All Frederick County employees must undergo DEI training, Fitzwater says

First published Tuesday, June 4, 2024 in the Frederick News-Post.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said she wants the county to encourage and nurture diversity.

She announced on Monday, that starting this year, all Frederick County employees — including her — must undergo diversity, equity and inclusion training, so they can understand themselves and the people around them.

At a news conference on Monday, Fitzwater, a Democrat, also talked about several measures the county has undertaken to further the theme of diversity.

Those include government loans of up to $10,000 for small businesses with underrepresented owners; groups that employees form to connect over shared interests or identities; and the county no longer requiring drug tests or physical exams for many positions.

Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Tiffani Kenney, who was hired in March, said those measures have been underway since before she started on the job.

Fitzwater said the county is also reviewing which jobs truly need college degrees and whether Frederick County employees are being paid fairly.

It’s all part of her plan to make Frederick County the “employer of choice” for job seekers, driven by her core values of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

“One of the most impactful things we can do to create a new workplace culture is to help people understand where biases exist and build awareness and skills on how to be more inclusive,” Fitzwater said.

Kenney oversees the training effort for the county’s roughly 3,400 employees.

Kenney’s department has four employees and plans to hire a fifth. It oversees all diversity efforts in the county.

One resource group exists already for Black employees. Three more are in development.

The county dropped the drug testing and physical exam requirement months ago, Kenney said.

Only job seekers in public safety or other “sensitive positions” like heavy equipment drivers will have to undergo a drug test for cannabis. Most jobs won’t require physical tests, Fitzwater said.

The old policies “created an unnecessary barrier to employment,” she said.

Fitzwater said some jobs will also no longer require a college degree — a decision that she said prompted one young woman at a job fair to tears of gratitude.

“This may sound minor, but it can make a big difference and increase the pool of qualified candidates that are interested in working for you here in Frederick County,” she said.

The city of Frederick has adopted similar policies, spokesperson Allen Etzler said.

New hires are tested for drugs, but not for cannabis, Etzler said. Only current employees in “safety critical” positions like police officers and truck drivers undergo random drug testing, he added.

Like the county, the city is reviewing what positions require college degrees, Etzler said.

Four months onto the job and after 14 site visits to county offices, Kenney said she hasn’t run into pushback over the diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

She was scared to start her job at the four-year-old Equity and Inclusion Office, she said, given the national fights over diversity, equity and inclusion, but people seemed happy when she arrived.

Some asked her what the point of the program was, she said, and they seemed receptive when she told them that she wants to help their teams grow.

“It really was like a breath of fresh air. My shoulders dropped after a couple weeks of being here,” she said.

Fitzwater also addressed at the news conference the EmPOWER mentorship program. Small businesses participating in the program are eligible for loans up to $10,000 provided by the county’s economic development office, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Latino Economic Development Center to help build credit and raise capital. The organizations have created a $500,000 fund.

The application portal for the program will go live this summer, Fitzwater said.

She also mentioned a directory the county has created of underrepresented businesses, available at discoverfrederick.org.

“Time and time again, we hear from small businesses that access to capital is one of their greatest challenges,” she said. “EmPOWER’s mission is to create an environment of economic inclusion in Frederick County that supports all businesses.”