Kona Grill has announced they are opening a new restaurant in Baltimore and are currently seeking people for service industry jobs in Maryland.

The restaurant, which is Asian-American fusion complete with sushi, is needing about 120 people to hire in the next six weeks. Open jobs include servers, bartenders, hostesses, line and prep cooks, service assistants, and sushi chefs.

The restaurant is based in Scottsdale, AZ. This is its first Maryland location, at 1 E. Pratt St. across from the Inner Harbor. They will be opening Oct. 4, tentatively.

The chefs and management positions have already been spoken for, so the remainder of the positions are all hourly.

Kona has set up shop in meeting room B at the Spring Hill Suites hotel at 120 E. Redwood St. downtown.

Those interested can come by the office to apply, anytime between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. any day but Sunday. Or if you can’t make it in, call 410-244-8994 or visit konagrill.com

Middle River Aircraft Systems, a part of GE Aviation, today announced that it is expanding its employment by 200 new jobs in Maryland — bringing the Company’s employment at its Middle River facility to more than 1,000 over the next year.

According to a press release, in the last five years, GE has invested more than $200 million in the Middle River facility and new program investments. The 200 new jobs will support the development and manufacturing of the GEnx-2B engine thrust reverser for the Boeing 747-8 commercial aircraft.
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Maryland’s unemployment rate held steady at 7.7 percent in March after the state added nearly 35,800 jobs in Maryland, the largest increase among all U.S. states.

Virginia added 24,500 jobs, second most in the nation, and posted a jobless rate of 7.4 percent, up from 7.2 percent. It stood at 6.4 percent a year ago in March.

D.C.’s unemployment rate dropped from 11.9 percent to 11.6 percent. A year ago, the rate was 9.1 percent. D.C. added 7,900 jobs over the month. Out of that figure, about 1,800 construction jobs were injected.

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Even though the state’s unemployment rate slightly increased, those looking for a job in Maryland last month may have had better luck, as more jobs were added.

During July, the state saw its unemployment rate increase from 7.2 percent to 7.3 percent, which is lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. Maryland hasn’t seen its unemployment rate decrease since April, when it went from 6.9 percent to 6.8 percent.

Maryland had a total non-farm employment of 2,551,700 workers during July, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,541,700 workers during June, but a 1.9 percent decrease from last year.

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Older workers looking for Maryland job openings, as well as openings in some other states, will soon get some help.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently gave $10 million to organizations that connect older workers with jobs. The money is meant to retrain workers who are 55 and older for jobs in high-growth industries, such as healthcare or green-collar jobs.

The funds were broken up into 10 grants worth about $1 million each and given to organizations in Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. On top of that, the Atlantic Philanthropies will invest another $3.6 million toward the effort.

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A focus on the state’s aerospace industry could help create many Maryland science jobs.

Gov. Martin O’Malley recently announced a strategic vision for expanding the space industry throughout Maryland. This comes only days after the state unveiled a multi-year plan to expand its biotech industry. The new vision is designed to take advantage of the innovation and uniqueness of the state’s federal institutions.

Maryland is home to 16 of the country’s top 25 space industry manufacturing and service companies, including the Goddard Space Flight Center and the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute. The state also has attracted private sector space industry companies like CSC, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, ATK, ARINC, Orbital Services, SAIC, Battelle, General Dynamics, Hughes Network Systems and Honeywell.

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An effort between Gov. Martin O’Malley and the Mediterranean Shipping Company will help keep hundreds of Maryland careers in the state.

O’Malley and officials from MSC recently signed a six-year extension to the current contract between the Port of Baltimore and the MSC, an international container shipping company based in Geneva. The deal will help keep 628 direct jobs in Maryland and ensure the continued shipment of containerized cargo through the Port of Baltimore.

“In these difficult economic times, I am very pleased to receive an extended commitment from one of the top container shipping companies in the world,” O’Malley said in a press release. “This extension keeps good-paying, family-supporting jobs at the economic engine that is the Port of Baltimore. Maryland is proud to be signing the third long-term contract in a year when many ports are facing much harder times.”

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The creation of Maryland’s first Clean Energy Center will help create thousands of green-collar jobs. Click here to see more Maryland jobs.

The facility will be located at the Camille Kendall Academic Center at the University of Maryland, The Universities at Shady Grove. The center will help support the state’s “smart, green and growing” efforts by offering assistance to newly developed technologies with pilot projects; the collection, analysis and dissemination of industry data and providing outreach and technical support to further Maryland’s clean energy industry.

“Today’s announcement marks yet another large step towards our goal of creating 100,000 ‘green collar’ jobs by 2015,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a press release. “This Center will leverage greater opportunities for our workers and a cleaner, greener Maryland for our families.

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Anyone looking for a Maryland job may have a tough time finding work.

The State of Maryland has lost 39,000 jobs since January 2008. According to an article by Gazette.net, about 185,000 workers were unemployed during January 2009, an increase of 15 percent from December 2008 and an increase of 72 percent from last year. The state’s unemployment rose from 5.4 percent to 6.2 percent during January, the highest unemployment rate since 1993.

Maryland had a total non-farm employment of 2,574,400 workers during January, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,568,400 during December 2008, but a decrease of 1.5 percent from last year.

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Those with Maryland education jobs recently received some great news.

Education Week’s 2009 Quality Counts annual report ranked Maryland as having the best public school system in the country out of all 50 states, an increase from the state’s third-place position last year. The report takes into account: chance for success; transitions and alignment; school finance; K-12 achievement; standards, assessments, and accountability and the teaching profession.

Maryland ranked number one in transitions and alignment policies, which measures a state’s ability to connect the K-12 education system with early learning, higher education and the workforce. The state earned a grade of 100 for early-childhood education, a grade of 90 for college readiness and a grade of 100 for the economy and the workforce.

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