The Employment Works Program (EWP) strives to create quality employment opportunities for people with disabilities, while providing the State of Maryland with high quality services and commodities.
Maryland Works, Inc., is designated to coordinate contracting activity between the State of Maryland, Community Service Providers, and people with Disability Owned Businesses. This is in accordance with the State Finance and Procurement Article, Sections 14-101 through 14-108 of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
Community Service Providers and Disability-Owned Businesses
For all potential preference purchase contracts, before initializing the open bid process, a State agency purchaser must first check to see if suitable supplies or services are available for procurement from the following agencies before initiating the open-bid process.
- Any department or agency of the State;
- Maryland Correctional Enterprises (MCE);
- Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM); and
- The Employment Works Program (EWP)
Maryland Works is the coordinating entity for the Employment Works Program. In coordinating this process, The Employment Works Program:
- Identifies potential state contracts;
- Assesses individual community service providers' capabilities;
- Conducts cost analyses which are submitted to the Pricing and Selection Committee for the Employment Works Programs; and
- Serves as a monitoring agent to ensure that high-quality standards are maintained.
Benefits of being a Maryland Works EWP Vendor Business Partner
- Coordination and facilitation of fair market pricing for contract approval. Pricing for each service requires cost comparisons, marketing analyses, and review and approval at multiple levels before the vendor business partner receives certification by the Pricing and Selection Committee
- Monitoring of contract renewal timelines
- Coordinate and facilitate in regular Quality Assurance meetings to ensure the administration of quality services
- Liaise with the state agencies and vendors to initiate and facilitate Improvement Plans for contract performance issues
- Provide recruitment assistance with staffing contracts (networking within CSP’s, job boards, job fair coordination, social media, etc.)
- Provide mentorship within CSP’s to support high level service administration
- Provide vendor business partners with support through the procurement process
- As a benefit, state customers can negotiate directly with the EWP outside of the standard competitive solicitation process, saving state employees valuable time and money
- EWP ensures services are high quality, competitively priced, and delivered timely
- The EWP provides technical assistance, as needed, to the vendor business partners