Health Tech Alley partners with schools, companies and Maryland to expand tech pathways

This story was produced with support from the Howard County Economic Development Authority, which operates the Maryland Innovation Center and helps entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes access the funding, guidance, and connections they need to grow in Howard County, Maryland.

Health Tech Alley is reimagining what modern apprenticeships can look like. 

Maryland struggles to retain tech talent and cultivate opportunities for people from underrepresented backgrounds. Executive director Greg Miller, who came from a corporate healthcare background before co-founding the nonprofit, saw this firsthand, including how companies were often hesitant to try new approaches to finding talent. 

So, Miller decided to build the apprenticeships in tech himself. Based on similar models in the trades, Health Tech Alley connects students with job opportunities they may not otherwise find. Currently focused on high schools, the org is planning to expand into higher ed.

“We want to make apprenticeships more inclusive beyond the trades and a place where all potential workers can find a home,” Miller told Technical.ly.

Founded in 2020, the Howard County, Maryland-based nonprofit partners with local school systems, county governments, hospitals and home-care agencies across the state to address workforce development needs. The organization develops apprenticeship and internship programs for other organizations to create new pathways into tech and healthcare careers. 

For example, Health Tech Alley is specifically targeting data science education, with the field projected to grow by 34% in the next decade, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The nonprofit developed a data science apprenticeship program for high school students to help address the tech talent gap. Launched in 2024, the program selected five students from Howard County Public Schools to complete training in AI, machine learning and data science, while also working on a yearlong research project and receiving guidance from an assigned mentor.

In this program, and others, Health Tech Alley adapts its approach to meet each employer’s needs. Miller hopes the state-certified program demonstrates to other employers that starting an apprenticeship isn’t much more difficult than running a standard internship. 

“If you’ve been a supervisor or manager in a company, it’s largely the same kind of work you already do, with a little extra paperwork to the state to make sure the apprenticeship is operating in accordance with registration requirements,” Miller said.

A community of skill-building

Health Tech Alley’s involvement in different areas varies widely. Sometimes, a company taps the organization to target staffing certain roles, Miller said. In other cases, the company is building a community of practice to help multiple employers with the same needs.

For instance, the company teams up with trade organizations to tackle staffing shortages. It’s partnered with the Maryland–National Capital Homecare Association to connect staffing agencies with home-care providers and offers grants to incentivize participation.

Another model is its collaboration with the University of Maryland Medical Center on a recruitment program for returning citizens. The program delivers training, coaching and stipend-supported community service projects to prepare participants for entry-level hospital roles while bolstering the medical center’s community outreach efforts. 

Participants often start in positions such as room attendants, patient transport or janitorial roles, but the program equips them with skills and experience that can lead to long-term careers in healthcare, Miller said.

The organization also engages in statewide initiatives such as the Maryland Apprenticeship Connector, a consortium of nonprofits that provide technical expertise and best practices to expand apprenticeships. 

Altogether, these partnerships are crucial for sustaining workforce development programs more generally, Miller said. Beyond just Health Tech Alley, working together ensures that they all continue to benefit communities even after specific grant funding ends — especially during a difficult time for funding.

“Grants come into a community and the community rallies to deliver the grant, but then the funds go away and the support inside the community stops,” Miller said. “Collectively, awardees of grants have to do a better job of partnering with local communities to create change in the market.”