and help with so-called soft skills. The men — so far, it’s been all men, but it could include women too — receive a wage of $15 an hour for their time in the program.

Christopher Simms, 30, of Baltimore was one of the eight who started at the initial boot camp. He’s now working at Columbia-based HMC Inc., along with several others from the program. HMC designs and builds interiors for food-service providers, including Starbucks and Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

Simms said he’s gone through other job training programs that didn’t end in employment.

"This is the first one that actually turned out real good," he said.

The classes are held at City Garage’s makerspace, The Foundery, which is outfitted with 3-D printing equipment and other machines and is open to the public through classes and membership.

Officials said the latest participants were too busy to talk Thursday, as they broke into groups, feeding wooden boards through a planing machine or learning about lasers and metalwork. But during the press event, they listened intently as Mayor Catherine E. Pugh and others said they saw in them hope for the city.

"This is one of the most inspiring things that we in this town get to see," said Joe Jones, the president and CEO of the Center for Urban Families. "African-American men who have largely been on the opportunity sidelines who are getting a chance to play the mainstream game."

nsherman@baltsun.com

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