FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, June 29, 1998

CONTACT: Sharon J. Wells (202) 606-1800 sjwells@opm.gov

OPM Director Janice R. Lachance Dedicates New Eastern Management Development Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia

Washington, D.C.--Office of Personnel Management Director Janice R. Lachance ushers in a new era for federal executives and managers at the Eastern Management Development Center (EMDC) during dedication ceremonies July 2 at the Centers new home in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

The ceremony will include the unveiling of the newly named James B. King Center honoring the former OPM Director who was instrumental in reshaping OPM during the first term of the Clinton/Gore Administration.

This is a milestone to the millennium for OPM, said Director Lachance. Today we are celebrating the opening of a modern, efficient and convenient facility for training federal executives to help them create a new kind of government for the 21st century. And, as someone who had such a vital role in reinventing government, it is fitting that this new center bears Jim Kings name.

Vice President Al Gore sent his good wishes on the event, saying, I am disappointed that I cannot be in Shepherdstown today ... to mark the beginning of an excellent partnership between the Federal Group, Inc., and the Office of Personnel Management. Jim King was finally able, after a decade of effort by OPM, to bring the Eastern Management Development Center to a permanent home. And I know that his very capable successor, and my good friend, Janice Lachance will want to see that the Centers new home prospers.

The facility, formerly located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is one of two Management Development Centers operated by OPM that provide training and development in essential executive leadership skills and help develop a sense of corporate community among the governments leaders.

The new Center in Shepherdstown contains four large classrooms, 20 smaller breakout rooms, a resource center, technology center and business center.

The first class will begin July 6. At the Lancaster, Penn., location, the EMDC trained about 2,100 people per year in 70 to 75 separate sessions. Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., and the enhanced educational capabilities of the new site, the number of persons and sessions are likely to increase. The OPM staff level is expected to remain level at 17 persons.

The innovative operation is a cooperative effort between OPM and The Federal Group, Inc., the private developer that created the center and owns and operates the supporting hotel and hospitality facilities. Costs to the federal government are kept down by the ability of the private concern to rent excess room capacity to other individuals or clients, while OPM can offer the training facility to other federal agencies for their internal executive development programs.

This is the kind of innovative federal-private cooperation that benefits both parties, and allows government to operate in a more efficient manner that saves money for the American people, Lachance said.

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