Baltimore City Department of the Public Works (DPW) Director Rudolph S. Chow, P.E., is pleased to welcome the 57th Annual American Public Works Association (APWA) Mid-Atlantic Chapter Conference, which will be held May 6-8 at the Baltimore Convention Center. 

DPW is partnering with the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the APWA to host this year’s conference, which has been held in Virginia in recent years. “The Baltimore City Department of Public Works is honored to welcome our colleagues from throughout the region to Baltimore City, where DPW is busy making strides to become one of the best agencies of its kind,” Director Chow said. 

This year's conference will focus on public works activities that protect and improve our communities, and brings together public works professionals from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. 

Conference events will kick off on Wednesday, May 6, with an equipment Road-E-O from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 701 W. Ostend Street, Lot O, the intersection of Ostend and Ridgely. This event is free and open to the public. Heavy equipment of all types will be on display with 100 participants ready to show their skills maneuvering large pieces of equipment through an obstacle course. These operators will demonstrate the skills they use on the job every day to serve their communities.

At the conference, public and private public works professionals meet for educational seminars and classes and to exchange ideas, information and insights. “The APWA Mid-Atlantic Conference provides a great opportunity for public works professionals to learn from each other and to build long-lasting professional relationships,” Director Chow said.

Keynote speaker for the event will be Howard Rosen, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mr. Rosen has written and edited numerous books and professional papers, and served as a member for the Board of Editors of the journal, Public Works Management and Policy, and as a member for the historical committee for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

During the conference, educational sessions will explore strategies to protect and improve communities —  looking at ways to provide a Green Agenda in Baltimore, examining how extreme weather affects waterways, and exploring methods to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay.