The Maryland Workforce Association (MWA) is anchoring a new registered cybersecurity apprenticeship that builds on the state’s partnership with BCR Cyber, a workforce development company. BCR Cyber is providing 171 hours of instruction for the state’s Cybersecurity Support Technician Registered Apprenticeship Program, which also incorporates BCR’s community college-based cyber ranges and more than 40 business partners.
The program combines self-paced virtual coursework and hands-on cybersecurity training with paid on-the-job training, which is a structure required under apprenticeship standards, according to a news release. Participants work while completing the program, earning industry-recognized credentials that ideally lead to full-time employment where they train.
Brandon Butler is the MWA’s executive director, and he said that the “secret sauce” in the programming is that the agency is tapped into the state’s workforce development network. There are 13 workforce regions, each with its own director. As an example of state workforce efforts, the EARN Maryland program reported that it has helped employ or upskill more than 26,000 workers between 2014 and 2024.
“We’re the ones who are talking to employers, we’re the ones with job seekers coming through the doors,” Butler said. “So, this is a natural fit for us, and we’re really putting the local workforce system forward in making sure we’re meeting the needs of both the businesses and the job seekers.”
For context, there are more than 27,000 cybersecurity-related positions available in Maryland, according to cyberseek.org. Many of those roles require firsthand experience and certifications, creating a gap between available workers and employer expectations, but MWA can facilitate business needs and employee training.
Registered apprenticeships are designed to address a common challenge in workforce development: the “train-and-pray” model, in which participants complete training without a clear path to employment. For cybersecurity roles like security operations center analysts, which require direct experience, apprenticeships embed learning within the job. Calling apprenticeships a “gold standard, time-honored tradition,” Butler said that MWA and BCR Cyber have worked together to create a program that meets the standards of apprenticeships.
BCR Cyber provides cybersecurity training and job placement services, with more than 83 percent of participants placed into employment, according to the company. Its cyber range technology, deployed across Maryland’s community colleges with state and federal support, simulates real-world threats and supports hands-on training.
“We worked very closely with almost every major cybersecurity company in the state,” said Bruce Spector, BCR Cyber’s company chairman. “Our strategic industrial partnerships include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Motorola. We actually [partner with] the Department of Information Technology in Maryland. … We have almost everyone that does IT work and cyber work giving us information about what our training should be, to make sure our related technical instruction is as relevant as possible.”
As the sponsor, MWA manages requirements set by the state Department of Labor, including documentation, progress tracking and wage progression. That structure reduces the administrative load on employers and is intended to make participation easier. Program leaders also distinguish apprenticeships from internships. Apprentices are trained as long-term employees, not short-term learners, with the expectation they will remain in the workforce after completing the program.
“You know, there’s an old workforce development adage about train and pray: You know, train somebody and pray that they get a job at the end of it,” Butler said. “That’s the opposite of the apprenticeship model because we put the employer in the middle of all the training … all the related technical instruction. That’s why we have talked about doing something like this and working again with BCR Cyber. We know that we could truly make a dent in Maryland’s cyber workforce.”
