For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 28, 2015
The Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control (DLC) trained 1,372 hospitality professionals in alcohol beverage regulatory compliance at no cost during Fiscal Year 2015, nearly doubling the number trained in the previous fiscal year.
“Congratulations to DLC staff for its highly successful effort to educate business owners in the County in an effort to curb sales of alcohol to minors,” said County Executive Isiah Leggett. “Reaching almost twice as many business owners during this last fiscal year underscores the importance the department places on this training as another tool in preventing underage drinking.
“Local liquor control has served Montgomery County well and programs like this are a perfect example,” said Leggett. “Local liquor control provides an annual $30 million profit to the County. That keeps our money working here in the County to support our schools, public safety, and transportation – and to keep taxes down. “Our system makes it harder for underage individuals to purchase alcohol and provides more education for the public and for servers. The federal Centers for Disease Control have concluded that local liquor control jurisdictions such as ours are the very best way to protect public health.”
Since the ALERT (Alcohol Law Education and Regulatory Training) program was developed in 2006 by the DLC, it has become a national model. Designed to educate servers, sellers, managers and owners of licensed County businesses, the training is offered to current County businesses or potential licensees. Participants learn how to develop responsible alcohol policies and review issues identified by County and State enforcement agencies. In addition to the twice-monthly classes provided at DLC, classes have been held at businesses upon request and have been presented in Spanish.
“Acting as a resource to licensees is a priority for the department,” said DLC Director George Griffin. “We are proud of our training efforts that help keep our community safe.”
ALERT classes are open to all Montgomery County liquor licensees and their staffs, and are held on the first and third Monday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For more information, or to register for an upcoming ALERT class, call the DLC Outreach Office at 240-777-1904 or email dlc@montgomerycountymd.gov.